Preventing Chassis Rust

Where do you live?

Do you drive in rain or snow ? If not, i wouldn't even worry about it.

Doug

 

I don't do it, but I live in a hot/dry environment and never drive in the rain. Does the manual recommend Dinitrol or similar?

 

Moorespeed in Austin routinely "touched up" my chassis members as they serviced the car.
I am not sure of the product.

Ziebart is an American equivalent of "rust proofing" but often they punch holes into hidden areas and then plug them with plastic caps.
Not sure I would take things "that far" with a vintage 308/328

 

I live in the rust belt. Salt on roads as we speak. You can spray this fine oil in the door drain holes and in nooks and crannies. Comes in a can. Same stuff the rust coating places use. I got it there when my buddies daily was in. Crown rust I believe.

I spray it on my 911 even though is only sees rain now n then. I’m actually gonna cost the rusty bits on the 308 with it too just as an extra step.


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Someone recommended this so I thought I would share

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SKWQQS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_fgzYFbEXNKVJH

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I've never heard of this factory recommendation before, but my first cynical thought was that it was intended to be a legal 'gotcha', giving the dealer the grounds to be able to deny any rust warranty claims, for the most likely case when the owner would be unable to show compliance.

As an aside, the original owner of my 308 took delivery at Lake Forest in Chicago - a snowy area of the country - and immediately had the car Ziebarted. There are a number of drilled holes hidden here and there all over the car for their anti-rust goop injection, each hole sealed by a plug bearing the Ziebart logo. This treatment has admirably accomplished their goal of preventing any visible anywhere on the car, so I am grateful for the original owner's consideration, now 40 years on.

Further, I annually took a spray can of WD-40 and, laying on back, sprayed this up and into the door and rocker panel water drain holes of my bought-new 1978 X1/9. I kept at it for 38 years, selling it a couple of years ago without one single spec of rust at any place on the car.

So yes, these ounce-of-protection rust prevention ideas work very well!

 

Just for the record. Never use WD40 for rust protection....it will only makes things worse. The stuff is hygroscopic. Excellent stuff to clean with but lousy lubricant and even worse rust protection.

Best, Peter

 

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Interesting about Dave's comment, on Ziebart.

It's a very interesting business and as he states the DO have a procedure, for every model of car.
They basically access as many of the hidden voids as possible.

The wax like secret compound is then high pressure injected to "go everywhere" in these nooks and crannies, and the whole car is suspended over a reclamation grating where the excess runs out hot but congeals pretty quickly as it cools.
It's a fine system, except for the plugs, and they are obvious but probably "worth it"....

IMO it has to be done when the car is new..and it has a very distinctive smell, that lasts a long time.

 

Well, we'll just agree to disagree on this. It worked brilliantly over the course of 38 years for me, used as I described, and I can't imagine of any better Real World testimony than that.

 

I have used a product called OSPHO with great success. OSPHO is a rust-inhibiting coating - You do not have to remove tight rust. Merely remove loose paint and rust scale, dirt, oil, grease and other accumulations with a wire brush or pressure washer and let dry - apply a thin coat of OSPHO as it comes pre-diluted in the container. Let dry overnight for a minimum of 24 hours, then apply whatever paint. Longer dry times may occur depending on temperature, humidity and over-application of product. OSPHO has the consistency of water. OSPHO causes iron oxide (rust) to chemically change to iron phosphate - an inert, hard substance that turns the metal black. Where rust is exceedingly heavy, two coats of OSPHO may be necessary to thoroughly penetrate and blacken the surface to be painted.

 

Keeping a X1/9 rust free for 38 years is admittedly some task! Where I live that's impossible no matter what type or brand of rust protection you apply...- Joke aside, many people are greats fans of WD-40 and use it for multiple purpose, they trust it and are happy, so that is good and no offence here. I use it in great amount, but only for cleaning away grease and dismantling old corroded nuts and bolts. I'm just relaying my experience and I'm not completely alone. The product is well described in many other places.

Best, Peter

 

My understanding is that WD40 is hydrophobic, not hygroscopic. Is there evidence of water absorption somewhere? A quick look at the ingredients back in 2009: https://web.archive.org/web/20140119014037/http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/st_whatsinside

Unless I hear different, going to start spraying inside the doors of my steel-bodied cars. That X1/9 story is very convincing.

 

I believe WD- stands for Water Displacement.

 

One go on google.

https://www.google.com/search?q=is+wd-40+hygroscopic&rlz=1C1GCEA_enNO886DK886&oq=is+wd-40+hygroscopic&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i22i29i30.5769j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Found this quote that kind of explains it: WD-40, the product claimed to do everything. Except work well at anything.

Let's stop here. It will be an endless discussion. Each one to each taste.....Just trying to convey that WD-40 is not the professionals first pick (Or cheapest either) when wanting to protecting a car against rust.

Best, Peter

 

Peter, how can something comprised of mineral oil and non-polar hydrocarbon solvents be hygroscopic?

Not trying to argue for the sake of arguing, but what you said earlier “for the record” is exactly the opposite of reality.

And I agree there are better things for this application.

Perhaps there is another mechanism that explains the rust others claim to see WD40 causing. When I was much younger doing my first brake jobs I recall being puzzled as to why when I took brand new brake rotors and cleaned the packing grease off them with lots brake cleaner, they would start rusting within minutes. Of course it occurred because I used enough cleaner to cool the rotor below the dew point and water from the humid summer air condensed. But did the solvent rust the rotors? No. The water did. Similarly the lifehacker article cited makes dubious claims that WD40 causes firearms to rust when the reality is a little more complicated. The lubricants are not appropriate for firearms but they do not cause rust. They don’t prevent other things (temperature and humidity swings in the environment) from causing rust.

 

WD40 doesn't cause rust, but it is not a long-term preventative. I don't know any firearms enthusiast who trusts it over better solutions. (Not saying there aren't any, but it's generally-accepted to be poor for rust prevention.)

 

My 308 is self-treating for rust prevention. Seriously - it's an Italian car, oil seeping and oil leaks are more than common... and the oil builds up as a greasy residue covering most of the rear chassis. Better than any commercial treatment, and free!

 

Waxoyl seems popular in the UK where rust can be really challenging.


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I'm not a chemist so I will not go into any deep discussion around the actual mechanism. Personally I think that the WD-40 washes away the oil and grease all ready present on the object you want to protect and after a few days the WD-40 evaporates or dry out leaving an unprotected surface sensible to moist / water. Call it hygroscopic or not, the result is the same.

Best, Peter

 

My favorite is LPS #3. Liquid spray on wax as far as I can figure, I use it in my shop continuously, Get a part de-rusted then spray with LPS 3#. It seems very similar to the Cosmoline on military weapons that were stored after WWII.

That said, I stumbled on an old SAAB that was Ziebarted. Nasty black stuff everywhere, they even sprayed the engine compartment but, NO RUST which is a real rarity.

Lester

 

I have a habit to spray penetrating Tectyl or Dinitrol rust protection when i open a door panel of fender liner, inside members or what ever in all my cars. Probably irrelevant for the 308 because it does not see winter roads but just feels right thing to do while there. Maybe the Swedish delivered cars were rust protected before delivery, have not seen one spot of rust in the car during 7 years of tinkering all over (and under) it.
///TRS