Rust prevention methods

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Living in the rust belt (but not from it) I am learning the hard way about rust. I have a 2003 F-150 that I primarily drive in the winter and rust is getting to it. Not worth a whole lot so I am not going to properly fix any cosmetic damange, but sparked an idea for preventing rust. I used this formula below last year and so far so good.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2043211

So the question is could polymerized vegetable oil work as well? Similar to why seasoned cast iron pans don't rust since there is a layer of sticky polymerized oil. Being sticky I would think its hard to wash off and with a low viscosity it can seep into every crevice. Only problem is how to polymerize it without heat.

Thoughts?
 
Vegetable oil will go rancid. I would not use it.

Honestly, any low volatile petroleum product will do, but the thinner the product, the more often it has to be re-applied.

A local fuel distributor makes their own rustproofing product, which smells like chainsaw bar oil mixed with grease. It's thin enough to be sprayed with the shutz type gun, but thick enough to not drip and doesn't wash off as easily as Krown of Fluid Film.
I applied three times to my Mazda 3 and the coats are so thick and wash resistant now, that I cut the product down with WD40 to make it a lot thinner, just to make the layers wet.
 
I wonder if you could try boiled linseed oil (which has drying agents added), or even just raw linseed oil. They're common wood working finishes and you shouldn't have any rancidity issues. The raw linseed cures very slowly, but I would imagine ND oil is no better.
 
Do you have Krown in your area? It's only ~$120 for a car and I believe yearly re-applies are less than that if you choose to have it re-sprayed.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
How long does a car or pickup last in the center of the rust belt?
Not as long as they do in your neck of the woods.
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Too many variables to quantify. I have been using boiled linseed oil onto wire brushed frame pieces. Stuff I used it on 5 yrs ago is still rust free. It is an airtight but fragile seal.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
How long does a car or pickup last in the center of the rust belt?


I'm not in the "rust-belt" per se, but we get our fair share of salty roads in the NC mountains. Around here without treatment, around 5 years with no rust-related mechanical issues. There will still be visible rust on the underbody and maybe some bubbles around the fenders/bumpers. By this time (if they keep it that long) most people are looking for another "nice" car and will use the old one as the "winter" car. By year 10 or so, there will be holes rusted through the frame and body. Truck beds will be completely useless, spring hangers will have been replaced (if there is enough frame to bolt/weld to), rocker panels gone, etc... Fun times!

This is without any rust prevention other than washing and it mostly applies to trucks. My grandpa (1983 F-150) and an uncle (1999 Silverado) both oil their trucks (used engine oil + diesel) every year and the frames are pristine. Granted they are both retired so they don't have to drive in it like most people. Unibody cars seem to fair a little better, although when they rust through, there's no way to really fix them. My wife's 2000 Civic with 217,000 miles gets driven almost exclusively in the winter, gets washed maybe once a year, never any rust treatment, and it's in pretty good shape.
 
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Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
How long does a car or pickup last in the center of the rust belt?

Commercial rust proof it yearly and 20 years is not unheard of.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
How long does a car or pickup last in the center of the rust belt?


My 88 E-150 is rust free. Ziebart did it when it was new, and I touched up over the years with various products.
 
I touched up my previous car with undercoating every fall, and still had rust I couldn't keep up with after about 10 years.

My current car, I'm trying Fluidfilm, which is a sprayable lanolin based product. It reminds me of a lighter version and better smelling cosmoline. It claims to not effect bushings, I would agree, my bushings seem fine after 3 years of using it. Also not seeing rust :) yet.

I'm hopeful. The couple cars I've had with regular oil leaks didn't ever rust where the oil gathered.
 
Use S-100 Corrosion Protectant on all exposed metal parts about every 6 months. You will completely stop rust from forming if you do so with a new vehicle or stop rust from getting any worse with a used vehicle. I have used it on boats, cars, trucks, and bikes for many years. The best example I have is my 35' yacht engines in a salt water environment. After 5 years of using S-100, not a spec of corrosion on any engine parts.

http://www.autogeek.net/s1tocycoprae.html
 
Originally Posted By: SVTCobra
Being sticky I would think its hard to wash off and with a low viscosity it can seep into every crevice. Only problem is how to polymerize it without heat.

