Rustproofing hobby

[widster]

I am in the process of rubbing down, rustproofing and painting/undersealing the underneath of my car, as required. I started off with a little patch of rust 3 months ago and have got carried away. I have not waxoyled the inner panels just the undersides. It is taking me ages and is bl@@dy hard and messy work although i do enjoy it in a strange way. I just wanted to know if what i am doing will have any real effect on the longevity of my car? Has anyone else gone to a lot of trouble to try and prevent rust or do people just think, when it rots i'll buy another?

Would be interested to hear your opinions, how many people rustproof and how many people especially go to the trouble of waxoyling?

Cheers

[acexxx]

Hi i'm in the process of doing the same. I enjoy it aswell. The interesting thing is that on removing some panels in the boot I found that someone had already treated the inside of the rear arches. I think it can prolong the life of the car quite well if done correctly.

Andy

[greglebon]

These cars tend to rust from the inside, especially the critical bits.....!

The damage is done before you even have an inkling anything is wrong!

The front lower chassis / footwells are a prime example, as are...tah dah.....the rear arches..!

Always be wary of Ebay listings for MK1's where they say "the rear arches are solid, except for a little minor bubbling on the drivers side", etc...!
That means, basically, a LOT of work (=£££), to fix properly...!

Personally, I'd say that Waxoyling INSIDE the box sections (chassis, sills, rear arches, doors) will be far more effective than the bits you can see.....?

Make sure, though, that the drain holes under the car are clear.....

Undersealing is good, dont get me wrong, but if you think about it, you're also sealing moisture IN above it...so make sure all drain holes are clear!

Conclusion? Do both!

[widster]

These cars tend to rust from the inside, especially the critical bits.....!

The damage is done before you even have an inkling anything is wrong!

The front lower chassis / footwells are a prime example, as are...tah dah.....the rear arches..!

Always be wary of Ebay listings for MK1's where they say "the rear arches are solid, except for a little minor bubbling on the drivers side", etc...!
That means, basically, a LOT of work (=£££), to fix properly...!

Personally, I'd say that Waxoyling INSIDE the box sections (chassis, sills, rear arches, doors) will be far more effective than the bits you can see.....?

Make sure, though, that the drain holes under the car are clear.....

Undersealing is good, dont get me wrong, but if you think about it, you're also sealing moisture IN above it...so make sure all drain holes are clear!

Conclusion? Do both!

Thanks for the answer and it makes a lot of sense.

I have some more stupid questions:-

I have never done any waxoyling and to honest i am scared! Does it mean drilling loads of holes in strategic places and if so then do these need to be plugged to stop the moisture from getting back in? Is there any diagram to show exactly where to waxoyl? Perhaps i need to bite the bullet an buy a waxoyl kit.

Would you recommend waxoyling or undersealing first or doesn't it matter?

Finally, if you look under the car there are rubber bungs placed every so often and i don't know whet they are for? These aren't drain holes are they?

Cheers
Widster

[Bazzbiggles]

Waxoil is funny stuff. When its cold its solid wax so I’ve found it best to do that work in warm weather. I think the instructions state to warm the Waxoil before spraying but I’ve found that if you shake the container the Waxoil emulsifies and can be sprayed quite easily. I use a paraffin spray gun (I think it’s called) with a compressor and that seem to work quite well.

[Jim-SR]

These cars tend to rust from the inside, especially the critical bits.....!

The damage is done before you even have an inkling anything is wrong!

The front lower chassis / footwells are a prime example, as are...tah dah.....the rear arches..!

Always be wary of Ebay listings for MK1's where they say "the rear arches are solid, except for a little minor bubbling on the drivers side", etc...!
That means, basically, a LOT of work (=£££), to fix properly...!

Personally, I'd say that Waxoyling INSIDE the box sections (chassis, sills, rear arches, doors) will be far more effective than the bits you can see.....?

Make sure, though, that the drain holes under the car are clear.....

Undersealing is good, dont get me wrong, but if you think about it, you're also sealing moisture IN above it...so make sure all drain holes are clear!

Conclusion? Do both!

Thanks for the answer and it makes a lot of sense.

I have some more stupid questions:-

I have never done any waxoyling and to honest i am scared! Does it mean drilling loads of holes in strategic places and if so then do these need to be plugged to stop the moisture from getting back in? Is there any diagram to show exactly where to waxoyl? Perhaps i need to bite the bullet an buy a waxoyl kit.

Would you recommend waxoyling or undersealing first or doesn't it matter?

Finally, if you look under the car there are rubber bungs placed every so often and i don't know whet they are for? These aren't drain holes are they?

