undersealing mk7?

[glenandemm]

anyone done it, i need to get round to doing mine while its been dry weather lately but wondered best way of going about it other than getting underneath,grubby and painting it all on!
whats best undersealer to use too?

[dumper]

On my mk6 I used wax oil sprayed on with a Shultz gun and compressor at work on a ramp I also every time I do a oil change I spray the old oil into the box sections I have done the previous van on the drive at home on the drive with van on axle stands but that was a right pain in the back for my mk8 I will take it to a wax oil specialist to get it done it’s no fun with a small compressor and no ramp some on hear also use dintroll

[squirrel93]

Just watch where you apply it , you can easily accelerate the rust if you block drain holes


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[Brains_transit]

The main issue is the factory underseal traps the moisture and that's where the rust starts

[Karst]

I use this everywhere once or twice a year - https://www.kamracing.co.uk/corrosion-block-anti-corrosion-fluid.html

It doesn't stop the rust, but it slows it down apparently quite dramatically. Best to apply it on gravel, and have plenty of rags to hand for the drips! It kind of dissolves tarmac....

[olympia5776]

anyone done it, i need to get round to doing mine while its been dry weather lately but wondered best way of going about it other than getting underneath,grubby and painting it all on!
whats best undersealer to use too?

No easy way to extend the life of a van that has been exposed to salty muck for years.
If you are serious then firstly you have to thoroughly clean the whole underside and that takes time .Once this is done you can examine where the existing rust , and there will be some , is.
Remove it all treat and the cover in zinc rich primer ,twice , and the a good metal paint and the once that is all done apply stonechip schutz by gun over all of the underside.
Remember , if you shoot the schutz over untreated rust it will fester and come back and bite you in the ass.
Stand back and then consider that all your work will be worthless unless you inject ALL the internals of the chassis box section and up around the spring hangers with a runny waxoyl.
Ford in there magnificent wisdom built a short life into these vans in the way the chassis was assembled.Each section has myriad of holes and flange gaps which they will say is to allow the internals to breath and keep dry but in reality just allows water ,salt and moisture in. When they spot weld the sections together the minimum of paint/coating is burned off and the rust process starts . You cannot see it but it is there. I've had my MK6 for 12 years and believe it or not wash it and hose the underside every night after work (takes 15 minutes) I've injected waxoyl thinned with chain bar oil into the sills and chassis twice a year but still had to replace the side door sill and one outrigger in 2016. Two weeks ago I treated it to new bumpers and whilst the rears were off cut a hole into the internal rear chassis outriggers to examine them and found both full of congealed waxoyl (good) and a pile of dried muck (bad) with the odd sliver of rusty steel thrown in(very bad ).
The dried residue can only have got in through the small open corner sections where the poor design allows dirty water ingress , in winter that dirty water has loads of salt in it .
I'm honestly of the belief that you will never stop a mk 6 or 7 rotting from within no matter what you do , you will be able to slow it down but that's all.
My van was only in UK for two years before being brought over here and as we are fortunate to never , yep really , have salt spread down here in deepest sw ireland I would have thought it would have suffered less.
Ah , but no........

[Karst]

Interesting Olympia.....

Great dedication to clean the van every day!..... Do you think you might be making it worse by wetting it every day?

The stuff I use was developed by Lear Aviation Corporation as the heavy-duty terrestrial vehicle version of ACF-50 corrosion inhibitor for aircraft. If you believe it, it says it creeps into every microscopic fissure and nook and cranny, and pushes out both water and salts.

[richgold]

What did you say?

Undersealing a mk7 you say????

You're already too late.

[bambi mk 1]

Interesting Olympia.....

Great dedication to clean the van every day!..... Do you think you might be making it worse by wetting it every day?

The stuff I use was developed by Lear Aviation Corporation as the heavy-duty terrestrial vehicle version of ACF-50 corrosion inhibitor for aircraft. If you believe it, it says it creeps into every microscopic fissure and nook and cranny, and pushes out both water and salts.

Aircraft are made out of aluminium

[Karst]

Aircraft are made out of aluminium

Well, that is true (although it is an alloy) but corrosion is corrosion whichever way it is served up.

[Karst]

Try leaving a bit of salt in an aluminium tray and expose it to just a small amount of persistent moisture - then you'll see why corrosion needs preventing in aircraft!

[olympia5776]

Interesting Olympia.....

Great dedication to clean the van every day!..... Do you think you might be making it worse by wetting it every day?

The stuff I use was developed by Lear Aviation Corporation as the heavy-duty terrestrial vehicle version of ACF-50 corrosion inhibitor for aircraft. If you believe it, it says it creeps into every microscopic fissure and nook and cranny, and pushes out both water and salts.

I live in SW Ireland mate , it rains every day here ..........

[Karst]

Interesting Olympia.....

Great dedication to clean the van every day!..... Do you think you might be making it worse by wetting it every day?

The stuff I use was developed by Lear Aviation Corporation as the heavy-duty terrestrial vehicle version of ACF-50 corrosion inhibitor for aircraft. If you believe it, it says it creeps into every microscopic fissure and nook and cranny, and pushes out both water and salts.

I live in SW Ireland mate , it rains every day here ..........

Thumbs up and smile emoji! (~8

[maushawk]

I've just bought a Mk7 to convert into a camper and had it undersealed professionally. I found a restoration & undersealing specialist in Johnston (Scotland) who use Dinitrol, this stuff dries to a hard wax finish a bit like tar. They advise you to go back for yearly checkups to keep it sealed. I thought about doing it myself with an angle grinder, POR-15 and waxoyl but probably wouldn't have made much improvement over doing nothing at all since I don't have a ramp or pressure spray to get in the nooks & crannies... or even a clue what I'm doing. The garage ended up finding some rust holes needing welded which a previous mechanic had slathered with silicone to hide it from MOT inspections. Will have to see how it's doing this time next year but I'm pretty hopeful.

[olympia5776]

I've just bought a Mk7 to convert into a camper and had it undersealed professionally. I found a restoration & undersealing specialist in Johnston (Scotland) who use Dinitrol, this stuff dries to a hard wax finish a bit like tar. They advise you to go back for yearly checkups to keep it sealed. I thought about doing it myself with an angle grinder, POR-15 and waxoyl but probably wouldn't have made much improvement over doing nothing at all since I don't have a ramp or pressure spray to get in the nooks & crannies... or even a clue what I'm doing. The garage ended up finding some rust holes needing welded which a previous mechanic had slathered with silicone to hide it from MOT inspections. Will have to see how it's doing this time next year but I'm pretty hopeful.

I'm sure that will help considerably but please bear in mind what I said about the formation of rust on the INSIDE of the box sections . This is what kills these vans and unless the garage coated them internally then your not going to see the life expectancy of your camper extended for long ,especially when you say that there are perforations already.
Do a google search and also a search on here for MK6/7 rust areas and you'll see what I mean.
As I said , I had to replace the side door sill, RH rear forward outrigger and two sections of the chassis behind the rear wheels. When I had cut away the rot and exposed the internals you could see where the rust had started to form around the spot welded areas within. I also drilled additional 18mm holes along the inner sills and chassis sections to allow better coverage of the inside surfaces . These were closed off with rubber grommets .
TBH I should have replaced the van years ago and I spend too much time looking after it but it 's a great old van that I've had for years and still earns it's keep every day .
Good luck with your camper.