when someone is looking for a rex to buy, everyone says to look for rust in certain parts of the car, now for the ones of us that have no rust, whats the best way to keep it from rusting, should we undercoat the car or just hit it with the water hose now and then , how do the bins get rusted,,etc,,,,,,

 

the previous owner of my '85 GSL-SE had it undercoated and it is standing up well to time. he also had it oil sprayed at Krown, and i have continued to have it sprayed every year. the only rust happening on my car is where i didn't get to the stone chips fast enough. and i drive it all year long.

you know that is a picture of me in your Avitar right? just thought i'd let you know

 

thanks rxtasy, i have pulled out the padding from under the carpet because of rain leaks, does the undercoating add some sound deading to the car? how much does it cost to have one sprayed and where can i have it done,,thanks for the avitar,(smile).

 

the undercoating was done before i got the car so not sure how much if any sound deadening there was, or what the cost is, sorry. anyone that does rustproofing should be able to do the undercoat as well. just be sure to use a quality shop cause if they do it wrong you will have problems!

and IMO stay away from the rustproofing that they only apply once and it semi-hardens, stick with the 'oil' based sprays that you do once a year.

 

The Bins in the back if you look at how they are made, moisture gets in the seams and rusts them out from the inside. Salt and other things aggravate the problem... My standard now on rust is NEVER EVER drive your 7 in the snow, and try to avoid driving in rain By a piece of crap for driving on crappy days

 

I don't believe in undercoating. It can actually make the car rust at an increased rate, without you knowing it. Plus, they use at least half of a drum of undercoating on the car, thus adding a lot of weight to the car. Just take care of the car with rust convertor and paint - it's the best way.

 

look for rust:
-at the bottom edge of the doors. there are several small drain slots in there that can rust. water gets in the door thru the power window wire holes in the front of the door, and thru door handle.

-around the four drain holes in the sunroof channel

-around the two drain holes in the rear window channel. i had my rust there fixed for $175 + paint, not cheap.

- rear lower trailing arm frame brackets. bad rust here can ruin a car.

- the usual places: rocker panels, wheel wells, along the perimiter of windows.

minor surface rust can be taken care of with a wire wheel brush or rest remover jelley and a good topcoat of paint (I use black epoxy appliance paint, sticks like glue!). bad rust needs to be cut out and a patch welded in. there are products that supposedly let you slap some goo over the rust and it'll stop the rust from spreading and you can paint right over the hardened goo. por-15 looks neat. eastwood has some good stuff too.

i never had a need to add an additional undercoating. stock stuff works well. oil spraying sounds interesting but it sounds like it'll attract dirt/grime and be a mess, but i've never seen it personally.

BradP

 

Donna, I am not a big fan of undercoating either, especially a lot of it. (1) if you use it, it holds in moisture and if you spray over moisture, rust , dirt, it harbors underthe coating and will keep rusting under thst coating....rust coating was best done "before" the car is ever out on the road (at dealer when new) (2) if you have lots of coating down there, if you ever sell the car, people will see all the coating and wonder what you may be hiding. I would keep the car clean and periodically look under the car, look for areas that look rusty or what ever and clean the area, spray it with the rust paint that turns rust to black primer and then spray it with semi flat paint . Thats what I do anyway....for what it is worth. ...cjf

 

Yeah, unfortunately the undercoating will trap the moisture on the inside and then you'll have a big surprise - you're car will rust from the inside out! Even though doing this to a new car may add a few years to the life of the body, it's not worth the money IMO. Again, your best bet is to prime and paint the rust as it appears and use neutralizer on the metal that you don't wish to paint.

 

Just loosten some of the bolts holding your oil pan on and drive fast.

One of my coworkers left a leaky axle seal in his Maxima till the oil reached the rear of the car, then replaced it, as he was finished wiht his rust proofing.

 

Ziebart is a worth place to do business and the will perform undercoat service. There is some sound deadening that comes along with an undercoat. Rust very nearly halted. I make sure to check on any of my undercoated vehicles at least once a season to do touch ups.

 

A quality undercoat installer/applier will make certain to seal the frame from the inside out. This reduces the chance for moisture to be trapped and prevents more moisture from wrecking anymore havoc. I agree that paint and neutralizer are better options for the more involved owner.

 

Hey guys,this is a 17 year old thread...

 

Step 1: Live in a state like Tennessee where cars last forever.

Step 2: Do not drive the car between when they first salt the roads in October or November, and for at least one month after they stop salting the roads in April or May. The more heavy rains there are to rinse that crap out of the roads, the sooner you can go. Keep it indoors, if it is outdoors they still rust almost like the brine is in the air.

 

Isn't infinite scroll recommended threads lovely?

They recently infected my other favorite forum (Speed Talk) with that crap. So you get people pulling up old threads to argue with the OP who is probably dead of old age or something...

 

A thread like this can still be useful, and helps being informative as the cars age. I live in Minnesota, so rust prevention is a serious topic for car enthusiasts here. I am currently trying to salvage a Subaru WRX and am using POR-15. For those unfamiliar: it's a paint-on primer that claims to bond with and stop oxidation. I have had friends that have used it in the past with good results. It can also be used on clean metal as a strong primer to prevent corrosion in the first place.

 

lol,yep

 

Just so you know, you can disable thebdreaded infinite scroll. I hate it and turned it off immediately. But yeah, with it in place, we will continue to see super old threads like this pop up.

 

I've had good results by priming bare metal, painting where the original undercoating is gone, and undercoating the undercarriage starting since I moved from Cali to NJ to Tex to Ala. I learned about the storage bin rust problem too late so I had to cut the rust out and bolt /weld metal plates in. I check the undercarriage once a year. For the most part, the areas that needed touch up are from flaking nonrubberized undercoating.

The self etching rust primers work, but they need to be painted over. Also a good oil leak does wonders for keeping the exhaust nuts and bolts rut free.

 

Guy I used to work for bought a ten year old GMC Sierra out of Minnesota somewhere and we were amazed at how it didn't need brake and fuel lines, and the cab wasn't rusted out. Both of which were normal things for 10 year old GM pickups around here... and they usually sold for more money than he'd paid for the one he bought from out by you, plus the $1000-ish to have it shipped...

 

Etch and conventional primers (1k and 2k) will absorb moisture and rust from the panel out, stone chips will chip thru the paint to the primer and assist in this process.
a quality 2k epoxy primer will not absorb moisture and provide a really great barrier against the moisture getting to the panel.

an electronic rust proofing system ( a good quality system) will help prevent rust, a lot of people think they are a scam and not worth the money, having installed these in many vehicles around 15years ago (have since changed occupation) i found these to be well and truly not a scam.

Another good cavity protection, and cheap, is boiled linseed oil, the boiled stuff wont harden like unboiled, and it dont stink like fish oils,

krem

 

I wouldn't recommend POR15 for body work, I know some people swear by it and it can work, but its very finicky as to how the metal is prepared, plus there are IMO better products out there.

For the underside of the chassis / wheel arches then epoxy mastic is great, it can go over existing substrates as long as they're keyed properly and not dropping off, or onto bare steel, in tests by car magazines it consistently outperforms nearly everything else. They use it on offshore structures in some of the worst corrosive environments imaginable. You can then overpaint it or leave it as it is (providing its under the car out of UV light). The only real issues are its quite tricky to spray due to the viscosity & a brushed finish always shows up your brush marks. Which is fine for a wheel well that's going to have some kind of stone chip over it anyway.

For anything that needs to be seen, Epoxy Primer followed by your paint of choice.
Don't forget to seam seal again if you strip the chassis back to metal & use some sort of cavity wax in the frames & box areas.