Frame Rust Control - How Did You Do It?

[Donald]

I remember reading a story on here about an older man with an older car that informed an admiring inquiring passerby that he used the old oil from oil changes and put it in a sprayer to coat the undercarriage.

A pollution nightmare. They use to dump used motor oil on dirt road to deal with the dust.

Use a product designed for rust proofing. There are several.

 

[GW.]

I’ve used Fluid Film for years with good results. But in the last few years switched to Surface Shield which seems to need less touch up every fall.

 

[KYMISTWALKER]

I use blue tire dressing, I think it’s a silicone base. It is really greasy. They spray this on tires at car lots to make them shine, when it drips on your concrete it’s super hard to remove. I get this for about 130 for 5 gallon It comes out to about six dollars a quart. It’s really hard to wash off. I spread on all my vehicles it is currently on my jeep.

 

[webfors]

Love this thread. Got me down the WoolWax rabbit hole and ordered it. I like how it benefits from oil based sprays that were sprayed on before.

Compared to what I was paying Krown, this will work out to half the cost and really clean up the rusty underside with the black spray.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Sand and paint all surface rust annually. Fill frame and all cavities with fluid film or similar.

 

[crashz]

Good advice above. I'll expound a little:
- Get underneath with a screwdriver and wire brush. This part is labor intensive and usually heartbreaking.
- Brush/scrape all the loose rust off. Holes where holes shouldn't be is a compromised part. If you don't feel comfortable welding, see if you can get it done by a reputable shop. You want to fix all rust-through issues first before you do any rust conversion, painting and coating.
- I personally don't bother with the rust converter. It makes a plastic like sheet over the rust but doesn't penetrate deep into it and adhere to the bare metal. In every case I have used it, the plastic sheet peels off.
- Cleanish metal I'll paint with some flat black.
- Use your favorite oil/lanolin based undercoating material.
- I like to use the wand attachments on a spray gun to coat the inside of the frames first. Getting the inside of boxed areas is just as important as any other area.
- Then pop off body panel plugs and get into the rockers and other body areas.
- Then coat the rest. I do everything except exhaust and brakes. I also pop headlights and taillights to spray behind there, door seems ad cavities, under hood body panels, rad support, etc.

You'll never get it 100% on your first try. You'll find areas you miss or forget or didn't realize you can even access.

 

[TumblrDucks]

Good advice above. I'll expound a little:
- Get underneath with a screwdriver and wire brush. This part is labor intensive and usually heartbreaking.
- Brush/scrape all the loose rust off. Holes where holes shouldn't be is a compromised part. If you don't feel comfortable welding, see if you can get it done by a reputable shop. You want to fix all rust-through issues first before you do any rust conversion, painting and coating.
- I personally don't bother with the rust converter. It makes a plastic like sheet over the rust but doesn't penetrate deep into it and adhere to the bare metal. In every case I have used it, the plastic sheet peels off.
- Cleanish metal I'll paint with some flat black.
- Use your favorite oil/lanolin based undercoating material.
- I like to use the wand attachments on a spray gun to coat the inside of the frames first. Getting the inside of boxed areas is just as important as any other area.
- Then pop off body panel plugs and get into the rockers and other body areas.
- Then coat the rest. I do everything except exhaust and brakes. I also pop headlights and taillights to spray behind there, door seems ad cavities, under hood body panels, rad support, etc.

You'll never get it 100% on your first try. You'll find areas you miss or forget or didn't realize you can even access.

Thanks for the input. So remove as much rust as I can, if I can get to bare metal that will be the best.

 

[Indyxc]

Moved 500 miles south from Chicago.

Same, 550 miles for me.

When we sold my wifes GMC terrain with 65k miles, I was shocked how clean a car can look underneath. Basically rust free, and this included 2-3 trips to the midwest in winter.

 

[Speedbird001]

Ooooofffff those last couple pictures look a bit rough. Lots of good tips here, good luck!

FWIW:
- Used Corrosion-x for several years, but got a little tired of the higher than I wanted to pay cost and the newer flip/straw dispenser leaks like CRAZY, that is the final straw
- Fluid-Film. Meh, did not seem special to me, smelly like the Corrosion-x, but different/worse smelly
- This is my new go-to: Cosmoline Black (Direct was cheaper than Amazon). medium smell, more "chemically" than "farmy" I'd say. Sticks good like the Corrosion-x HD and The black looks great when done. Hopefully it is a good as the carcinogenic stuff the military used and just straight up works. We'll see how it goes, time will tell.
Cosmoline Black

 

[webfors]

Got my WoolWax order. Two jugs of straw and two of black for the underside of 3 cars. I think I'll have PLENTY. I did everything except the underside on three cars with 1 gallon jug of Straw! Popped all the Krown plugs where they drilled and just filled them all with 80PSI of WoolWax! Big fan and will be doing ALL my own rustproofing with this product going forward. What a great product. Thanks gents. My caddy's will look like new forever!

 

[Learn Ya]

For my older vehicle, I rely on oil leaks for rust protection. Works good!

 

[Donald]

Ooooofffff those last couple pictures look a bit rough. Lots of good tips here, good luck!

FWIW:
- Used Corrosion-x for several years, but got a little tired of the higher than I wanted to pay cost and the newer flip/straw dispenser leaks like CRAZY, that is the final straw
- Fluid-Film. Meh, did not seem special to me, smelly like the Corrosion-x, but different/worse smelly
- This is my new go-to: Cosmoline Black (Direct was cheaper than Amazon). medium smell, more "chemically" than "farmy" I'd say. Sticks good like the Corrosion-x HD and The black looks great when done. Hopefully it is a good as the carcinogenic stuff the military used and just straight up works. We'll see how it goes, time will tell.
Cosmoline Black

Cosmoline was designed to store military equipment in warehouses. Not subject to road salt spray. Is my understanding.