Bilt Hamber Rust Gel

[Neil Clark]

Has anyone any experience of using this?  I'm thinking of it as an option for treating the bonnet of my Mk1 Spitfire, the entire bonnet has light surface rust having been prepped ages ago by the PO down to the bare metal but not finished.

[Paul H]

I use Hydrate 80 and Deox Gel . Both products are good 

 

Paul 

 

[Steve P]

I tried the Bilthamber stuff on a rusty Merc 450SLC fuel tank,didn`t work for me and i ended up scrapping the tank.

Steve

[Badwolf]

I use both. More hydrate80 than deox gel. No problems. Came highly recommended to me.

[Neil Clark]

Thanks, I gave them a call after seeing this and they seem very helpful.  De-greasing before using the gel seems to be the way to start.

[Badwolf]

I tend to brush over all my stripped panels with two coats of hydrate 80 just as a precaution as well as treating rusty areas after getting rid of as much rust as possible. Probably a waste of product but it does catch anything that I miss like the odd small rust pit.

[Neil Clark]

I've just been given a new tub of Halfords de-rusting gel, which is based on citric acid.  Have you tried any of their stuff?

[Badwolf]

No, but I did read on some yank site about people who make their own derusting concoction out of citric acid and wallpaper paste. There might even be a deviation using phosphoric acid instead. I'll keep to the hydrate 80

[Colin Lindsay]

7 hours ago, Neil Clark said:

I've just been given a new tub of Halfords de-rusting gel, which is based on citric acid.  Have you tried any of their stuff?

I've no experience of the stuff at all so maybe just a possibly unfair guess but: has it gone the way of all good stuff like weedkiller, flyspray and the like by using greener more organic and therefore totally useless ingredients?

[daverclasper]

4 hours ago, Badwolf said:

No, but I did read on some yank site about people who make their own derusting concoction out of citric acid and wallpaper paste.

Wow. I love the Yanks for their thinking out the box, simple, cheap, effective ways of doing stuff.

After great results with vinegar and lemon juice, dipping the parts for a while, I was wondering how to make a Gel solution to paint on, never thought of that.

Brill.

PS. I found it worth covering any gel, with cling film to stop it drying out and leaving a while 

Edited April 2, 2021 by daverclasper

[Badwolf]

Dave - Use the clinge film trick with anything that you don't want to dry out especially paint stripper.