Rust on purpose

I've been thinking about this for a while but don't know if it's actually possible. I was thinking of turning my car into a rust-bucket on purpose. Something about rusty old war planes and tanks just rotting away has always intrigued me and I was wondering if I would be able to have a car that looks like it has been sat on a scrap heap for 40 years but is still driveable and safe.

The basic gist of it would be to take the metal body panels off, strip the paint and spray them with salt water every day for a few weeks/months. Moisture from the sea water and oxygen from the air should have the surface rusty in no time but the tough part comes in getting a oxygen-tight seal over the rust to stop it from rusting further without using layers of paint and then putting a clear coat over it to maintain the look. Anybody have any experience painting over rust? Any ideas?

Here's a website I like, there are two pages.

Pour some salt water over your car each morning and night. Surely it won't take too long.

Is it even legal. Cops might sAys its unroadworthy due to rust, even if it's just surface rust.

quote BlindSight

I doubt it would be safe to drive; Eventually the rust would ruin the integrity of the metal, making the car relatively fragile to impacts. That being said, go for it, it's your car. Find some high quality paint stripper and have at it; you'll be looking at bare metal in no time.

That's what I'm thinking of with the clear coat. Rust is Iron oxide, Iron from the steel the car body is made from, and the oxide part is from the air. If I can get a perfect seal and have no oxygen getting to the rust at all then in theory it should stop rusting completely after the initial rust has covered it.

I've decided I'm going to do it anyway, I'll post up some pictures in a seperate thread once I get it done.

Remove body panels and use some chemicals to strip the paint. Spray salt water on them for a while and let some surface rust appear. The rust and the results from stripping the paint should give you the look you want. Smooth it all out then clear coat it properly. May work.

quote Ben73

Is it even legal. Cops might sAys its unroadworthy due to rust, even if it's just surface rust.

My 94 S-10's frame was rusted to the point of rotting. It was still road legal.

There are a bunch of people that do this to Audis and stuff. And they'll strip certain panels and stuff so you can see the structural bars.
It's weird.

Yeah that's one that I've seen. I don't like it It's ruining a good car. Unless it was already a wreck or something.