What do you use? Fluid Film?

 

Do you have experience spraying fluid film? I am considering buying a kit instead of krown

 

Don't really have any real rust issues here, but I do thoroughly spray the underside of our cars with a hose each spring.

I saw these tips on the "Corrosion Doctors" website that may help you.

"Tips

Prevent rust by keeping the underside of your car clean also. Place a lawn sprinkler under your car and turn on full blast. Move occasionally so it will reach all areas. This is a good way to remove all salt and road grime. (reference)
If you chip the paint on your car, clean promptly and apply touch-up paint or clear nail polish to the area.
If the carpet in your vehicle is subjected to a lot of salty water over the winter, rust could be forming where you can't even see it, underneath the carpet. A good rug shampoo, either a do-it-yourself project or professionally done, will help remove the salt from the carpet fibers. Be sure to clean the upholstery too."

 

I would continue to have it sprayed each year. It definitely helps with ease of resale from my experience.

 

I've gotten my 07 krowned every year I've had it. As long as it sees salt I'd rust proof annually.

 

I'm just inheriting my mother's 2003 Corolla now. She bought it new in 2003 and had it rust proofed a lot during the time she owned it. While I see many other Corollas and other cars of similar age, or even newer, with rust, her's looks as good as a 1 or 2 year old car. And it was driven every winter in the snow belt, where there's often a dusting of snow almost every day, so the roads are usually wet every day, with salt spray every day. You can never keep your car clean because of this, so for sure it was exposed to salt.

I think she usually took to a place called "Corrosion Free" which was started by people who used to work for "Rust Check" (both really good places). She usually got their "dripless" formula which they say is good for 18 months. I'm not sure if she ever went anywhere else, but if she did, it was another oil based rustproofer. There may have been a few times where she waited longer than 18 months, maybe 2 years or more. But it's OK. After a while, that stuff tends to build up.

The last time she was there, they said the build up was so thick, and much as they don't want to turn away business, it's almost as if they were saying she really didn't need to do the rust proofing any more. Maybe if a car is done once when new and never again, maybe 10 years later there's not much left of the rust proofing. But if done regularly, and given the age of the car, annual rust proofing may not really be needed anymore, especially if you plan on selling it soon. It will definitely look better than all of the other cars of similar age that were not rustproofed and have visible rust.

My father liked going to Krown rustproofing, but I think their formula is thinner and tends to drip, the worst is the first day, but even after that, for a few days afterwards.

In any case, here's a photo taken this week of my mother's 2003 Corolla that was rustproofed at least 6 or 8 times in the last 11 or 12 years:



Check out the bottoms of the doors and rocker panels - a famous place for rust to happen. Nice and clean!



And even the underside of the hood. There was more rustproofing (I know because I always got it on my hand when I opened the hood) but when we had the car detailed, the guy pressure washed most of the oil off. Oh well, I'm taking the car out west to Vancouver, where rust is not an issue.

 

rust proof every couple of years, and wash your car at least every week if possible in the winter time and you should be OK... I try to wash my car at least whenever the temperature gets closer to zero Celsius... anything colder than -10 and good luck trying to open your doors the next morning, lol

 

You want to make sure the lower quarter panels underneath the doors between front and real wheel wells get coated on the backside, and down to the welded seam on lower body.

 

In my experience most cars will have a rust weakness somewhere, but most places don't need any help at all. Since you have a 10 year old vehicle, the advantage you have is that you can look at other vehicles of the same model/design that are the same age (or older), and see where they rust. That is where you need to focus your attention. #1 be diligent in flushing out those areas with water each time you wash the vehicle. For rustproofing, I have done Ziebart, and others, but what I find the best is WD-40 sprayed into the potential rust area, and then that immediately followed by Canadian Tire or other brand of non rubberized rust proofing. The idea is to have the WD-40 dilute the rustproofing so it gets into all the tight areas, and then the WD-40 part evaporates leaving a sticky rust proof coating that does not get hard.


I've done that on a 1990 Ford F150 that I bought new. It has worked well for me in that I have no rust over the rear wheel wells, or in the bottom back corners (angle brace there that collects mud and salt). However I did not get rustproofing into the area under the supercab portion and that rusted. I didn't know that was a weak spot.


Short story, even if you have to go to an auto wrecker, find out where the weak spots are and focus on them. Forget about the parts that never rust anyway.

