I live in Minnesota with salty roads in the winter. I think the best general advice is to wash your car no less than once a week.

I've looked a bit and it seems Rustcheck is popular, amongst others. I've never rustproofed a car, but I've also never owned a car as valuable as my Evo, so I'm wondering what you guys in the community think.

 

i sprayed some rubber underliner in certain key spots but i dont even drive the car anymore in the winter so idk

 

My entire uninbody was cleaned or any surface rust, a couple spots needed some attention but nothing like some cars I've seen.
Nice wrinkley black coating remains now after the 3 stages were used. Inhibitor so no more rust can form, an expensive sealant, and this crap that take ages to dry. Underneath the uni body is perfect now and was told I'd never have to worry about it again, couple that with the fact the car will never winter road again in its life, I'm stoked

Wasn't cheap but don't ever have to worry about it rusting apart for sure waas worth every penny.

Gotta see some of the ones I've helped work on since. Rear subframe mounting points were literal swiss cheese I'm surprised the entire thing didnt drop right out of the car while diving. Very scary and unsafe, When its that bad you're looking at 3-5k to put right before any coating of any sort even touches the metal.

 

get a card to like mikes car wash and go there like every other day lol

 

I live in Minnesota as well and as you already know the winters here are especially brutal. I would just pick up a cheap winter beater.

 

Car washers are great for the getting the salt of the exterior, amybe even wheel wells but they'll in no way save the under caridge

 

What is the name of the product, and what did it cost? Was it done at a place like an autobody repair shop? This is the type of thing I'm considering. Some products need an annual application, others apparently last the life of the vehicle. If not the life, such a long time that you wouldnt worry about it until the car is very old, like 15+ years.

 

I bought a few cans of undercoat at Advance Auto Parts for like $20 total and sprayed the entire underneath. It's pretty neat stuff and I haven't had any rust issues yet. Car is a 2008.

 

If you can afford an Evo and are concerned about it's well being through salt, slush, ice and other road debris - then you can afford a winter beater. Washing it doesn't do anything but keep the exterior shiny for a day till it gets destroyed again. If you do end up driving it, do rustproof it with a good oil based spray that creeps and seeps. The material is only half as important as the guy applying it. So pick somebody that knows what they're doing. And once it's done, avoid any car wash with an underbody spray until next summer.

 

I am unsure of the names of each product used, It was done at a high end restoration shop, performance/autobody/paint. As noted the last coat literally took what seemed like a year to dry/cure fully

 

Amsoil HD Metal protector is great stuff but your surface needs to be clean and dry before applying. That's what I've been using on the Evo. The wife's RA has been getting Fluid Film but I can't recommend it because it smells terrible....

 

Unfortunately it's not practical for me to get a second vehicle right now. I sold an inexpensive car when I bought my Evo because I dont have space on my property for a second car.

 

Thanks. I've read good things about RushCheck, but it needs to be applied each year.

 

When I lived up north, I used Por15 on the underside of my Trans AM.