anti rust ideas

[Jack Daniels]

ok we all know that winter is the bane of all cars and causes rust what with att the salt and snow. so my idea was this...i have seen roll on bedliners for trucks it works just like a paint and some are as good as a rinolining...i was thinking if i cleened up my under carrage and put it on it might give a better level of protection (i don't have a winter beater)

[Supra_devil]

some cars have it stock, unfortunetly a lot of them rust from the inside of the panels out, so just undercoating the bottom may not do it. Myself i am looking at some of the body filler foams that manufacturers are using nowadays, its light, rigid, and resists moisture. so it will help rust, you could fill the control arms, frame rails, etc and make them more rigid, for minimal weight, and protect from rust, assuming there is none to start with. would help eliminate road noise too, man would i love to have a mk2 thats quiet as some newer cars.

[pdupler]

These cars rust from the inside out more than anything. If you are serious about halting the rust, you should also do the following (I think even more important than applying undercoating):

1) Remove the rear fender flares (you'll see why while your doing #2)

2) remove the jack and tools and the rear washer bag and antenna from the rear quarters, pull the drain plugs from underneath and thoroughly clean out those areas, allow to drain, spritz in a little ospho solution and let sit for 15 minutes or so, rinse again and then blow it out with compressed air and make sure it completely dry - now spray inside the quarters with an aerosol rustproofing be sure to spray all the way up and around the gas filler area too. Don't put it back together yet.

3) If you were paying attention during #2, you would have noticed that water was coming out of the seam at the back of the rear wheel well opening. After you've cleaned all the crud from around the wheel well under the flare and behind the fender roll, seal up that leaky seam you spotted earlier with body sealer from an auto body supply or I have even used JB Weld. Wire brush, Ospho, prime and paint any surface rust spots already started under the fender flares, particularly paying attention to around the bolt holes and then replace the flares.

4) Remove the rocker mouldings, clean, wire, ospho, prime and paint any surface rust. Pop out the little plastic screw anchors and inspect around them for rust. Mouldings themselves are likely already rusting and you really shouldn't put them back if they are so start hunting for replacements or order new ones.

5) Remove the front fender flares and do same as for the rears.

6) Remove bolts holding the bottom of the front fenders between the door and wheel well. Carefully pull the bottom of the fender out just slightly and be prepared for a whole bunch of shit to fall out, leaves, mud clods, etc. Clean that area and make sure the sunroof drain tube ends are clear. Spray inside of fender with rustproofing and put everything back together.

7) Remove the windshield wipers and the cowl panel trim. Clean out all the shit under there. Inspect, stop any surface rust already starting as before and replace.

8) Remove sunroof panel. Remove edging/gasket from sunroof panel. Wire and prime the edges where rust is starting under the edging. Mix up some JB Weld alittle at a time and apply to the edge of the panel all the way around to completely seal up where the inner and outter panels are sandwiched together. Allow to harden. Replace edging. Use a little compressed air (don't blow the tubes apart) to make sure all four sunroof drain tubes are clear. Replace the sunroof.

9) On 84 and earlier models, remove the rear window glass per the TSRM. Stop any rust already starting under the gasket as before. JB Weld to all the perimeter of the "pinch-weld" where the window gasket seats. Get a tube of windshield sealant - not the urethane kind that they use to glue in front windshields, just the gooey-rubbery kind. Run a bead of sealant around the perimeter of the pinch-weld. Now reseat the window and gasket as per the TSRM. It will get messy as the sealant oozes out and gets on your hands, etc. but it will wipe off the paint readily before it drys in a few hours - cover your hatch carpet tho.

10) From the inside of the quarter panel you can reach up and feel almost 3/4 of the way around the fuel filler door area. This is basically glued to the inside of the quarter panel and has a stupid, assinine ridge all the way around that seems designed to catch condensation running off the inside of the metal panel. You can put some of that same window sealant on your finger and reach up in there and seal/fill in that ridge so it doesn't catch the condensation. Now put the tools back in, reassemble rear cargo area, reinstall drain plugs.

