7,092mi undercarriage detaling, how far should i go????
03-06-2010, 10:11 PM
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7,092mi undercarriage detaling, how far should i go???? ok, car in sig. granted, with 7,092 miles, one would expect a flawless underside, but far from it. most of my problem lies with the thin to non-existant chassis paint GM used on suspension and crossmember parts. of course rear axle and spindles were never painted, but now my control arms (front) struts and shocks, springs, sway bars, sway bar links, link brackets, and eng cradle all have a nice layer of rust. this also includes the mounting bolts to most of these pieces. floorboards look very nice overall, a few spot welds and around the rubber grommets have just noticable surface rust (mostly small dots) due to no paint coverage. to be honest, my 99 2500 suburban (100,000mi) looks way better underneath than the T/A. most of this has happened due to sweating at the previous owners garage. i have a couple of ideas, they suck:
1-pull (actually drop) eng/trans/rear disasemble lines/hoses/wiring off bottom, and paint entire bottom floorboards to a shade of red. i can't stand a "blackout" job. gm did a really poor job getting paint on the bottom. a lot of it is grey epd coating. pull eng/trans/steering off of crossmembers, sand and paint crossmembers, control arms, rear diff, springs, bars, spindles with por-15 or similar product. with a new baby here, i can estimate time to complete 1-2 YEARS!!! maybe more.
2-pull rear. use roof rafter to support eng, lower cradle and suspension (front and rear) and attack as mentioned above. leave floorboards alone. i don't know if rafters in garage can support much more weight, especially for extended period of time.
i think it will really erk me if i do option 2, and do nothing to the floorboards. much to my suprise, wife says we are keeping car for the long run, so would like to be done once and finished. do you guys have any other ideas or suggestions? if i do option 1, whats the point of dropping eng/trans and putting back stock?
this will inevetably draw out the time frame from my projection, but much easier to do the work (h/c/i, pump, chain, clutch, LT's, new exhaust, springs, struts/shocks, sway bars, rotors).car is paid for, but we don't have the money to tackle all at one time. spray paint is one thing, a few thousand dollars for mods is another, especially with 2 month old baby now. i don't drive the car that much, but when i do, i expect the best. i want this car to last many, many years. lets hear some ideas!!!
1-pull (actually drop) eng/trans/rear disasemble lines/hoses/wiring off bottom, and paint entire bottom floorboards to a shade of red. i can't stand a "blackout" job. gm did a really poor job getting paint on the bottom. a lot of it is grey epd coating. pull eng/trans/steering off of crossmembers, sand and paint crossmembers, control arms, rear diff, springs, bars, spindles with por-15 or similar product. with a new baby here, i can estimate time to complete 1-2 YEARS!!! maybe more.
2-pull rear. use roof rafter to support eng, lower cradle and suspension (front and rear) and attack as mentioned above. leave floorboards alone. i don't know if rafters in garage can support much more weight, especially for extended period of time.
i think it will really erk me if i do option 2, and do nothing to the floorboards. much to my suprise, wife says we are keeping car for the long run, so would like to be done once and finished. do you guys have any other ideas or suggestions? if i do option 1, whats the point of dropping eng/trans and putting back stock?
this will inevetably draw out the time frame from my projection, but much easier to do the work (h/c/i, pump, chain, clutch, LT's, new exhaust, springs, struts/shocks, sway bars, rotors).car is paid for, but we don't have the money to tackle all at one time. spray paint is one thing, a few thousand dollars for mods is another, especially with 2 month old baby now. i don't drive the car that much, but when i do, i expect the best. i want this car to last many, many years. lets hear some ideas!!! 
03-06-2010, 11:14 PM
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well.. i have 0 experience with actually keeping cars stock. But that being said, option one definitely makes me think of the barrett-jackson-undercar-magnaflow-cam. If youre a perfectionist, like a lot of us seem to be, itll probably bug you having one of the few sub 5 digit odo 4th gens out there and still being rusty like that (im lucky to have an az car).
