Automotive Exhaust System & Customer Service

Project Description:

It’s the day before I go on vacation, and I did some undercoating on my ’97 Sentra with Rust Bullet to go over some areas I missed last summer. It’s amazing stuff, and this time, I put it on the base of my catalytic converter because the bracket was rusting and I don’t want it to break off. I’ve dripped some on my exhaust before by accident and it didn’t cause a problem, but after a preliminary drive today after it dried somewhat, I smelled a burning smell. Should I be worried? I don’t care if it ends up flaking off, but does anybody think it could cause a fire? It has to do a one-hour drive tomorrow, and then a 6-hour drive on Tuesday. Or am I overreacting, and it just hasn’t fully dried/cured yet?

EDIT: I don’t think it’s flammable. Their site says that metal coated in Rust Bullet can actually be welded, however they say “the extreme heat involved in the welding process will disintegrate the coating possibly releasing harmful gases;”. So I take this to mean that it will probably be OK, but it’s gonna smoke for awhile, and the end result may not actually stay on there. But it shouldn’t catch fire. Thoughts?

EDIT 2/Update: I called the company and I’m a lot less concerned. The kind girl told me it will turn brown and likely flake off, but aside from curing (which mine hadn’t completely) it’s not gonna cause an issue, it just probably won’t protect well. So I now must rave about their fantastic customer support. I called their number and left a message, and she called me back a few hours later and chatted with me as long as I needed. They seem like a small or at least very personal company because they put their main phone number right on the website, and they make it shockingly easy to reach a person. I’m 19 and I’ve never in this era experienced anything so kind from an internet company. Dang. 🙂

Mike
July 2012