[Johnny Bravo]

I've got a '69 Camaro and I'm half way done the body work on it. I have left the flat area between the taillights completely bare metal for 4 months through wet conditions (unheated garage) and there is absolutely NO rust forming on it, I would have painted over it for winter but I'm waiting to see if the panel will rust at all.

Anyone have any explanation why its not rusting? Its the original steel body.

 

[Lash]

That reminds me of 2 fenders I stripped with stripper,wiped them off with Laquer thinner.They were in my garage attic for 24 years.When I got them down last summer they looked the same as the day I put them up there .Out of curiousity did you happen to wipe the area off with anything after you were finished?

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Nope, the last thing that touched it was a 150 grit sanding disk.

 

[big dreams]

It`s possible that your metal has a zinc coating on it. All the major manufacturers treat the metal with this as a rust preventitive.You saiad you sanded it with 150 grit well that wasn`t gritty enough to remove the coating.If you were to keep sanding or grinding you would see light and dark spots on the metal. The light spots are the zinc coating.

 

[sudo1a]

Yeah, I would probably say galvaneal. Galvaneal is simply galvanized steel which is made for painting. If it was actual bare steel, it would start flash rusting in the first 24 hrs or so.

 

[Weimer]

Kev45's Impala has been sitting in bare metal for about 8 months now and there is NO rust present at all...the metal has 'tarnished' from the bright steel color but there isn't any rust flashing whatsoever.
I work in a new car manufacturing plant(Honda) and they spray a rust-inhibitor on their parts after they are stamped. From the time of stamping to welding to painting is about 6-8 hours...makes you wonder.
Later,
WEIMER