Rust Proofing for 2004 !

EdLancer

EdLancer

New member
I thought I should start another rust proofing thread for 2004 since there hasn't been one yet and winter is fast approaching for those of us unlucky enough not to live in a sun trenched warm paradise.



How, what and where do you guys RP your cars ?



I just had my done at Walmart, don't laugh since this is my third vehicle that has been rusted proofed at Walmarts and the product has held up very well after annual inspection of the undercarrige ! I was there watching them do it and they did a very good job for the price. I paided $39.95cdn($29.95 this year as they made a mistake in price !) to have the enitre undercarriage and wheel wells sprayed with SuperTech rust proofing. I would suggest that you find a specfic Walmart location that does it well as not all will do the same quality work as I have experienced especially now with the busy tire changing season is underway most will try to rush their way through the job. As a technically inclined individual, I'am very satisfied with the product and quality of work done for this price range.



I know there more expensive options like RustCheck, Ziebart and Krown, but I hate the idea of them drilling holes in my brand new car so I opted for only the undercarriage treatment and I bought a can of RustCheck red to do the door panels myself without drilling holes by inserting the straw through the window molding and exsisting holes around the door.



In a recent CAA(AAA) survey, the best rust proofing treament was awarded to a local little business called Barney's Rust Proofing who charges between $250-$650 to do an entire car, he does not drill any holes in the car, but removes the panels instead and he uses a black type of grease that will stay on the car for at least 2-3 years before the next application. The big names such as Krown and RustCheck only score moderately well agaisnt Barney.
 
If they spray inside your doors, you better be sure they do not plug up the drain holes in the bottom of the doors! Ziebart plugged up mine and I did not know it and the Suburban eventually rusted from the inside out! Many years ago Popular Mechanic ran an issue that stated that you should not rust proof inside doors by drilling holes and spraying inside.
 
GM at one time stated that if you had aftermarket rust proofing and you experienced rust perforation the warranty would not cover it. And at the same time Consumers report would not recommend or recommend it because there were more cons than pros .. that was in 93 .
 
yankees1 said:
If they spray inside your doors, you better be sure they do not plug up the drain holes in the bottom of the doors! Ziebart plugged up mine and I did not know it and the Suburban eventually rusted from the inside out! Many years ago Popular Mechanic ran an issue that stated that you should not rust proof inside doors by drilling holes and spraying inside.
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Nah, I use RustCheck red, it doesn't block holes and is very liquid and creeps into the tightest fold and bends.



www.rustcheck.com



GM at one time stated that if you had aftermarket rust proofing and you experienced rust perforation the warranty would not cover it. And at the same time Consumers report would not recommend or recommend it because there were more cons than pros .. that was in 93 .



GM should not be talking casue they proberly have the worst corrosion protection of all the makes. 99.9% of GM cars will rust at the bottom end of the door where the zinc coating does not cover after the sheet metal has been sheared off during manufacturing and the lousy robot applied caulking is much to be desired, sometimes I wonder why they even apply caulking when the beads are not even sealing the seams properly.
 
EdLancer- Thank you for the information and your insightsâ€Â¦/



Glad its worked out for you
 
I used to won a Ziebart and would advise AGAINST using them. There is no need for the product these days and as stated if applied incorrectly can block drainage holes and actually lead to rusting.
 
Also for what its worth in todays world a well washed car that is rinsed thoroughly regularly will have very few rusting issues. The washing / rinsing flushes away the catalysts that promote the rust. Another point .. once the temperature is below freezing rusting comes to a halt.



As for the 99.9% of GM cars rusting out .. I must have gotten lucky with the 8 or 9 that I have had and they all landed in the 0.01%.



I know .. your going to say its winter and cold out and I don't want to scratch my car .. well $2 and the spray wand using only rinse water to remove as much of the crud off the car and giving the drain channels a good rinse is better than letting the crud sit in/on there and do its work.



I'll spend the $40 on car washes.
 
This company makes a good rust decontamination /protection product - Finish Kare1119/883 Paint Decontamination



I think they have a contributer that may be able to tell us more.



I'm in Florida 'Rust, what's that?' LOL
 
Jesstzn said:
As for the 99.9% of GM cars rusting out .. I must have gotten lucky with the 8 or 9 that I have had and they all landed in the 0.01%.
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I have to agree with this. As an owner of a few GM's, and having family members own them for forever, I've only had one car that developed any rust on it. It was a 1987 Celebrity that rusted on the lower edge of the passenger door, and many cars from the 80's rusted from all manufacturers.
 
