Keeping it rust free
 

So the new Ti we've got is relatively rust free, how do you guys keep it like that? it has been winter driven every year since new in 1996, and I'd like to keep it rust free for as long as possible.

Find the rust early. remove the paint at least 1/4 inch around the rusted areas. Buy a POR15 starter kit for about 30$ and follow the instructions exactly. In places along seams, after the POR has dried for a day or two put Black flexible seam sealer. I use a bondo spreader cut down small enough to spread in the area I'm filling.

After one winter I had only one small spot that I forgot to seal properly come back with a tiny speck of rust. I have now cleaned and re-sealed it and I'm 100% it's good to go!

I'd start looking around the back sides of panels, bottom inside seams of the doors, inside edges of the trunk, and under the car along places which could have been scraped or had the rustproofing blasted off by winter salt/sand.

Good luck.

wash in the fall with dawn or sunlight to remove all the grease. claybar... wax and that'll keep the outer panel nice and fresh over the winter... repeat early spring too. and regular washes through the winter should prolong the panels...

I think the most important thing is to keep it clean. If you drive through salty slush after a storm, get it washed, most importantly the underbody. I think oil spray helps too but I wouldn't bother going to a rustproofer. The stuff costs money so they use as little as they can (Rich from Luxury said he took apart a car that was supposedly Krowned and there wasn't a drop of anything in the panels, even though holes were drilled). What I want to do sometime is buy a tub of the stuff between a few people, find a lift and just do our own cars.

^^ theres the black tar stuff from canadian tire that you can jack up your car and spray where you want to spray.

im on the same boat, i just got all my rust fixed form LAB and im trying to figure out a way so the rust doesnt come back EVER lol

Another thing to do is remove the front wheel well liners and clean out/por15 in there. There will probably be rust.

Check here...

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1664780

POR15 meet?

For my E36 last winter, I bought the spray gun from crappy tire and 2 cans (@$20 each) of Rust Check. Took all the interior and trunk panels out and went to town. Didn't bother with the underbody. The stuff was extremely runny - It was coming out the bottoms of my doors and various other places on the body forever. It ruined the rubber gaskets that run along the tops of the sideskirts.

I don't know how effective it actually was, but it sure made me feel like I did my part in the War on Rust*th-up**par-t*. There was next to nothing to begin with but none of it got any worse and nothing new has developed so far...

Thanks for the info. really helpful!

yeah man , us 3 should , more ppl welcome lol

I don't know how often my car was wintered before I bought it but it's currently rust free.

I wintered it one year but have been storing it for the last 2 years and will continue to.

Anyway, if for some reason it get a little salty in the fall or spring, I just make a point of power washing the whole underside. Anytime it's on the hoist I check all the common rust areas. When it comes to chipped or scraped paint underneath, I just give it a spray with some of the undercoating from Canadian tire.

I don't believe in rust proofing. It's just makes a big sticky mess that collects dirt.

Exactly, my point.

There is this stuff I spotted a few weeks back. it's a spray on wax coating that sticks and stays. It's 20 or 30 dollars per can at carquest. Looks like an equivalent to the weathershed product from Cosmoline.

Will have to rent a lift space thou.

I've used that thing before, the worst part its SO MESSY, it gets onto your clothes and its next to impossible to get them off.

I believe in rust proofing, the Volvo is from 1991 and when it was bought, my dad ensure it got some crazy ass rust proofing that looks like POR15 meets playdough, we drove it in winter every year until few years ago, not a spec of rust on the chassis.

I've also look up on the Chassis saver, but apparently its a just a knock off of POR15 that doesn't stick as well, and some people are having problem with POR15 with it chipping off if no paint was lay over it.

I'm debating about bedliner.

POR does not chip off if you follow the instructions, you can smack it with a hammer. It's also flexible so if the part expands or bends it will do so along with it.

The only cases I've had POR fall off is if the area wasn't cleaned and prepped properly. It seats on bare 'treated' or 'rusted' metal only. If you're adding multiple thin coats there is a time limitation for re coating ( I think it needs to be re-coated while it's still tacky). I've been using it as a metal primer, and it's awesome. I then top coat with seam sealer and/or paintable rocker guard.