How to treat rusty screws/bolts

Hey all,

There are lots of rusty screw & bolt head all over the 2017 I just purchased. I want to dress them up, but should they be removed first and treated to get the rust off, or can I just hit the screw heads with something like Cosmoline or Rust Restorer?

There are other places with surface rust (like the windshield wiper arm pivots). Sand first or just hit with rust preventer?

 

I'd just replace the bolts inside the gas filler, that's an ez fix. At the windshield wiper arm, I'd spray some black rust restorer paint in the cap and use a small artist brush to paint theose rusted rivets. That rivet looks to be part of the wiper that will get replaced when you put new wipers on, so don't make it brain surgery.

 

You're going to find that applying a rust preventative such as Cosmoline might slow down the rust, but not by much. Products like that are much better at preventing rust from starting in the first place.

As for rust conversion products, yes, they will help, but their effectiveness depends on how much scale you have. They actually work much better if you wire wheel or sand the majority of the scale off, then apply them. And after the product has cured, you still have to apply some sort of coating to prevent the rust from coming back. As has already been said, replacing the fasteners in question with actual automotive grade and finish fasteners will actually work much better. And don't even waste your time with hardware store fasteners. The finish applied to them won't even last one winter where you are.

Based on how bad the fasteners look, I'd be more concerned about the frame on that truck.

 

Took the words right off my keyboard

 

Do you ever think you will ever have a need to replace the plastic liner for the gas fill? Just paint them if you must. I would be more concerned about the fuel door hinge.