prevention is better than cure

Post by **guydenning** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 6:40 pm

somebody has suggested liberally spraying the underneath of el moggo with WD40 to prevent council saltysnot chewing up the metal. arguments used include: it penetrates the space between wing and body, it displaces moisture rather than encasing it, it washes off with all the associated winter cak when you jet wash it in the spring. sounds sensible to me... unless of course, you know different

Post by **bigginger** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 7:04 pm

I'd have thought it would wash off along with all the cack over the winter. WD's great for crevices and cracks inside the bay/car, but since in doesn't 'set' in any way, I really can't see it staying on the underside...

Post by **Peetee** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 7:20 pm

I wouldn't bother. As Biginger says it will just wash off in no time. And as for dispersing moisture, unless the moisture has alternative way out you might actually help to trap it in the cavities!

Post by **Kevin** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 7:59 pm

Sorry to disagree Peetee but it will help to disperse moisture.
But it evaporates in time, so basically its a waste of time using on the underside as I dread to think how much you would use, the best stuff to use is Waxoil unless you have a nice painted underside and want to keep it like that, what sort of finish has it got at the moment.

Post by **Pyoor_Kate** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 8:39 pm

My mog's been sprayed with some oily-substance (it was free, when they fixed the other problems) - which appears to sort of be a mixture of oil and some other crud. This does seem to be clinging on and repelling the water, however it makes working on the entire underside of the car a bit grim.

Mind you, the diff's oil leak, and the oil-seepage-rust-prevention-sytem from the engine also does a pretty good job of making the underside in certain areas pretty revolting

Post by **Multiphonikks** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 2:55 am

Pyoor_Kate wrote:My mog's been sprayed with some oily-substance (it was free, when they fixed the other problems) - which appears to sort of be a mixture of oil and some other crud. This does seem to be clinging on and repelling the water, however it makes working on the entire underside of the car a bit grim...

Yeah, especially when you want to use a blowtorch or any heat source come to think of it. Oh, and a grinder... oh, and if you have longish hair...

Post by **guydenning** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 10:17 am

according to the 40 odd year written history of the previous owners tender care of fifi - he oiled the underneath twice a year. and it has paid off. i didn't want to undo his good work through procrastination and just wondered what was the best gloop to use - i'm not a huge fan of the thick stuff like waxoyl. the results of crusty cracked waxoyl are there to see under the mg - rusty brown and not pretty... i'm happy to do the crawl and squirt twice a year provided it's not some mad wasted quest that someone with previous experience may naysay against.

Post by **Willie** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 7:06 pm

Waxoyl does not crack and has strong self sealing properties.
I have used it for the last 25 years to protect all of my cars and
I have NEVER had any problems whatsoever. The secret is to apply
it when it is as thin as water (hot weather or stand the tin in hot water).
then allow it to collect a layer of 'road dirt' then re-apply the Waxoyl.
You will finish up with a lovely gungy protective coating which needs
touching in of the worn areas once a year with a brush. For known
problem areas such as the vertical seam on the front wing where
it abuts the door it is advisable to paint your new wing to your choice
and then either apply a layer of fibre glass matting or bitumen
'flashing' (which is supplied as a self adhesive roll from any DIY store)
and then apply some underseal over that. Since the 'flashing' consists
of a layer of bitumen with a thin foil backing it will give excellent
protection. I can state from experience that any nut and bolt on the
car which were painted with Waxoil when being assembled will undo
in ten years time as though they had only just been done up and
that includes the notorious bumper bolts!!

Post by **woo** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 7:33 pm

Willie,

That's very interesting. I have a bit of trouble getting under cars sometimes so, providing you can keep it warm, do you think waxoyl could be used with a garden sprayer?

Post by **grainger** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 7:51 pm

woo wrote:Willie,

That's very interesting. I have a bit of trouble getting under cars sometimes so, providing you can keep it warm, do you think waxoyl could be used with a garden sprayer?

the sprayer they sell that is designed to spray waxoyl is very similar to a garden sprayer with a long tube on it. and it costs a tenner !

.. but like they said youve got to get it hot so its like water and keep it hot while you are spraying it .. i stood the tin in boiling water and it was still clogging up a bit, but once youve got the hang it goes on quite nicely ..

cheers
gr

Post by **Peetee** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 8:43 pm

Sorry to disagree Peetee but it will help to disperse moisture

I agree, but it won't make it evaporate. The water needs to get out by gravity or the motion of the car. Any grease based product will cause water to bead making the evaporation process more difficult. It also attract dirt that can hold in the moisture. As with any rustproofing process, it's vital the areas are dry before starting.

Post by **custommartin** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 6:06 pm

I might be wrong

............ but i'm sure I read somewhere (Rob Thomasson in Minor Matters???) that WD40 'goes off' after about 6 months and can actually start to attract dirt and other crud.

I guess, if true, this means that it has to be regularly re-applied.

Post by **Willie** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 6:54 pm

WD40 is excellent for very short term protection and is extremely
useful in that it will clean electrical contacts/relays/potentiometers
etc without the need to strip the components down but I would rate
it as useless for protecting chassis and wing areas on a car. It is not
substantial enough for that job and yes,I too remember an article
which suggested that after a period the WD40 actually encouraged
the formation of rust.

Post by **Willie** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 6:57 pm

Yes it is far better to apply Waxoyl when it is hot and obviously
a nice sunny summers day with the car stood out in the sun for
hours is the ideal time. When I treated the box members on my
first MGB on a hot day the wayoyl was seeping through the welded
seams for hours afterwards.....marvellous!

Post by **bigginger** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 7:09 pm

Did anyone else see an article a while back (Practical Cassics?) in which they tested the Waxoyl spray gun by making a box section from card, spraying it and then taking it apart and checking coverage, which proved to be terrible? That matches my experience of it too. They improved it by (as I remember) jamming a nail into the end of the tube and piercing holes around the tube tip. Any thoughts, anyone?
Has anyone tried spraying the stuff using a compressoe/paraffin gun? If so, how did you get on?
Thirdly, whats the name of the other stuff used for the same purpose? Is it Dinitrol? Again, anyone used it? Thoughts?

cheers
a

Post by **aupickup** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 7:41 pm

i have used dinitrol on the underneath of the cab gfloor on my van and found it very good.
also as it goes on with a schutz gun it goes on better

Post by **Willie** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 7:55 pm

I have found that the spray apparatus sold by Waxoyl themselves
is ok on the first application but gives endless trouble thereafter
even if flushed through with white spirit straight after use. A Paraffin
gun hooked up to a compressor would do a great job, high pressure being the key to satisfactory atomisation. I did a job on the internal
box members to my satisfaction by drilling a few extra holes to enable
the jet to reach awkward places and pointing the nozzle in every
conceivable direction. The only reason that modern cars don't suffer
from chronic internal rot in the sill areas as they used to is that they
are all sprayed with some sort of wax based fluid during manufacture.

Post by **bigginger** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:48 pm

Good - just wondered if the paraffin gun would work! My worry's not the sills, they're relatively easy to get at

but the chassis rails, which as you know run the length of the car on an LCV. Think I 'll start experimenting with a parafin gun and a length of pipe, having just replaced two tie plates and had a close hand look at the state of the inside of the box section!

a

Post by **Kevin** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 8:37 am

Has anyone tried spraying the stuff using a compressor/paraffin gun?

I think that is what garages use when applying it rather then the waxoil gun.