Anyone ever rustproof or put undercoating on their evo's to avoid rust from driving in the salt and snow?

 

yup, did this just the other day actually; living in the northeast here sucks and i absolutely CRINGE everytime i go on salty roads with the evo. ill post pics.

my buddy (who owns a '96 240) works at a bjs tire, and Monroe used to be there but they left but there are still 4 bays with 3 rotary lifts. so we pulled our cars in (his 240 and my evo), and put them on the lifts, got a bucket of warm soapy water and washed everything off on the underside, then rinsed and dried it all.

then we got the spray cans (of rubberized undercoating that we got from pepboys for $6 a can, fourcans total) and sprayed every square inch of that thing. everywhere. and it adds a little piece of mind too. now mind you, Im still going to wash it every week or two, but i like the extra protection.

also- Ive heard the stuff we used *might* flake off after a year or two, so when/if that happens, Im going to use the herculiner bedliner material (basically like rhino liner or whatever heavy-duty truck bed liner there is) and re-do it all

 

I've looked into this a lot. Just bought the Evo and did a lot of research on a quality undercoating that penetrates and rustproofs the undercarriage. The product I ended up buying was a commercial grade oil based undercoating called Fluid Film manufactured by Eureka.

Reason why I choose Fluid Film:

Again, It's oil based so it doesn't show up under the undercarriage.

Keeps snow/slush/salt from sticking to surfaces. (applied it to my snow blower and it works)

It's supposed to be an annual application but can last up to 36 months.

It's made from lanolin which is a wool grease so it's all natural.

Has a 405 degree F burn off temp and it's non-flammable so you can spray your exhaust components ( the propellent in the aerosol can is flammable though.)

It has no solvents so it's safe on plastic, rubber, paint, and electrical components.

From what I can tell it's easy to apply. This undercoating has a significant crawl on most surfaces so you don't need to get every square inch because it spreads on it own. It's kinda cool but also messy if you get it on the garage floor

Used by company's like Caterpillar and John Deere for when the ship their equipment and it's exposed, to prevent rusting before it arrives to their customers.

Here's their website: http://www.fluid-film.com/index.html

You can't buy from them directly but you can buy it here:
http://www.kellsportproducts.com/fluidfilmkits.html
They have several undercoating kits, I bought just the gallon size kit with a couple cans and a sprayer.

 

+1 to above, especially if they salt in your area. As pointed out above, FluidFilm is great at keeping the salt off the metal which is why John Deere (I didn't know about Caterpillar) coats their machines with it before putting them on boats to cross an ocean. However, it comes off rather easily, especially when warm. Annual application is a must. They don't say that just so you'll buy some more. They say it because when the car get hot in the summer, the stuff drips off.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the drip off during the warmer seasons, I'll make sure to apply annually before winter. I bought Fluid Film last week and I've only tried it on my snow blower but when the Evo comes in Monday (I hope) I'm going to spray her before she hits the roads.

Any parts that shouldn't be sprayed other than the brake components? And do I need to degrease/clean the undercarriage before I spray?

 

Stay away from the wheel-speed sensors. But go to town in the back right corner to protect the AYC's pump.

Degreasing isn't quite as important with lanolin as it is with paint or sealant, although cleaner is always better. Most important is not trapping what you're trying to avoid between the lanolin and the car. Power-washing from below is the trick.

 

I used Boeshield T-9 on mine... Had the undercarriage rustproofed by a friend with Pro-Form stuff, but for the hinges, bolts, engine bay, I used T-9. It's widely use in planes and wood working industry and supposed to stay longer.

 

I drove up to Canada in October and had the car coated by Krown, very similar (oil based) to some of the other stuff people have mentioned.

Seems to work pretty well so far, though this is the evo's first winter. We'll see.

My 03 had quite a bit of rust behind the fenders and on engine bay seams, so I'm hoping the X does better.

 

POR-15 any good?

 

POR-15 seems to be rust proofing paint.

I prefer oil based rustproofing because it doesn't alter the look of the undercarriage other than giving it a shine. And I don't think you'll be able to spray hot components like exhaust parts with undercarriage paints.

 

If there are components on the car with rust on them already por-15 is the way to go. It litterally is like a thick hard candy shell ive never used anything like it. There is a hot engine version too. I wasn't able to find fluid film in Canada but I used an oil based product called rust check in combo with asphalt stuff and por-15. I went alittle nuts but it's my first winter in Ontario and I've never seen so much salt in my life.

 

i used ACF-50 on mine. its meant for aircrafts and i know a few guys that fly and use and they said it works great. probably similar to lanolin since its oil based, but it creeps into everything and safe to use near bearings and bushings. does smell like burned crayons if you get it on the exaust lol

 

So does Fluid Film come in a spray can. I don't have access to a compressor and from their website it says it needs to be sprayed with a lot of pressure.

 

I have one of those electrical charges through the car thingy. read a lot of reviews. a lot of negative shah. in saying that- mine actually works. and i can measure the salt on the car its so thick around here.
Also i get its back wards, but cars rust- you buy the new model ??? but this is something you get used to!

 

how did you guys put on the Fluid Film?