11) Inspect all the weatherstripping and replace any thats not sealing like it should to help keep moisture out of the car.

Of course if you find rust all the way through anywhere, then you are too late and you will need to do some real body work, like cutting and welding.

Now if you do all these things then you'll basically halt the body rusting process. For maintenance, just pressure wash your undercarriage a few times a season and use a car cover to keep leaves out of the nooks and crannys, then you should get another 20 years rust-free. If you want to apply some rustproofing to the underside of the car, there are spray on types like ziebart that are designed just for that, but god I hate working on cars that have been treated cause that shit just gets all over you when you have to work under the car, flakes fall off in your eyes, hair, rubs off on your arms, etc. I suspect that with the bedliner stuff, you really need to put in a whole lot of time in surface preparation to get good adhesion and you shouldn't try to put it on over any existing undercoating as it would not stick to old tar-based undercoatings for sure.

[Jack Daniels]

thx i have as yet to see much rust but i want to start restoring the body i planded on using a sand blaster on the under carrage when i pull the motor for the turbo swap i want to totaly repaint the car top to bottom

[Greg G]

http://www.por15.com/

(sorry I didnt feel as verbose as Phil tonight).

[CarFreek]

Heyyyyyyy-Mods-Any way to put Phils answer in Resto as a sticky?

[rsdeo]

These cars rust from the inside out more than anything. If you are serious about halting the rust, you should also do the following (I think even more important than applying undercoating):

1) Remove the rear fender flares (you'll see why while your doing #2)

2) remove the jack and tools and the rear washer bag and antenna from the rear quarters, pull the drain plugs from underneath and thoroughly clean out those areas, allow to drain, spritz in a little ospho solution and let sit for 15 minutes or so, rinse again and then blow it out with compressed air and make sure it completely dry - now spray inside the quarters with an aerosol rustproofing be sure to spray all the way up and around the gas filler area too. Don't put it back together yet.

3) If you were paying attention during #2, you would have noticed that water was coming out of the seam at the back of the rear wheel well opening. After you've cleaned all the crud from around the wheel well under the flare and behind the fender roll, seal up that leaky seam you spotted earlier with body sealer from an auto body supply or I have even used JB Weld. Wire brush, Ospho, prime and paint any surface rust spots already started under the fender flares, particularly paying attention to around the bolt holes and then replace the flares.

4) Remove the rocker mouldings, clean, wire, ospho, prime and paint any surface rust. Pop out the little plastic screw anchors and inspect around them for rust. Mouldings themselves are likely already rusting and you really shouldn't put them back if they are so start hunting for replacements or order new ones.

5) Remove the front fender flares and do same as for the rears.

6) Remove bolts holding the bottom of the front fenders between the door and wheel well. Carefully pull the bottom of the fender out just slightly and be prepared for a whole bunch of shit to fall out, leaves, mud clods, etc. Clean that area and make sure the sunroof drain tube ends are clear. Spray inside of fender with rustproofing and put everything back together.

7) Remove the windshield wipers and the cowl panel trim. Clean out all the shit under there. Inspect, stop any surface rust already starting as before and replace.

8) Remove sunroof panel. Remove edging/gasket from sunroof panel. Wire and prime the edges where rust is starting under the edging. Mix up some JB Weld alittle at a time and apply to the edge of the panel all the way around to completely seal up where the inner and outter panels are sandwiched together. Allow to harden. Replace edging. Use a little compressed air (don't blow the tubes apart) to make sure all four sunroof drain tubes are clear. Replace the sunroof.

9) On 84 and earlier models, remove the rear window glass per the TSRM. Stop any rust already starting under the gasket as before. JB Weld to all the perimeter of the "pinch-weld" where the window gasket seats. Get a tube of windshield sealant - not the urethane kind that they use to glue in front windshields, just the gooey-rubbery kind. Run a bead of sealant around the perimeter of the pinch-weld. Now reseat the window and gasket as per the TSRM. It will get messy as the sealant oozes out and gets on your hands, etc. but it will wipe off the paint readily before it drys in a few hours - cover your hatch carpet tho.

