Underbody tidy up and maintenance.

[sonic113]

So the focus is now 11 years old , I have had it for 8 great years and still she going well. Want to tidy up a little underneath in the next few weeks. I had cleaned and hammerite under sealed it about 5 years ago and it's held up well but does need a little attention again now.

 

So to keep things simple I have  cleaned back all the subframe and used hammerite smooth on it..it's came out well and I know it will chip ect but I intend to just top it up next year again.

The underbody and cills I'm thinking about cleaning Any surface rust back with wire brush on drill and then treating it with  "Krust" rust killer and then when that's dry giving it a coat of hammerite smooth and then when that drys and all is clean and dry I will coat the lot with Hammerite underseal with wax oil.

I saw a few fellas do this on old vans and they seemed to hold up pretty well but if the car was newer or my next ford I would maybe waxoil the lot from day 1. 

This process is cost effective for me and I now have the time to get it done so is this process ok or do anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[williamweb]

14 minutes ago, sonic113 said:

So the focus is now 11 years old , I have had it for 8 great years and still she going well. Want to tidy up a little underneath in the next few weeks. I had cleaned and hammerite under sealed it about 5 years ago and it's held up well but does need a little attention again now.

 

So to keep things simple I have  cleaned back all the subframe and used hammerite smooth on it..it's came out well and I know it will chip ect but I intend to just top it up next year again.

The underbody and cills I'm thinking about cleaning Any surface rust back with wire brush on drill and then treating it with  "Krust" rust killer and then when that's dry giving it a coat of hammerite smooth and then when that drys and all is clean and dry I will coat the lot with Hammerite underseal with wax oil.

I saw a few fellas do this on old vans and they seemed to hold up pretty well but if the car was newer or my next ford I would maybe waxoil the lot from day 1. 

This process is cost effective for me and I now have the time to get it done so is this process ok or do anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks in advance.

i'm going to pay a visit to the underneath of my car hopefully this month.Thinking of giving it a good clean with a pressure washer letting it dry out and brushing engine oil on.Is this a good idea or not?👍

[sonic113]

4 minutes ago, williamweb said:

i'm going to pay a visit to the underneath of my car hopefully this month.Thinking of giving it a good clean with a pressure washer letting it dry out and brushing engine oil on.Is this a good idea or not?👍

I used to use old engine oil and it does a great job but I found it washes of over the winter and with power washing the underside so I'm thinking of a more permanent yearly solution now.

[pcaouolte]

A nice sticky mixture of old engine oil, grease and underseal stays on for years and never sets. It's probably not very environmentally friendly. Dont ask me for the recipe, I just combine the three ingredients into a big tin until it is thick enough to stick to the car. Brush it on. Helps if you have access to a lift or pit. 

[sonic113]

6 minutes ago, pcaouolte said:

A nice sticky mixture of old engine oil, grease and underseal stays on for years and never sets. It's probably not very environmentally friendly. Dont ask me for the recipe, I just combine the three ingredients into a big tin until it is thick enough to stick to the car. Brush it on. Helps if you have access to a lift or pit. 

This is interesting, I have read posts about this type of thing and it does seem to last well. I might try this when I clean up the underside up of any surface  rust and use a rust converter like "Krust"  to stop any rust, might still apply Hammerite smooth over the Krust after it flashes (only on the areas cleaned to bare metal and "krust" used) and then use this sticky mixture method as s final layer over the top of the lot.

So just a tin of Hammerite underseal with old engine oil and some grease mixed and slap it on?

[pcaouolte]

15 hours ago, sonic113 said:

So just a tin of Hammerite underseal with old engine oil and some grease mixed and slap it on?

Yes. Keep it away from anything that gets hot. No need for rust converter or paint, the sticky mess soaks in to all the crud and rust that's already there and stops the rust progressing any further. Its a messy job getting it on but it will stay on for several years.

[sonic113]

2 hours ago, pcaouolte said:

Yes. Keep it away from anything that gets hot. No need for rust converter or paint, the sticky mess soaks in to all the crud and rust that's already there and stops the rust progressing any further. Its a messy job getting it on but it will stay on for several years.

Ok no problem, I have some rust converter and a tin of paint left over here so I might as well use it on it the areas I clean up to bare metal as an extra protection, but I will mix up this mixture in a tin for the top layer and paint this all over the underside. 

Probably will get some oil or waxoly to spray inside the box sections and door at end of month and then hopefully that should keep the focus decent for another few years. I will do a yearly check or maybe twice year and inspect for any chips or damage and top up if needed. It really all you can do, the elements of the winter months and roads are not kind to cars at all.

[sonic113]

Just an update, I have had the car of the road for a few days now, I have the rear axel out and plain to paint it up as well. 

 

In regards to the underside of the car I have strip any rust back to the bare metal and any any real bad bits I plan to use some Kurust on that area. I also have a tin of Red Oxide primer with zinc I was going to paint over the bare metal areas then too cost with Hammerite smooth. Then in the top when that's dried well I plan to underseal the entire underside and arches and then wax oil inside the cavities in a months time. 

I used to know a fella many years ago who restored mini's and used the red oxide on top of any weld repairs on the floors. He has since unfortunately passed away so at the time I didn't question to much about how the work help up years later but from what I did see of older restorations it seems to have help up very well.

 

Anybody here used this type of method? I think I would fell better of I sealed the bare metal with a primer ect instead of just firing on the underseal/oil ect.

 

[F0CUE]

The zinc Primer is meant to be the best way to go to combat the rust. I done alot of reading up when I had my mk2 and the method you are using should work well. 

[YOG]

You really only need to remove loose, flaky rust particles, as the rust converter needs something to convert. Any bare-metal parts, I would first give a coating containg zinc. I used Bilt Hamber Electrox, available in aerosol and tins, and contains in excess of 93% pure zinc:

https://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/electrox

You can then follow up with whatever you want. As a belt and braces (not strictly necessary, but Bilt Hamber said it wouldn't do any harm), I first went over the Electrox and rust converter (Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80, in my case) areas with Hammerite No. 1 Rust Beater. I finished off all the underbody and wheel arches with a few coats of Dynax-UB under-body anti-corrosion wax, and sprayed the cavities with Dynax S50 aerosols.

Hammerite No. 1 Rust Beater:

https://www.hammerite.co.uk/product/no-1-rust-beater/

All other products by Bilt Hamber:

https://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-protection-and-rust-treatments/

[sonic113]

Thanks fellas for the input.

Yeah I think this the way I'm going to go.

I will krust the bad areas, Then red oxide/zinc the bare metal and Hammer smoothrite over the top, then for the top layer I will mix some old engine oil into the underseal with waxoil and lash it on. this way it will always stay tacky. In a month I will do the cavities with spray wax oil and hopefully that shout keep or extend the focus by a few years.

 

Thanks