As far as the second part, is it worth modding a car with that few miles? obviously you're gonna have to play the waiting game for a while to get a good return on a car like that, but we all know modding lowers the value, even with that low mileage.
id say if you have to tickle the mod spot only do stuff thats 100% re-stock-able, and keep that shiz in the attic
As far as the second part, is it worth modding a car with that few miles? obviously you're gonna have to play the waiting game for a while to get a good return on a car like that, but we all know modding lowers the value, even with that low mileage.
id say if you have to tickle the mod spot only do stuff thats 100% re-stock-able, and keep that shiz in the attic
03-07-2010, 06:33 AM
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100% agree about mods, but some were already done by the time i got the car. i have all the org parts except filters, wipers, battery. i don't know if i really look at this car as a "long term investment." i know that sounds silly, but how many people buy cars everyday costing over 20k they drive and totally wear out, losing their value everyday. keeping totally stock sucks! the only things i really can't put back so far is the bg ram air kit (remove stock baffles in ram air hood) and the org exhaust was cut to remove from axle area. still got the parts though. i'm not to concerned about keeping a 100+ point car. besides, when most people restore cars, even to stock, the underside looks a million times better than when orginally built. rotissery restorations make life easy, and many do a base/clear and coat everything underneath with loads of paint. factory never did that and the value of those old cars done like this is way up. everything else can be put back. in 20 years just think of it as re-building a nice low miles car with used parts with only 7000 miles on them! i won't have to worry about countless hours on ebay trying to find stock parts everybody else throws away! really all in all i'm just trying to make the car look better. still looking for more suggestions...
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03-07-2010, 09:14 PM
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pwterz28, that looks good. did you repaint the floors, or did they come that way? that color is so close to the epd coating, you can't tell the difference. unfortunatley, red isn't that lucky.
revelation z28, that's my thoughts completley, but i do have 30k collector car insurance coverage, so a good mishap could in well $$$!!
i think my wife and i have come to a compromise. i remembered i had an empty axle housing that will work for this car. need to beef up rear anyway, so blast it, paint it, fill it with good stuff. can easily do one piece at a time. plan on next winter/spring install. when i pull the rear, work on trans crossmember, rear sway bar, back half of exhaust. put in good mounts. decide then what to do about floors (paint or leave alone) at that time. if no paint, leave until the next winter/spring to do front half: cradle, suspension.
if paint, work on floors up to trans and stop. then next winter/spring drop rest of drivetrain, paint floors and everything else, re-assemble.
wish me luck...
revelation z28, that's my thoughts completley, but i do have 30k collector car insurance coverage, so a good mishap could in well $$$!!
i think my wife and i have come to a compromise. i remembered i had an empty axle housing that will work for this car. need to beef up rear anyway, so blast it, paint it, fill it with good stuff. can easily do one piece at a time. plan on next winter/spring install. when i pull the rear, work on trans crossmember, rear sway bar, back half of exhaust. put in good mounts. decide then what to do about floors (paint or leave alone) at that time. if no paint, leave until the next winter/spring to do front half: cradle, suspension.
if paint, work on floors up to trans and stop. then next winter/spring drop rest of drivetrain, paint floors and everything else, re-assemble.
wish me luck...
03-07-2010, 09:25 PM
#10
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I was under my mom's '02 SS with ~16800 miles for the first time the other day. I was a little surprised with some of the items that are allowed to surface rust as well. I don't really have any suggestions, but I can say that it bothers me too.
03-08-2010, 06:32 AM
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in hindsight, i really wonder if driving the car in everyday conditions without cleaning would allow a layer of road film to coat and enevetabley protect the underside a little more. or maybe it's just thin, non-existant chassis paint. either way it's sad. the northern half of US has enough trouble with rust, i'm sure the couple of extra bucks cost for heavier paint could have been reflected in the price tag. the above mentioned suburban in first post came from fort worth tx last june. it looks spotless under there. i won't drive it in the rain either if i can keep from it. it WILL NOT go onto salty roads, we will take another vehicle.
the thought of evenly painted red underside to match the car just makes me smile. i don't need gloss, just basecoat would be fine. i don't need chrome underneath. i just want it to look like what the factory SHOULD HAVE done. i guess they don't want cars to last forever, besides the government is in the new car business. BOYS-LAY DOWN THE SALT!!!! we need rusty cars to make sales on new cars.
