bbyer, are you in an area that uses a lot of salt? Seems like salt use and ocean air are the two biggest factors in rust-outs.

I use a product called "BOESHIELD" to coat my underside steel and it's like an undercoating. Seems to work well, I have very little surface rust on parts except where I've scraped on rocks. I sand/prime/paint those spots once a year.

http://www.theruststore.com/Boeshiel...erosol-P3.aspx

Looks like one can buy it on-line. I always stopped by the local Marine Supply Store but this is far more convenient. So cool that Al Gore invented the internet for us....

 

Ziebart and others all went under around here. They started pre rust proofing the cars so people did not find the need.

 

Funny thing - just a few days ago I was reading about Boeshield Boeshield T-9® | Corrosion Protection and Waterproof Lubrication

on the John Deere Tractor forum John Deere Forum - MyTractorForum.com - The Friendliest Tractor Forum and Best Place for Tractor Information and now you mention it here.

I will have to find some as it sounds like something very useful.

I expect I can get it locally from my airplane parts guys so it sourcing should be no problem.

No, we do not use much salt on the roads up here as for the most part, it is too cold for Ca to melt.

Fortunately the sun shines maybe two hours a day and with traffic, that can burn the ice off the pavement. When it does not, then sand or rock chips are spread and we can go for months with no sun.

and yes, I think of Al daily - good of him and 350 million US taxpayers.

It seems to me Al was in playschool when those guys at Caltech and Stanford got ARPA going; must have been one of those Montessori playschools I suppose.

 

bbyer, what is the cause of your rust issues? Rock chips removing paint underneath then moisture doing the rest? I can understand the woes of the folks in areas where the gov't agencies salt roads, or that live near a beach....

 

The body sheet metal is still all good but I would expect it to be as the 3 is only ten years old.

Here most rear wheel drive Ford/GM/Dodge vehicles, (pickups), still look good at ten years - by thirteen years, that may be another question.

This place is kind of a cold California as far as vehicles are concerned, except that maybe the wheels get knocked off due to the New York type condition of the roads both summer and winter.

I had that 3M clear plastic applied to the bonnet, grill and headlights so that has worked fairly well at protecting the front end. For the fog lights, I had a dual thickness clear plastic applied. I still lost one fog due to a rock but I think that is pretty good over ten years. Also I only use the fog lights when there is fog, (almost never), or snow, (half the year), and only on the highway as there can be heat buildup with the heavy plastic - except the air conditioning here is pretty good in the winter. It is a wonder the bulbs even illuminate.

LED head light and tail light bulbs here are not so good here as snow builds on the glass or plastic covers and will not melt off due to very little heat being generated by the LEDs. LEDs for the same reason, do not work so well in traffic lights either. I think the red always remains as tungsten filament bulb so at least it can be seen.

When I replaced my windscreen last year, I also installed new A post covers and the cowl plastic as they were aging.

 

Soooo.....it's the rocks removing paint from the underside then some surface rust?

I know about the rocks! Coming back from Whitehorse last year the LR3 got the crap kicked out of it. I touched-up all the spots...at least it "earned" them.

 

I don't know if I would say the rocks remove the paint; I think it is more the sand salt mix that just coats everything and chews away at the painted surfaces.

I know I said that we do not use salt up here but there is some Calcium pellets mixed in that when it warms up, or the sun gets on it, tends to soften the ice turning it to slush which then splashes up on the undercarriage and just eats away until the paint is gone and then the metal surfaces start to pit.

Yah, the sound of rock chips spraying all down the side of your 3 when an oncoming semi passes by is memorable. You just cringe when you see the next one coming and hope that it is a clear section of road rather than more of a slush crud rock cocktail to again be thrown all over. This time you might even put the wipers on full speed in anticipation of really being covered.

Actually I have been surprised at how fast the "rain" sensing auto wiper reacts to the avalanche of rock chips and mess.

Whitehorse, you have to love it in the winter - it really is not like that "Alaska" TV show that was shot in Washington state a few years back; the girl was the floatplane pilot and the guy was a young medical doctor - not quit the same.

 

He lives in the no rust zone. Thats like the UP in Michigan, they don't use salt. even chips don't rot away nearly as fast. He said cars last 10 years and look good. In michigan cars are ready for junk yard in 10 years due to salt use.

Arizona even better for rust free. The sun just ruins all the rubber but the metal lasts forever there.