One of the main goals during this '88 Civic restoration, was not only to remove as much existing rust as possible but try to prevent it from returning. One theory is to take things like the controls arms, strip the loose rust and wire brush the rest, apply a rust primer to any bare metal, then some rust paint, and finally some undercoat. It's overkill I know, I mean who else undercoats both sides of a fuel tank, but I believe in doing a very thorough job. My question however concerns one of the brake backing plates. The other plate was rusted beyond saving, so it is on the list of parts to be replaced. The other had a lot of surface rust but was still intact, with no holes or weak spots. So after cleaning it up, I applied primer and paint to both sides. I haven't got as far as reinstalling this plate yet, but a thought since occured to me: was there a reason the inside of this plate wasn't coated in the first place? I'm wondering if over time, this paint could flake off and end up contaminating the braking surfaces. Does this mean I have to strip the plate down again, or am I worrying too much?
- posted
14 years ago