Yeah, I've skipped the undercoating since the mid-eighties too. I expect my newer Audis and Japanese vehicles to remain rust-free, but FWIW, I've looked at a *lot* of Caprice 9C1s from salty-winter states and even with the questionable cosmetic maintenance that copcars get, they are almost always quite rust-free. Might've been something unique to the 91-up GM b-bodies in general (heh heh, "Built in Texas by Texans" as the sticker on the door says :D ); most Buick Roadmasters I see are pretty good in this regard too. But I see plenty of rusted out F-bodies, Cavaliers, and others.
 
So, what's everyone's take on those electronic rust inhibitors? From what I've read, it's a snake oil but I seem recall Car and Driving giving it there thumbs up.



Ed... great thread! I was debating whether to get our EL rust proofed by Rust Check this year (it's a 2003) as we skipped it last year.



Paco
 
My old 92 cavalier was a rust bucket but that was because of the shotty repair work after 2 accidents.



My mom's 97 Z24 doesn't have a spot or even hint of rust on it and it's never been rust proofed. Granted, the last 2 years it's been getting the Zaino retreatment every 4-6 months but still ...



My fiance 97 Z24 (purchased used) only has a rust spot on the hood that is a result of a paint chip. Never been rust proofed. She never waxed it until we moved in together a few years back.



I'm leaning towards not but my mom will be trading the Z24 for a Mazda 3 GT/GFX this week and I'm not going to get a chance to detail it often so I'm still undecided.



The warranty thing doesn't bother me as I would be doing it as a preventative thing. I doubt very highly any of these aftermarket business would honour a warranty anyway.



Paco
 
Hey ED, good post!

We have the same avatar (the lil' PC picture)...when I opened this thread up I thought I wrote it....I was sitting here scratching my head thinking "Man, I must have written this a while ago..I don't remember it at all..." "D'OH"



:)
 
Since all non-mechanical corrosion is electrochemical, electrochemical methods are routinely used to prevent corrosion in pipelines and other metal structures. A fellow student in my corrosion class asked the prof about protecting a car with this method and the prof said that is was not a practical solution since you would have to maintain the potential on the car at all times. So I doubt that the product you mention would work well, if at all. You see similar products everywhere; somebody gains a vague understanding of a physical phenomenon then develops a product around the idea and markets it to people with even less knowledge on the subject. Do you remember the dude in a thread last week from a company selling a new wax that could be used on exhausts? He said he had a chemist working for them and he developed a polymer that would protect the exhaust up to 1200F or so. I was going to ask the dude how much he was paying his chemist to keep the discovery a secret instead of going out and collecting the nobel prize in chemistry!



Through correct design (no places that can trap moisture) and material selection, corrosion can be mostly eliminated in cars. Galavanization has been proven effective for many, many years, but most manufactures just don't care about rust. For example, my '86 porsche 951 was galvanized from the factory and it lived outside in iowa and illinois for most of its life. It has zero rust. When I purchased it in high school the quarter panel was damaged and the paint was completely gone in a good size area. It didn't rust at all in the 3 years it was like that until I could afford to have the entire car repainted (paint was very abused by POs).



P.S. sorry for the long rant, and going slightly off-topic...
 
TOGWT said:
This company makes a good rust decontamination /protection product - Finish Kare1119/883 Paint Decontamination



I think they have a contributer that may be able to tell us more.



I'm in Florida 'Rust, what's that?' LOL
Click to expand...



That product is for the purpose of removal of Industrial Fallout (AKA Rail Dust) and has nothing to do with rust prevention or protection. Very good products for their intended purpose though.
 
ShineShop said:
That product is for the purpose of removal of Industrial Fallout (AKA Rail Dust) and has nothing to do with rust prevention or protection. Very good products for their intended purpose though.
Click to expand...



~One manâ€â„¢s opinion / observations~



Perhaps I misunderstood as I was under the impression that #1119 Soil/Coating Remover and #883 Steel Iron Rust Remover and that combined the (Finish Kare1119/883 Paint Decontamination) was a complete paint decontamination / protection system



I guess it would have to be followed with a rust inhibitor (POR-15® )



Thanks for the insights..



~Hope this helps~



Knowledge unshared is experience wasted [each one / teach one]

justadumbarchitect / so I question everything/ JonM
 
paco said:
So, what's everyone's take on those electronic rust inhibitors? From what I've read, it's a snake oil but I seem recall Car and Driving giving it there thumbs up.
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Those were very big around here for a while- I've seen them on a lot of rusty cars. Meanwhile, my "just washed properly" cars have remained rust-free (including the '85 Jag that was originally driven year-round, *before* I had a garage). They might work well for immobile structures or in some specific applications, but I've yet to see them work on cars.



Just find a way to wash the salt/etc. off- and remember that "regular" dirt will hold moisture too. Once the temps rise above freezing you really need to have everything clean on a regular basis.
 
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