Thoughts?


It polymerises itself slowly without heat. Its gets oxidised by atmospheric oxygen, and probably ozone and UV too.

I speculate you could speed this up by adding oxidants (hydrogen peroxide or ground potassium permangenate come to mind) but as a rust inhibitor (as opposed to a paint binder, which I also use it for) I'm not sure this is desirable, since I think you might wanr it to retain some fluidity for as long as possible, though I'm not sure.

Mixing it with mineral oil (I use diesel and engine oil) seems to do this, perhaps by protecting it from oxygen and/or inhibiting cross-linking.

I havn't noticed any rancidity, though I'm not sure how I would (smell, presumably) or exactly why it would matter.
 
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Originally Posted By: Wheel
I touched up my previous car with undercoating every fall, and still had rust I couldn't keep up with after about 10 years.

My current car, I'm trying Fluidfilm, which is a sprayable lanolin based product. It reminds me of a lighter version and better smelling cosmoline. It claims to not effect bushings, I would agree, my bushings seem fine after 3 years of using it. Also not seeing rust :) yet.

I'm hopeful. The couple cars I've had with regular oil leaks didn't ever rust where the oil gathered.


I use FF on my fleet as well. Only been at it a few years but so far so good. As for bushings, I have not seen any issues either but I did find an interesting effect. With how nicely FF loads up with dirt/etc it created a pretty lound creak in ym rear leaf springs which was easily solved with a wash/degrease. At first I thought it was the bushings but cleaning didn't help. After I cleaned the actual leaves and their contact points the problem resolved.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: SVTCobra
Being sticky I would think its hard to wash off and with a low viscosity it can seep into every crevice. Only problem is how to polymerize it without heat.

Thoughts?


It polymerises itself slowly without heat. Its gets oxidised by atmospheric oxygen, and probably ozone and UV too.

I speculate you could speed this up by adding oxidants (hydrogen peroxide or ground potassium permangenate come to mind) but as a rust inhibitor (as opposed to a paint binder, which I also use it for) I'm not sure this is desirable, since I think you might wanr it to retain some fluidity for as long as possible, though I'm not sure.

Mixing it with mineral oil (I use diesel and engine oil) seems to do this, perhaps by protecting it from oxygen and/or inhibiting cross-linking.

I havn't noticed any rancidity, though I'm not sure how I would (smell, presumably) or exactly why it would matter.


Yep it will go rancid and eventually polymerize on its own but takes quite a long time and couldn't drive the vehicle through the rain in the meantime since it might wash off. Allowing it to polymerize should keep in it place. Adding an oxidizer I think would be counter intuitive since it could start to rust the metal. Petroleum products don't polymerize in the same fashion as what vegetable oils do, so I think you are correct that the mixing of mineral oil/diesel inhibits the cross linking.

You are right, rancidity doesn't matter, its just taste and smell.
 
My Civic is 33 years oil and there are several tiny spots of surface rust where there's a scratch in the paint. Adding up all the surface area effected by surface rust would amount to an eighth of an inch in diameter.

If I was driving this Civic in the rust belt I'd probably be driving a convertible by now with a Barney Rubble floor board.
 
Originally Posted By: SVTCobra
Adding an oxidizer I think would be counter intuitive since it could start to rust the metal.


I doubt hydrogen peroxide will hang around long enough to have much affect on the metal, but failing that you could blow air through it using an aquarium pump to get a head start.

I've not tried either, but I try and keep some of the stuff I use in the car, stored in a mostly empty bottle kept on its side, to promote oxidation.
 
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Your Civic is probably the only daily driven 33 YO Honda in the whole world. My neighbor have a 1991 Civic 1.5, three door hatch. Original 200K km, still on factory cambelt, wp, tensioner, roller. Not much rust.
Car is now retired, but he have plans (more dreams) for restoration. Those old Hondas were incredible.
 
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