Cheers
Widster

if you drill holes then i would say DONT plug them back up. moisture finds its way in whether you leave it a gap or not. if you plug up holes then you just remove its escape route

if a car is properly treated for rust then moisture and water arent going to be able to penetrate the treatments, so it wont matter whether you stop parts from being contacted by water or not. in reality no treatment is perfect and there is always a weak point somewhere, especially on a car that has rusted before (unless these things are done properly at the factory and maintained throughout the cars life then youre basically screwed) but trapping water and moisture in places is about the worse thing you can do. if the water is free to flow away (and that includes evaporating when it gets warmed, if you have a bung stopping airflow then it simply turns to condensation again later) then that is probably the best protection you can get

the rubber bungs underneath the car are mostly there blocking holes that run from inside the cabin, but there are a few that go to internal cavities.

[widster]

These cars tend to rust from the inside, especially the critical bits.....!

The damage is done before you even have an inkling anything is wrong!

The front lower chassis / footwells are a prime example, as are...tah dah.....the rear arches..!

Always be wary of Ebay listings for MK1's where they say "the rear arches are solid, except for a little minor bubbling on the drivers side", etc...!
That means, basically, a LOT of work (=£££), to fix properly...!

Personally, I'd say that Waxoyling INSIDE the box sections (chassis, sills, rear arches, doors) will be far more effective than the bits you can see.....?

Make sure, though, that the drain holes under the car are clear.....

Undersealing is good, dont get me wrong, but if you think about it, you're also sealing moisture IN above it...so make sure all drain holes are clear!

Conclusion? Do both!

Thanks for the answer and it makes a lot of sense.

I have some more stupid questions:-

I have never done any waxoyling and to honest i am scared! Does it mean drilling loads of holes in strategic places and if so then do these need to be plugged to stop the moisture from getting back in? Is there any diagram to show exactly where to waxoyl? Perhaps i need to bite the bullet an buy a waxoyl kit.

Would you recommend waxoyling or undersealing first or doesn't it matter?

Finally, if you look under the car there are rubber bungs placed every so often and i don't know whet they are for? These aren't drain holes are they?

Cheers
Widster

if you drill holes then i would say DONT plug them back up. moisture finds its way in whether you leave it a gap or not. if you plug up holes then you just remove its escape route

if a car is properly treated for rust then moisture and water arent going to be able to penetrate the treatments, so it wont matter whether you stop parts from being contacted by water or not. in reality no treatment is perfect and there is always a weak point somewhere, especially on a car that has rusted before (unless these things are done properly at the factory and maintained throughout the cars life then youre basically screwed) but trapping water and moisture in places is about the worse thing you can do. if the water is free to flow away (and that includes evaporating when it gets warmed, if you have a bung stopping airflow then it simply turns to condensation again later) then that is probably the best protection you can get

the rubber bungs underneath the car are mostly there blocking holes that run from inside the cabin, but there are a few that go to internal cavities.

Thanks for the reply. I understand what you are saying about trapping moisture. So, if i am waxoyling the chassis members for instance, i would drill a hole from underneath, waxoyl then leave the hole unplugged?

[Jim-SR]

thats what i would do. im sure there will be people that will tell you to plug it, but if you do a thorough enough job on the waxoyling then water isnt going to be an issue to the metal, but youd rather it ran out than sit in there waiting for metal to become exposed later so it can rot it out!

[greglebon]

Agree with Jim..!

As also mentioned, Waxoyling is defo best done in the summer, or failing that, when the car has been garaged for a fair while....

If you Waxoyl, say, in the winter, when its cold and damp, and especially after rain, etc....then you're most likely waxoyling over damp metal, and sealing the moisture IN...!

Most of the cavities in question have a fair few holes allowing moisture to escape, both as condensation "drips", and as evaporation "vapour".

You basically want to be Waxoyling onto dry metal.
You can go as far as you wish with this: directing a hair-dryer into the sills, etc for half-an-hour will ensure it is all dry......
Also, spraying Kurust into a cavity after drying can help prior to Waxoyling (but be careful where it goes: Kurust does stain! )

[widster]

Thanks for all the advice. One last question? Can anyone tell me how many litres of waxoyl they used on their car? I think the starter pack comes with 2.5 litres but i'm not sure that will be enough.

[greglebon]

I bought the kit from Halfrauds, consisting of the refillable prssure tin, pump attachment and extender spray tube....

Now as I did the treatments on both of my cars, with a 3 year gap inbetween, the seam of the 1st can rusted in the interim period, so I had to buy a 2nd one for the SC last year...

Anyway, I reckon that 1 can should do you fine....

[widster]

I bought the kit from Halfrauds, consisting of the refillable prssure tin, pump attachment and extender spray tube....

Now as I did the treatments on both of my cars, with a 3 year gap inbetween, the seam of the 1st can rusted in the interim period, so I had to buy a 2nd one for the SC last year...

Anyway, I reckon that 1 can should do you fine....

Cheers for that.