My Cat 416 left brake petal was sticking down. Found water was leaking into cab onto the brake petals from a warped air filter housing. Removed the brake petals and shaft and cleaned up the rust on the shaft and now work properly. But when removed the floor mat to remove the floor plates & inspect and grease the rest of the pins I found that the floor plates were rusty and heavily pitted. Have removed floor plates and wire brushed them clean and wire brushed the floor & supports in the cab. What paint would be best to use and should I use a rust converter? In rusted areas behind the access plates where it is to tight to get in with a wire brush, plan to spray with a penetrating oil to stop the rust. Which would be best? or should I just remove the control panel & cover and wire brush & paint. While I have the floor plates up also checked the rear drive shaft and found some play in the U Joints. Can I get a rebuild kit from NAPA Auto Supply or do I need to get the rebuild kit from the CAT Dealer. Any thing else I should do or inspect while I have the floor plates up? Jim
Media blasting would be ideal for cleaning up the rusty floor panels but can be quite an undertaking and very messy. Ospho/phosphoric acid works great on rusty metal after it has been thoroughly cleaned of any oils and rust scale. Paints like POR15, Zerorust or Rustbullet work well on cleaned up rusty metal(more forgiving), but I've also had good luck with self-etching or epoxy primer as long as the substrate/metal is very clean. I'd go the extra mile and take care of as much of the rust as you can, do it once the right way and don't worry about it again for a long time. Once you've painted everything, oiling/undercoating always works great.