since i have posted all of this, i think it would be fair to say this paticular car came from michigan, about an hour east of lansing. he didn't drive the car in bad weather, matter of fact the wipers have never been turned on, and there are no marks in the windsheild to prove that. it's only been wet twice-the day i drove it home to southern indiana from michigan, it rained for 3 or 4 hours straight. luckily there was enough polish on the glass not to need wipers. by the time we pulled in the drive it quit. the next day i took it to the car wash because we drove thru road construction and the car was a mess. most/all of the rust accumulated while sitting in a un-heated garage while sweating when warmer temps arrived, at least that's my therory. i'll try to post some pics later
the thought of evenly painted red underside to match the car just makes me smile. i don't need gloss, just basecoat would be fine. i don't need chrome underneath. i just want it to look like what the factory SHOULD HAVE done. i guess they don't want cars to last forever, besides the government is in the new car business. BOYS-LAY DOWN THE SALT!!!! we need rusty cars to make sales on new cars.
since i have posted all of this, i think it would be fair to say this paticular car came from michigan, about an hour east of lansing. he didn't drive the car in bad weather, matter of fact the wipers have never been turned on, and there are no marks in the windsheild to prove that. it's only been wet twice-the day i drove it home to southern indiana from michigan, it rained for 3 or 4 hours straight. luckily there was enough polish on the glass not to need wipers. by the time we pulled in the drive it quit. the next day i took it to the car wash because we drove thru road construction and the car was a mess. most/all of the rust accumulated while sitting in a un-heated garage while sweating when warmer temps arrived, at least that's my therory. i'll try to post some pics later
03-08-2010, 09:37 AM
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Here is mine.. When I first got the car I por15'd everything underneath with a brush, very easy to do... I just removed the wheels, taped up the things I didn't want to get paint on and went away.. The por15 really works great and is easy to use. Car only has 12,500 miles..
03-08-2010, 10:56 AM
#14
In the mean time, maybe prep the cars sleeping quarters a bit better if you notice the car sweating a fair amount off the concrete. I personally put down a 2-ply layer of 6 mil plastic on the floor, followed that up with 4x8x3/4" plywood, and then a few old front door carpets we had laying around that we no longer use. This gives about an inch lift on the tires off the ground, stops a lot of the sweat, but you do have to still check at times.
Maybe start with a detail and see how clean it comes
Maybe start with a detail and see how clean it comes
03-08-2010, 09:42 PM
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i should have also stated most of my rust was already present before my purchase. NDFORSPD, i've already looked into some of your idea, and i have come across some good used carpet. i also incorporate a de-humidifier where my car sits. it keeps most of the moisture off the concrete at that area. i did do a detail last spring, but i wanted to drive it a little and let it back down. now that we have a new baby, this might be the perfect time to do it since he won't be riding in it anytime soon. i'll wait until he can appreciate it a little!
SOMSS1LE, yours looks good in those pics. you didn't touch the floors from what i can see-any regrets? how well does the brush on really lay out when dry? the axle looks good, but they are far from smooth to begin with.
anybody else with after pics?
thanks guys!!!!
SOMSS1LE, yours looks good in those pics. you didn't touch the floors from what i can see-any regrets? how well does the brush on really lay out when dry? the axle looks good, but they are far from smooth to begin with.
anybody else with after pics?
thanks guys!!!!
03-08-2010, 10:25 PM
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here's mine with 127k miles on it. I still think it looks pretty damn good. i think my car might have been rustproofed under there. It helps that it was a southern car and has never been driven through a single northern winter.
the muffler is new, and those gray marks on the bumper are actually dirt which i wiped off after i saw it in the pic.
the muffler is new, and those gray marks on the bumper are actually dirt which i wiped off after i saw it in the pic.
03-09-2010, 10:37 AM
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I didn't realize the topic starter was dealing with lots of rust til now. I thought he was just trying to prevent a minor amount.
I saw a '93 V6 Camaro come up for sale on ebay a year or so ago with 1845 miles on it, but it was stored in a shed or something on top of dirt/grass I bet. It was horrifyingly rusty.
For comparison's sake, here's my mom's '02 SS with ~16800 miles. It's getting all of its fluids changed and a few other things, so it's not exactly spotless. In fact, it's covered in water spots underneath.
I saw a '93 V6 Camaro come up for sale on ebay a year or so ago with 1845 miles on it, but it was stored in a shed or something on top of dirt/grass I bet. It was horrifyingly rusty.
For comparison's sake, here's my mom's '02 SS with ~16800 miles. It's getting all of its fluids changed and a few other things, so it's not exactly spotless. In fact, it's covered in water spots underneath.
03-09-2010, 11:43 AM
#20
