Kinda rusty underneath. Is this normal? Can i undercoat it?

fiveoho

15 Year Member
Apr 28, 2005
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this may not be a huge deal but up and under my newly purchased 99, its pretty rusty. the floor pans/body looks fine but like the axle, control arms, bolts and nuts, etc are definetly brown :( . i crawled up under my 95 to compare....its quite a bit cleaner than the 99 with the axle and such still being black. there is 0 rust anywhere on the exterior of the car or inside the trunk, jams, etc on the 99.

i made another thread asking about a leak on my rear axle. i took a pic to show it but look at the axle and the rust. is that normal? any of your cars look like this underneath? the car has been in KY for the past 4 years and kept in a garage, previously was in MO and IN for a short time.

can i get my car undercoated? will this stop the rust ( i know it will look better ) ? what do they use when they undercoat?
 

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Best bet to get it REALLY clean is to sand blast it, prime, then seal. Good luck finding a auto or body shop that has a lift and is willing to let you blast in their shop, or has the facilities to blast an entire car when its still put together.

I worked on a 99 once that literally had rusting floor boards, and the exhaust was so rusted the brackets no longer existed, just the pipes were holding the whole thing onto the car...oh and the kicker! LOL... I had him pull the e-brake, and SNAP he ripped it out of the floor pan!!! :eek: i took the rear end out of it, and 5hrs of media blasting it looked pretty good...

Here are some pics for reference of how rusty even a 99/00 can be when neglected:

604628_95_full.jpg

^^very eww...

604628_86_full.jpg

^^so nasty! (also, notice the vent is just like yours, previous guy overfilled it!)

604628_87_full.jpg

^^Halfway there...

604628_93_full.jpg

^^reprimed, then painted, then installed (later I built it, then sold it haha).

Good luck, and also if you're really afraid of super rusty spots wire brush them down to bare metal, then prime them with a rust cover primer, then paint them with a rust cover paint - they will slow the decay and help keep your car from becoming a big rattle box.
 
It isn't a big deal yet, but to protect the car in the future, and stop the rust from spreading (IT WILL! It's a disease!) you NEED to get it under control and get the bad spots taken care of and the bottom of the car painted/coated. The industrial undercoating stuff works well, and it will also make your car ALOT quieter by coating the bottom of the chassis; but, it's expensive and rust inhibiting paint/primer will do the same thing as far as the rust is concerned. If you have any penetrating rust you MUST get that fixed properly, but from your description it's just heavy surface rust (probably from being left out in the snow/salt in the winter).
 
with a wire brush and some sanding you can go a long way.

with a wire wheel attachment for your drill you can do better work in less time.

my friend has a 94 ranger with some wicked sweet, custom 14" rims. they were polished aluminum but the original owner spray painted them black. when my friend got it the wheels looked like crap as the paint was coming off in most places. we got a wire brush and it was taking forever to get it off. went to home depot, got one of those wire wheels attachments stuck that to the end of my DeWalt XRP 14.4v 3 speed Hammer Drill (not using the hammer action and on the fastest speed) got all 4 wheels done in 25 minutes.


wow that was a long off topic story.
 
with a wire wheel attachment for your drill you can do better work in less time.

my friend has a 94 ranger with some wicked sweet, custom 14" rims. they were polished aluminum but the original owner spray painted them black. when my friend got it the wheels looked like crap as the paint was coming off in most places. we got a wire brush and it was taking forever to get it off. went to home depot, got one of those wire wheels attachments stuck that to the end of my DeWalt XRP 14.4v 3 speed Hammer Drill (not using the hammer action and on the fastest speed) got all 4 wheels done in 25 minutes.


wow that was a long off topic story.

yucky drill i just got a mikita lithiam ion 18v drill set with the.... damn my keyboards batterys just took a poo ON SCREEN KEYBOARD!
 
I HAVE RUST REAL BAD UNDER MY MUSTANG

I have rust real bad under my mustang and it want pass insecpion in ny I dont want to get a new one because i just bought it used about a week ago. And I love it aready so what can i do I,m a female so be easy on me.:(
 
Since you are going to be under there, I would replace those broken vents you have on the axle tubes. A little time, elbow grease and patience will get you right back to where you want your car to be.
 
with a wire wheel attachment for your drill you can do better work in less time.

my friend has a 94 ranger with some wicked sweet, custom 14" rims. they were polished aluminum but the original owner spray painted them black. when my friend got it the wheels looked like crap as the paint was coming off in most places. we got a wire brush and it was taking forever to get it off. went to home depot, got one of those wire wheels attachments stuck that to the end of my DeWalt XRP 14.4v 3 speed Hammer Drill (not using the hammer action and on the fastest speed) got all 4 wheels done in 25 minutes.


wow that was a long off topic story.
aircraft remover ftw!!
 
Do not worry about rust, just get the grease and loose materials off and then apply some POR-15.

I have coated many parts with POR-15 the stuff rocks.
por-15 is good stuff!! I recommend a top coat of paint on any parts that may see sunlight tho, UV rays break down the por-15.

The rust must be pretty bad tho for you not to pass inspection :shrug: did you buy it from a dealer or private party? If it was from a dealer, definatly bring it back and make a stink about it
 
Everyone says that about UV and POR-15 it even says so on the can.

However I painted my antenna mast last summer and its holding up to the UV fine so far.

Not exactly a scientific experiment but based on my experiences I think POR-15 can handle some UV without an issue.
 
Everyone says that about UV and POR-15 it even says so on the can.

However I painted my antenna mast last summer and its holding up to the UV fine so far.

Not exactly a scientific experiment but based on my experiences I think POR-15 can handle some UV without an issue.
last year when i was doin some work to my audi I pulled the intercooler pipe and painted it with por-15 and in the 4-5 days it was exposed to the sun (was in the backyard while i was waiting on another part to come) it was starting to fade to a greyish color :shrug: