Treatment of rust

[jonnyboy1958]

This is probably the most popular (or unpopular) topic on this site but I want some advice as to preventative medicine so to speak. I have some surface rust underneath and before it dissolves the whole of the bottom of my van I want to treat it and paint it to delay it as much as possible. Can I ask what others recommend? I have been thinking along the lines of rust neutraliser then red oxide paint or hammerite? What do you think

[jimbo07g41]

Plenty of posts to read on here and a number of different approaches.

I would say that cleaning the underside with steamer/washer first and then dry properly.

Remove any rust from metal or if only surface rust you can use a chemical changer. Then paint with protective coating of choice. Some people use a waxoil and inspect on a regular basis and retreat. There also some plastic based treatments on the market.

[jonnyboy1958]

Thank you for your reply

[ned]

Little tip, if you have bare metal that's going to be exposed for a few days or so smear Vaseline over the area to stop it rusting N

[jonnyboy1958]

thanks for that will do.

[Fubar]

Just done my mk6 underside with aquasteel supposed to be marine quality, suitable in severe environments all I can say is the chemical conversion looks good and areas of bad rust are now solid feeling and pitch black. It's possible to over apply by brush so tried diluting and spraying with a hand pressure parts sprayer but it really needs 3 or 4 bar air. Overspray to non rusted panels looks like it has a protective coating. Might want to first give bad areas a good tap or wire brush then turn it upside down and tap hard to locate any welding needs though, especially near seat anchors.

Tried waxoyl on trucks before but after 12mths it seems to dry out and flake off .. but might adhere better to this aquasteel stuff so will give it a go after all it's not a £15,000 TVR it's 200,000 mile van! But want a few more miles yet and it's too good to let the tin worm eat it.

Dinitrol is supposed to be as good a protective product as there is but all these fluids are big bucks .. but then so is welding in basstd areas!!

[whitemice]

linseed oil over treated bits and all

[stevo]

Just done my mk6 underside with aquasteel supposed to be marine quality, suitable in severe environments all I can say is the chemical conversion looks good and areas of bad rust are now solid feeling and pitch black. It's possible to over apply by brush so tried diluting and spraying with a hand pressure parts sprayer but it really needs 3 or 4 bar air. Overspray to non rusted panels looks like it has a protective coating. Might want to first give bad areas a good tap or wire brush then turn it upside down and tap hard to locate any welding needs though, especially near seat anchors.

Tried waxoyl on trucks before but after 12mths it seems to dry out and flake off .. but might adhere better to this aquasteel stuff so will give it a go after all it's not a £15,000 TVR it's 200,000 mile van! But want a few more miles yet and it's too good to let the tin worm eat it.

Dinitrol is supposed to be as good a protective product as there is but all these fluids are big bucks .. but then so is welding in basstd areas!!

I use aqua steel, I found its best to paint over it or if you've done the chassis the it might be worth spraying wax oil on top or hammerite just to give it that extra protection from moisture getting to it.


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[jonnyboy1958]

Thanks for your reply.

[Chrisp74]

After a good clean and taking any loose bits off I applied Bilt Hamber Dynax S50.
Its only been on a year or so but still looks good.
I applied using a compressor fed underseal gun. The 5litre tub was plenty with some left over.
You really need to get it into the box sections/cavities for best protection.

[vampirequeen]

Treat a larger area than you can see the rust on.

[stevo]

This is what mine looked like. I sanded back to clean steel as much as possible, banged on 3 coats of aqua steel, then used filler primer and painted. Now it's protected I can go over it with a fine layer of filler and then prime and paint again.







I've also got the sport wheel arch cover to go on and the rest of body moulding. Only took 3 years to get this panel sorted lol


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[stevo]

And by the way, that's halford diamond white in the rattle cans, perfect match.


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[jonnyboy1958]

Just out of curiosity, how many cans did you use? because the panel looks great!

[olympia5776]

I've had my MK6 for 12 years now and if you want to keep it rust free underneath you have to spend time and money doing it.
If you haven't been regularly power hosing the underside then the damage will probably have been done already.
The main areas are the spring hangers ,sills and chassis box sections.
Over the years I've injected waxoyl into the chassis box sections and up into the spring hangers at least once a year . These are open to atmosphere and rust from inside ferociously . Along both inner sills you'll find rubber grommets which will allow you to spray waxoyl into the inner sill sections ,flood this area. The rear crossmember under the rear doors is a known weak spot and can only be saved by regularly washing and spraying with waxoyl.
I hose my van down EVERY night but even after all of my work I had to replace the side door sill and box section in front of OS rear wheel last year. Fortunately I had access to a two post lift or it would have been almost impossible to repair properly. When doing the work I wire brushed all suspect areas to bare metal ,applied two coats of zinc rich primer and then two coats of schutz .
Schutz is best for areas that are washed by road spray and Waxoyl for box sections, the proviso being that both are applied properly. Over the years I've soaked the inside of all the doors ,internal wheel arches and inner wings and it has preserved the van but it has taken a lot of time .
This year I have been making my own Waxoyl which is surprisingly easy and very effective . Google DIY Waxoyl. Make sure you finely grate the candle wax rather than just breaking it up though...
I've also found that there are also about a dozen small almost unknown areas that need rustproofing too that left unattended will rust away in silence.
Frankly Ford designed the MK6 and 7 for a limited life span of circa 10 years which is quite awful considering .......