10) From the inside of the quarter panel you can reach up and feel almost 3/4 of the way around the fuel filler door area. This is basically glued to the inside of the quarter panel and has a stupid, assinine ridge all the way around that seems designed to catch condensation running off the inside of the metal panel. You can put some of that same window sealant on your finger and reach up in there and seal/fill in that ridge so it doesn't catch the condensation. Now put the tools back in, reassemble rear cargo area, reinstall drain plugs.

11) Inspect all the weatherstripping and replace any thats not sealing like it should to help keep moisture out of the car.

Of course if you find rust all the way through anywhere, then you are too late and you will need to do some real body work, like cutting and welding.

Now if you do all these things then you'll basically halt the body rusting process. For maintenance, just pressure wash your undercarriage a few times a season and use a car cover to keep leaves out of the nooks and crannys, then you should get another 20 years rust-free. If you want to apply some rustproofing to the underside of the car, there are spray on types like ziebart that are designed just for that, but god I hate working on cars that have been treated cause that shit just gets all over you when you have to work under the car, flakes fall off in your eyes, hair, rubs off on your arms, etc. I suspect that with the bedliner stuff, you really need to put in a whole lot of time in surface preparation to get good adhesion and you shouldn't try to put it on over any existing undercoating as it would not stick to old tar-based undercoatings for sure.


This should be a sticky.

[Tire Shredder]

it would be awsome if we could assemble all the rust killing knowledge into one place. I know the FAQ has some but an indepth write up would be awsome for all the new members with pictures especially.

[Greg G]

This should be a sticky.

Phil's post made me sticky :woot:

[jdk_ii]

http://www.por15.com/

(sorry I didnt feel as verbose as Phil tonight).

This stuff rocks.

Works best on surfaces that are not exposed to UV light.

[jdk_ii]

and this stuff rocks for undercoating.

3m rubberized undercoating (http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/en001/auto_marine_aero/automotive_aftermarket/node_1WGT0QN08Sgs/root_GST1T4S9TCgv/vroot_GSLPLPKL4Xge/bgel_19MNFMCQP3bl/gvel_6DTWTJQPBBgl/theme_us_aad_3_0/command_AbcPageHandler/output_html)

[85supra_ftw]

Rust is evil.

the only way to resto any car from rust is to tear it down, wire brush it (or cut and weld), prime and paint (or seal). its long hard time consuming work no question about it.

[Tire Shredder]

Jim, how durable is that undercoating? When I eventually restore a car, I plan on taking the entire underside to bare metal and painting with something like rust bullet. I was thinking I would apply herculiner truck bed liner overtop of the paint to ensure livetime protection from water and crud. How does this 3m coating compare? the aerosol would be convenient.

[jdk_ii]

Jim, how durable is that undercoating? When I eventually restore a car, I plan on taking the entire underside to bare metal and painting with something like rust bullet. I was thinking I would apply herculiner truck bed liner overtop of the paint to ensure livetime protection from water and crud. How does this 3m coating compare? the aerosol would be convenient.

Not really advisable to take a car to bare metal, unless removing rust.

The galvanizing primer factories use is far superior to what you can get in a can
(either spray or to put in a spray gun).

3M rubberized is nice as it really does not dry out like other undercoating.

[StanS]

"The galvanizing primer factories use is far superior to what you can get in a can
(either spray or to put in a spray gun)."

That's on everything but a mk2. Think toy forgot that step.

[jdk_ii]

"The galvanizing primer factories use is far superior to what you can get in a can
(either spray or to put in a spray gun)."

That's on everything but a mk2. Think toy forgot that step.
actually they did.

their refinement of recycled steel <=86 was substandard.

[pdupler]

I don't know when Toyota started using various technology, but at some point somebody invented weldable primer which means that the primer doesn't burn away for a whole inch around every spot weld and also, steel started coming with the primer "coil coated" which means that the primer is applied to the roll of sheet steel before its even stamped into the shape of a fender. These were major advancements.

[StanS]

2000 members will attest that this definitely occured after 86