irishws6

Greetings fellow car lovers,
Hope im posting in the right section here.
Car is currently stored for the winter in my garage atop heavy duty plastic.
Git down underneath today to have a look around and was suprised by the level if rust present on undercarraige.
I purchased the car a year ago, with 55k miles and it hasn't seen the rain since, the previous owner drove it year round but it is still immaculate topside- paint like new.
Its been a NY car all her life and im sure the salt has taken its toll, im seening patches of rust which has bubbled and peppering of rust throughout, any suggestions on cleaning this mess up before she gets worse?
Black car with greenish underbody paint here, the exhaust is completely covered as is the rear end

FirstYrLS1Z

iTrader: (4)

I'm in northern Ohio and have to put up with salt. When the weather breaks,get under and hose out any residual salt remnants. Rust will hold moisture and salt.
Remove heavy rust down to the surface rust and coat/paint with POR15 or equivalent.
POR15 requires the surface rust layer with its' moisture content to bond.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

55K miles is a lot for the underside. My car was rusted on the underside in less than 10K miles and 1 year from the factory.

Every little pebble and stone on the road that kicks up will scratch paint and invite rust, even in environments with no salt. (Salt will just help accelerate things.) Roads essentially sand blast the underside of the car - winter or summer.

I intend to keep my car for a long time and the plan is to take the body off in the next few years, re-paint and undercoat the body and then powder coat the frame.

Until you are ready to do something radical, I'd hold off on treatment. If you try to refinish parts, you'll take off the factory-applied rust inhibitor and the rust will just come back faster. (Unless you don't drive it.)

irishws6

The more i investigate the more i see the rust is indeed common on the east coast cars. In regards por-15 can i apply it over the painted areas also on the undercarriage- floorboards, seatwells etc.
Ive heard it wont adhere to painted surfaces?
Id love to do a full body off resto in the future but would also like to address this asap

trans damm

iTrader: (5)

Pics?

ThrelkeldsZ

I'm almost scared to check the underside of my car now since its a Washington car lol

irishws6

Pics tonight, the rear end is like a titanic relic, and the exhaust welds have rust, the body/floor panals have peppered rust spots( tiny) and a few larger areas.
I never but the car through automatic car washes nor did the previous owner thus salt is still sitting on the underside. I can actually see white spots all over the green undercoat/ treatment paint which is clearly salt crystals which i now want to wash asap.

irishws6

If i go the por route, whats the process wash/ degrease, then the por 1st( marine clean) and second step( etch) sand grind the loose, and paint the por on, or sand grind then degrease and then apply marine clean, etch and por?
How about an application or aspho, and follow it with another product like rustoleum hammered etc???

irishws6

Ok so i picked up the por15 today along with the marine clean, and the metal ready.
In regards application of these two is there a time window i have to follow to apply the por paint- if i wash and prep today can i paint next week or does the paint need to be applied asap? Also in regards the clean areas will the por bond to non rusted sheet metals on underside

1 FMF

iTrader: (1)

if you have marine clean and metal ready, then you're going to marine clean whatever with hot water and rinse and let dry. then apply the metal-ready with a brush which will etch the metal and leave a phosphate coating as a primer. you have to rinse off the metal-ready then let dry. after that as long as the surface doesn't get dirty or contaminated from the environment you should be good. for non-rusted metal if it's shiny that's what you want to use the metal-ready on to promote best adhesion of por-15 paint.

i painted a new rear axle with por-15, and it was a week later after doing the metal-ready rinse when i applied the paint. there is a time window when applying the paint so it doesn't cure on you in the can, read the instructions. it helps to refrigerate opened cans and even paint from a can that's been refrigerated, gives you a little longer working time if you need it. i bought the 6-pack mini cans, and only used 1/2 of one can to do the rear axle two coats.

irishws6

Thank you 1 fmf, ive took some pics will try and up load, didnt look as bad now that ive investaged and saw other cars in worse condition !!!
Just wana try and keep this beauty the best i can.
So should i wash it first with regular soap to remove salt, greese etc or just use to marine clean to tackle all under there?

irishws6

here are pics as you can rear end is a rust bucket, the body upon second inspection is mainly surface rust with heavier corrosion around joints and seams, you can also see the white salt corrision in the seams.
funny enough the whole front end from the firewall forward is spotless, not a pinhole size of rust, obviously the previous owner washed out the front wheel wells and engine area frequently.

irishws6

one more,
as you can see it looks mainly surface, however the exhaust is bad also, the bolts and clamps are rotten, plan is to remove all the heat shields and any support parts that are bolted on, sand scrape and scuff all surfaces to be painted -im going to stop where the frame meets the engine mounts as i dont want to paint up into the front wheel well.

irishws6

Any advice on rubber seals- on rear end cv joints etc, would the metel ready eat through them?? Also is it possible to remove and reinstall the rubber plugs in the seat and truck wells