i'm thinking of undercoating rust proofing my car. yay or nay?
 

should i undercoat/rust proof my car? over at the chevy dealership its a total of $299 to have it undercoated and rust proofed. but heres the thing, i'm not sure if my t/a's already touched salt and shit. i dont know if the previous owner drove it in snow. should i do it? or is it too late? how can i get rid of rust? would this job prevent existing rust from growing? i dont even know if i have rust. lastly, are there any cons for having a car thats undercoated/rust proofed? and arent these cars already rust proofed and coated? thanks.

If you plan on keeping it for a while and driving in the winter conditions, I say yea do it. As long as it's done properly you shouldn't have any problems.

Shouldn't need it imo.

I have seen done before. If the installer takes their time and has attention to detail it looks and preforms great. I would say if you plan on driving in salty/wet conditions a great deal go for it.

Look at the stuff called POR it woulds good to kill rust and is pretty scuff resistant, you can put it on yourself also.

salt water finds its way into anything...... just keep it away from salt and save your money

The body is fully treated from the factory and won't need rust proofing. The most important thing to do is to keep dirt/mud from building up in areas under the chassis. This is what starts rust as the moisture is held against the panel for extended peroids of time. Also..I've seen rust caused by undercoaters closing up body drains many times.

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That's right! Undercoating and 'sealing the paint' are extras that dealerships make a great deal of money off. The manual that comes with the car says no extra is needed, yet the dealer makes you feel like an idiot if you don't buy extra.

But I don't live where they salt the roads, so I can't say for sure.

it'd be a better idea to move to AZ where it only rains sometimes and they NEVER put shit on the roads.

That coating from the factory is only good for so long though isn't it? I mean shoot my underbody is rusting in a few places :(

That is one of the things I plan on fixing this summer when I do the rest of the body work.

Sparky your car sounds like it's got the same damage as mine hah.

Rustproofing is worthwhile if your goin to drive your car in the salt and snow. My TA has been factory undercoated as well as had undercoating sprayed 4 yrs ago(when i first got the car). The car DOES NOT get driven in snow, or until the street sweepers come out in Mar/April. I figure this is the best way to keep the car 100% rust free. It also depends on the coating your talking about as well, I have used 2 kinds on my GTP, a thicker wax type(preferable) called penetrex and another type(not sure of the name) but it was an oil based and tended to drip off the body. I sprayed the TA with penetrex, it still looks brand new.

The theory behind the RP is that it creeps into the cracks and crevices, anywhere there is a 90 deg bend in the metal or a join point, it is prone to rusting. Whoever is applying it SHOULD drill body holes and spray in behind the panels. The good thing with the f-bodies being they are primarily composite.

My parents had a 89 olds ciera, it was rust proofed for the first 6 yrs, then left for the rest of its life(14 yrs), at 14 yrs, it looked twice as good as my moms car that was never ever rust proofed. Im pretty sure had it been done consistantly from yrs 6-12, the underbody would be near to clean.

As for downsides, if its an oil type RP then it will more than likely drip onto your driveway, and get all over you when trying to work on your car, but it is worth it when the city uses salt like there no tomorrow!

My 95 came from pa and i have driven it in the snow a few times I have yet to see any rust on the undercarriage though seems pretty clean. The spot I always worry about and which is typical with f-body's is when you open the door under the plastic kick plate every time I was the car i try to make sure I pull the plate off and dry it off under it.

My poor car has the undercoating all over the bottom. Whoever put it on did a very half-ass job. There is some on the paint around the rear wheel well. There is some sprayed up on the bottom of the hood, under the bumpers, and other places it shouldn't be. I need to get some of the areas cleaned up. I agree that it could be good on cars that are driven in shitty weather, but mine is not one of those. I didn't notice all the shit until after I got the car home. Oh well.

I have always wanted to do this, not only does it protect but gives it a nice look

I'd say yea. I'm doing it in the spring. I get alotta noise when I go over road debris in my wheel wells so I say what the Hell. Gonna do dynamat too. Not like I'm worrying about weight at the track!:D Overkill is GOOD when it comes to our cars and salt. Some of that factory undercoating is flaking off of my car already and considering I live in N.J. I'd rather be safe then sorry!

I had a friend do mine when new, at his shop...he did it sparingly...reduces sound and noise...I live on the Pacific,[salty] but never drive in rain , and rarely get any snow...its 6 of 1, 1/2 dozen of the other....DEPENDS where u live/do you drive in snow/crap/slush...I would in that case..I bought mine new, and it looks like it came out the door still[except a few pebble dings in front..which.. DUPLI-COLOR is my friend..No rust ]

I decided after using undercoating from every damn maker out there that I deided to use HERCULINER. Dried in less than 30 min. I put it mainly under the fenders, but every place where the factory stuff was, I put this over top of. This was done before the car was used as a D/D so I made sure the underneath was very clean and dry inthe summer.

if it already has rust like you say it does, you have to take care of that first.