Engine mount rusty - how to fix it

I have a question on my engine mount..
I have an engine mount that I have not gotten around to using yet.. but being in my garage, it has been subjected to the cold and higher humidity (yeah.. I know, MOVE IT!!) and sadly it has developed some surface rust (Hope that is all it is)..

Question is: How to remove/treat the rust without weakening the mount?
Should I sandblast it? (suggested media?) Wire wheel it? Should I metal prep it afterwards ? Does metal prep need to be neutralized?

Come to think of it.. likely some of the other steel parts are probably rusty too..

blast it and then powder coat it. most places do not use sand anymore do to EPA. just about any of the media will work on chrome-moly.

bob burns
RV-4 N82RB

(Quality) Power coat is the way to go!!

Use A High-Temperature Engine Paint - Not Powder Coat

On my plane, the powder-coat painted engine mount has discolored due to the heat, so I can't recommend it. Use a high-temperature engine paint instead.

I also had my landing gear legs powder-coated, and the paint cracked due to the flexing. I had to sand that area down to bare steel and prime and touch-up there. And this was steel that had been properly prepped and primed with a powder-coat primer.

Curiously, though, the powder-coated aluminum baffles are holding up great.

There are about 500 hours on these parts since the powder-coating was done.

Dave

powder coat

Powder coating not recommended for engine mounts, it can hide cracks.

Bead blast it, clean thoroughly, epoxy prime, and paint with urethane paint like Imron. Thats what we did.

Aren't the engine mounts from Vans powder coated? If not, it is one heck of a paint job on mine.

I have had some equipment powder coated and rusted out under the coating. It was hard to see until it was near failure. Not on an engine mount, but construction equipment, so powder coating is a good finish, but not a perfect finish

I'd say the Navy has pretty much perfected dealing with surface corrosion. "Remove the surface corrosion with a general purpose conditioning (scotchbrite) pad then treat the affected area with corrosion preventative compound." CorrosionX is a commercially available product and will last for a very long time if it?s applied according to the directions on the can. I normally spray a cloth towel until it?s fairly soaked, but not dripping, then wipe the exposed surface with the cloth. I leave a film of CorrosionX on the metal part if the part is in storage, and if the part is in regular use, I wipe the part off a little more thoroughly. I usually treat all my exposed steel and other ferrous metal parts with corrosion preventative compound during each inspection. So far, no problems with surface rust!

paul mosher said:

Powder coating not recommended for engine mounts, it can hide cracks.

Click to expand...

So can paint, depending on type and thickness.

Powder coating, heavy epoxy paints or other thick coverings do a good job of protecting the surface from impacts but will also hide cracks and rust very well.
By the time powder coat starts to bubble up, the rust can be very significant underneath.

Treating with CorrosionX, ACF-50, LPS or even WD-40 are good moisture barriers against corrosion but the part still needs to be painted, of course.

A quality primer and paint is all you really want. IF a weld cracks or IF some rust starts forming, you want it as obvious as possible on visual inspection.

If you do decide to have it sand blasted, make sure they don't use really coarse sand. We got an engine mount back from the blaster that looked like it had been struck with the tip of a really sharp welding chip hammer.