Undercarriage rust

maxter

New member
Accumulator, I understand that you have used Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator. I just applied some to the undercarriage, I have small pockets of rust mainly on welded joints. RE was easy to apply, the only problem was getting under the vehicle. How would you handle areas of rust that run between joints/panels. You can treat what you see, but I worrie about what I can't see. :nixweiss There are other products out there like Rust Check that claim their products seep into cracks & crevices to stop rust. Would appreciate your thoughts.
 
I had concerns like this on the RX-7. Brake fluid leaked into the subframe rails and I knew it'd stripped off everything inside there, causing rust. No way to get in there to treat things "properly".



I first sprayed a rust dissolver (Oxy-Solve) up in there. Over and over. I rinsed the initial applications with water but then did the last few with a solvent (maybe not as good but the idea of water on bare metal bugged me). Consider doing this if you're sure there's a lot of rust up in the areas in question. Probably not an absolute necessity though. Anyhow, then I did the stuff that IMO really matters:



I sprayed inside the rails (and in other inaccessible areas) with AutoInt's Rust Inhibitor. It's a tan colored waxy/oily material that seems to "creep" well, getting into nooks and crannies like the stuff you were thinking about. I did it outside on a warm/hot day and I used a lot of the stuff.



After it'd set up for a while (two days IIRC) I wiped off the excess that'd run out onto visible areas. Then I coated *everything* with Eastwood's black undercoating (not the rubberized stuff, but rather the rust-proofer style stuff). It dried pretty well, far less tacky than I'd expected. I basically painted the whole undercarriage/wheelwells/etc. with the undercoating, only avoiding plastic, hot-surface areas, and other things that seemed obvious.



If I ever get the Caprice back from the shop :rolleyes: I plan to do this exact same procedure on the inaccessible areas on that car. Places like the thin gap between the top of the framerails and the bottom of the floorpan. I bet that's the sort of thing you're thinking about.
 
Accumulator: Thanks for the info. :bigups I contacted Eastwood. They recommended using their undercoating gun #16003. This may be an overkill in my situation, not to mention the cost of their products,taxes & delivery. 1st I'm going to checkout the items you mention & I may also look into Eastwoods spray Rust Encapsulator (not the spray gun). If I go this route, the RE paint that I bought 2 weeks ago plus the spray would cost me $ 100. If these products work it will be well worth it. Again appreciate your reply. :)
 
My pleasure. I have an undercoating gun, but decided to go with the spray cans of the Eastwood undercoating. Either way oughta work just fine. Make sure you have plenty of pressure if you spray it, it takes higher pressure than regular paint (or at least the AutoInt stuff I have does).
 
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