 

I agree with your premise. If you are fortunate enough to garage your car at night, rust should not be a major issue even if you live in the rust belt. My Rolla is 11 years old and free of rust, except a little on the underside. If your plan is to keep the car as long as forever then you might want to rustproof otherwise you'll probably trade cars before it becomes a problem.

Using WD40 is an excellent idea which I have never tried. It might not be possible on the newer models though, because they have foam under certain body panels. You can see the foam on the hinge side of the front doors when open.

 

When I lived in the rust belt/snow belt, I also used to flush out susceptible areas with water, or try to get to a car wash, especially those automated car washes with an underbody spray. But some areas just can't be flushed out with water. On various makes and models of cars, I've seen edges of trunk lids, front edges of hoods (with holes, likely rusted through from the inside out, not from stone chips), windshield pillars, rocker panels, bottoms of doors by the seams, etc. These just don't seem like areas you could easily flush out with water.

So, I think doing both, rust proofing AND washing helps. But first and foremost, I would get the rustproofing done. A lot of formulas tend to "creep" to get to all of those hard to reach places, but salt water from driving tends to get sprayed into. I would even go so far as to say that regular washing isn't as important if you have a car rustproofed. Regular rustproofing is probably a good idea too, as areas that are exposed to the open can have rustproofing washed off while driving in heavy rain, slush, etc. At a certain point, there should be a good build up of rust proofing so you don't have to do it as often, or just stop doing it all together. Some people rust proof when new and never again, or every few years. Better than no rustproofing.

Not sure if there's any truth to this, but my father thinks that parking in heated parking garages speeds up the rusting process. This goes back to the 1960s when he was living in an apartment in Toronto with a heated underground parking garage. He's convinced that everyone's cars there had worse rust because the salty slush got a chance to melt each day only to get a new fresh dosage next time it snowed. My father thought cars that were parked outside in the cold, which would stay "frozen" most of the winter, did not have as much rust.

But, cars back then did not have much in the way of factory rustproofing and I don't think there was much, if anything in the way of aftermarket rustproofing back then. People just accepted the fact that after a few years (or even one year!), their cars would show rust, and more rust every year. Between rust and mechanical reliability of the day, some people traded in every two years. Most cars had serious rust-through after 10 years, so you rarely saw cars older than that on the road in snowy areas. Today we regularly see cars on the road that are 10 to 15 years old in snow belt and rust belt areas. Sure, they have rust, but not like 1960s, 70s and 80s cars. I remember buying a 1986 Camry in 1995, nine years old and front fenders had serious rusted out holes. If you're in a snow/rust belt area, think of buying a 9 year old car now (a 2004 or 2005) - it may have some rust showing, but not that bad.

 

Not sure if there's any truth to this, but my father thinks that parking in heated parking garages speeds up the rusting process.

I believe it is true. I had also heard that rust accelerates in the spring as the temperature starts to rise.

I always give the undercarriage & susceptible areas of the car a heavy douse right after the last round of winter weather.

 

Has anybody had any luck with the electronic corrosion control boxes available? My buddy has one on his civic and swears by it.

 

Corrosion Free's Rust Cure has good reviews and seems to be one of the best from a price standpoint as well. Never tried it myself as winter isn't too bad here most of the time.

 

I live in Montreal, my car gets rust proofed every year and now it's 25 years old. I would never dream of skipping a year. I can only think you'd skip a year to save money, well if you have a decent compressor and a Schutz gun all you need is to buy a gallon of chainsaw bar oil (15$ @ Canadian Tire) and spray it yourself. It took me 3 hours to get every area covered this year but in the end I did one hell of a fine job. For 15$. :thumbsup:

 

What did you spray that it took you 3 hours? Did you do the inside door panels or just the underside? And, does it not goop up your car and co;;ect dust and dirt? What about dripping? That chainsaw bar oil is like heavy syrup; liquid grease.

 

Bump if anyone was thinking about doing DIY rust prevention before the salt hits the road.

 

I like rustproofing. I worked in a rustproofing shop in Montréal once. However, I think that today's cars are not supposed to show rust at all in their first 6-7 years, and no critical perforation problems before 9-10 years, even without any rustproofing.

So, considering your car is 10 years old and has always been rustproofed, it really depends how long and how clean you want to keep the car.

If you want to keep it around 8 more years, it will last even without adding more stuff. It may start to develop some superficial rust, but it won't be perforated by the time for sure. There is enough oil/grease on the car.

