Hey, I'm new to the forum but I just bought an '85 rx-7 (12a, FB) and it's from Maine. Put it on the lift and everything underneath is rusted bad. Heat sheilds almost gone, exhaust mounts falling off, panel just beneath drivers side door rusted through.
A friend recommended rustoleum to put on over the rust. is this a good idea, or should I try to brush it off first with a drill and wire brush?

And someone else recommended lithium grease to coat everything with.
any tips or suggestions?
thanks!

 

You don't want to hear it, but you're likely much better off with another shell. If you went all the way to Maine for a highly optioned car or 4-wheel discs, I'd consider swapping the car's major hardware to a new shell.

Painting over the rust won't be an effective way to deal with it. You'd likely need to cut away the affected panels, weld in replacements, and coat with POR-15 or some similar product.

 

Well, that sucks. I didn't go to maine for it, the previous owner had moved down to SC before selling it... Swapping isn't really an option. I guess restoring it will be a bigger project that I had hoped. at least I'll learn a lot, anyway...
thanks!

 

on the plus side..

you'll get to know her intimately.
you'll be up to date on your tetanus shots
and you'll be a better owner for the work, there's something to knowing that you have brought your car up to the shape it's in.

don't rustoleum over it, it'll just be putting lipstick on a pig.
clean it up, weld (or get a shop to) some new floor pans into it
just make sure you've not got something major rusted, ala your frame rails.

 

Also look inside your rear wheel wells at the big steel tabs that locate your axle's trailing links. Where they're welded to the frame of the car is a common rust problem. You'll also see it referred to as "bin rust" as it's usually noticed by removing the storage bins behind the seats and looking at the rear floor. If you've got bin rust, it's not too bad. If it's gotten through the steel and you can see it around the upper trailing link on the outside of the car, it's a significant structural problem. If you can see it from the outside, please take a few pictures and post them up.

 

whats up ,dont put no liquid or spray on it .by doing that your just masking it and making it worse . try using the wire brush and see how much rust there is .