I want to clean/paint under the hood, wheel wells, etc on my 64 Electra. My goal is rust prevention and of course just to make it look better. I'm not looking for show quality, or planning a frame off, motor out restoration but looking for some tips. Is there a good undercoating I can use? Does the 'rust' paint really work or must I get it right down to bare metal?
In your case, I would: Thoroughly clean and degrease...Pressure wash to remove all loose dirt and grease. Use a soap solution on the greasy/oily areas. Loose rust will have to be removed (wire brush), and then treat rusty areas with a metal conditioner or converter. Follow that with with a paint like a semi-gloss 'ZERO-RUST' or 'POR-15', and it should look nice and last quite a while.... Undercoatings can be problematic, as they can trap moisture/rust and cause the metal to rust further. I think good preparation, and a quality paint will give you the result you are looking for...
chassis clean up Dan, There is no magic to it. Just scrub and clean till you want to puke and then do it some more. :laugh: The rust has to be killed some way. and then prevented from happening again. I once saw an old body man at a Lincoln dealership buy a new Lincoln. When it came in he had the shop steam clean all the factory undercoating from under it. He then took a qt. of new oil and a squirt can and squirted oil inside all the body panels and set it aside for 2 days. It dripped oil and stunk like oil for 2 or three days during which time I ,being facinated by what he was doing, asked him about it. he told me that the oil would spread on the panels and then collect dust. This film would 'self heal' if anything bumped it an d once in between the joints of the panels would prevent rust. I have done this on every car that I have owned since [40 yrs] and havent had one rust out ever. I always resquirt the car about every 5 yrs. Simple - inexpensive- works. :Brow: do this after all the body and paint work is done.
Sounds like a boatload of fun.... :shock: Thanks for the replies..... guess it's time to get dirty!!!! ( just ordered some supplies from por-15 )