Basically, if you want to keep it for 15 more years OR you really hate rust, continue to rustproof it every year. If you just want a car that runs for the next 8 years or less, stop it, you are wasting money. If you want a compromise, for exemple, you want to keep it for 6 more years AND you want it to be clean, rustproof it every 2 years.

I hope I'm clear. Well it's clear in my head.

 

Keep it until the ODO maxes out at 299,999 m/km.

 

You might try POR-15

check out their website.

 

Very interesting thread! I live in South central Pennsylvania and we do get snow over the winter, albeit not nearly what you would see further north. I have a new to me 04 Corolla S that now has 171,000 miles on it, runs great, no oil leaks or loss, immaculate interior, and, aside from a few small dents and scratches, an exterior that is in pretty good shape all things considered. I plan on putting it up on jack stands in a couple of weeks and grinding off any surface rust I find. I have noticed some rusting on the pinch welds, cross member under the radiator, and what I believe is a protective panel under the gas tank (?). I will have to remove the side skirts to assess the rocker panels but other than the small area at the front end of the rear wheel wells (water seems to sit in there due to the side skirts) I think they are okay. Since I've never attempted anything like this before, but have access to a shop complete with tools and spray equipment thanks to a friend, I am looking for some advice on how to proceed and what the best product might be. Corrosion free looks and sounds like a perfect fit, but before application, (and after rust removal) should I apply a paint layer first? I want this car to last as long as possible as it is incredibly reliable and frankly speaking, I love it! Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Hello distant neighbor, sounds like you want to keep your car just as long as I do. I recently did DIY rust proofing on my corolla. I too had minor surface rust on the pinch welds on the cross member, wasn't too bad. The rust around the gas tank on mine was where the straps are bolted to the body near the trunk area. I also had rust near the rear axle carrier bushing in an oval shaped threaded hole in the frame and minor rust on the frame behind the rear wheels. The most rust was at the mini rear front facing mud "guards" that trap moisture and dirt and lead to rusting in the wheel wells. I have since removed those moisture trapping devices as they provide no benefit. Others have reported wheel well issues and rocker panel rust, and at the base of the doors, so inspect carefully.

A couple of weeks ago I used a mild degreaser and a hose and a long brush to clean all the dirt and grime out of the wheel wells and the under body, I even took the plastic shield off the fuel filler neck in the wheel well well to clean the supply and vent line. Moisture, salt, and dirt are easily trapped against the lines and the shield. Once everything dried I painted the cross member and lower control arm with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator paint and followed up the underbody with a combination of Fluid Film, amsoil HD metal protector, and in the high wash areas, such as the wheel wells, I used Corrosion X HD. Fluid Film is now sold at lowes for around $12, I got the Amsoil HDMP from a local hardware store, only $10, and the Corrosion X HD was from amazon for $20.

If you are hardcore about it, you can buy fluid film by the gallon and spray it with a pressured air sprayer. Make sure you keep the sprays off the exhaust, it doesnt smell too good when it heats up and it smokes badly and keep it off of rubber. Pay close attention to the metal brake lines too underneath the car. I do know from experience that fluid film does not last in high wash areas, such as the front strut area. There isnt too much metal to spray in the rear wheel area. Corrosion X HD will last in high wash areas, but it is expensive, but probably cheaper than rust repair in the future. I also used the Corrosion X HD on the fuel filler neck.

All three of the products above creep, so I sprayed them when it was hot out. I am not familiar with Corrosion free product you mentioned, but as long as it is not a rubberized product and doesn't harden when dried and lasts in high wash areas, you should be ok. The only downside to spraying the under body is that the products attract dust and dirt, despite their advertising to the contrary, so when you work on your vehicle you will get dirty/greasy. Small trade off though. Make sure to select the undercarriage wash at car wash after the winter is over. I believe the liquid brine solution that PennDOT puts down to pretreat is more corrosive than the tons of salt they spread, so try to stay out of the brine if you happen to see it wet on the road. I do not know of any local places that do rust proofing, I would imagine you would have to travel up north to around Erie to find that service. Good luck.

 

Rust proofer: do you have to put that on every year or they make products that you put on and they last the life of the car.

 

Clean the areas really good and if bare metal is present clean off surface rust and use a rust type converter on it then a couple of coats of primer, paint the undercoat the body;