Rustproofing Q & A

[navajoninetynine]

So, tomorrow I'm going to begin bodywork and rustproofing the newly-acquired '99. I'm new to both, but bodywork concepts are pretty easy.

What I'm not sure on is rustproofing the undercarriage, ESPECIALLY by the notorious engine cradle. Unlike many classic Auroras, mine has no rust in that particular spot, and the bushings are in good shape.

I have access to a power washer but not to a lift, so doing that would be a little hard. Plus, I don't know how much I need to worry about forcing water someplace where it will sit and begin to rot things. Should I just scrub by hand and starting with some Rustoleum? What about rubberized undercoating?

What say you? Discussion/debate encouraged!

[nelson480]

Wire brush, and apply a paint undercoating that TREATS the rust and stops it. DONT rubber undercoat, it only traps salty water in and makes it worse

[randnon]

Hi I live in Buffalo NY, (rust capital ) and have owned a 95 since 1994. After visiting many local wrecking yards and my own experiance with this car I can tell you the areas to watch. On the upper visual areas rust first shows around the upper rear wheal house. when new I used a sprayer and satirated that area with paint from the trunk untill it ran out the bottom, My 19 yr gen 1 shows no rust in this spot.
Underneith is a different story and the areas for concern is back by the gas filler in the rear wheel house and where the engine cradle bolts to the body under the front floor.
The gas filler pipe goes through a protrusion in the body with a loosly fitted cover. I made a new better fitted steal cover to keep the salt out and foamed the cracks to seal it . On my rust free 99 I purchased in 2011 I also fitted full rear plastic fender liners from a 2009 cadilac dts, it took some trimming and effort but it should fully protect the rear wheel house area.
The engine cradle are is the bigest problem area as I did not forsee this untill an ovious thunk giong around corners showed and their was much damage to the body (rust and Fatiuge ) on the passenger side rear cradle mounts . Much fitting and welding 10 hrs later the 95 is operational and may be 20 lbs of steal stouter. There are many "g" body cars in the scrapyard locally because of this problem. I did give the 99 more attention to prevent this form happening to that car. I did fit addional plastic splash shields to the front fender liners to keep the salt spray from the tires from hitting the cradle mount area.
I always fully paint the bottoms of my cars as well as inside the trunk area and inside the doors when new and again at ` 10 yrs old ,and get 20 + years up hear in buffalo ( unherd of )The GM cars of the mid 90's were double sided galvanized steal and hold up better than most. I believe paint to be better than other coatings for the same reasons that heavy coatings can trap moisture. Do this, Keep it clean and that 1st gen body will last a very long time. Feel free to contact me with questions, I am a rust prevention nut and have ` 20 yrs experiance with fighting it on this car, I plan to be driving it when it is 30 yrs old!!!! Rich

[sall]

All good points!! I have also done much of this but don't live in quite as a prone area as you!

[rorafan]

Was searching the site looking for rustproofing tips and saw Randnon's great post above. Just wanted to add some more detail on the rear wheel well area...

I took a trip to the U-pull a few months ago and found a classic with this issue. This was a '95, build date May 1994. About 140K miles from what I could gather from oil change stickers since the cluster was gone.

The issue on this car was on the forward portion of the rear wheel wells. I had taken the rear seat out and noticed rust stains on the inside of both wheel wells (rear seat cushion area). I wanted to find out why so I could prevent the issue on my car. The stains were concentrated along a body seam so I started gently tapping the area. Well, a couple taps later and this appeared:





The metal in that area was about as strong as an eggshell. Judging from the rust on this car here and elsewhere underneath I'd say it spent its entire life here in the rustbelt but still...I didn't expect that!

This car seemed to have been well taken care of and was very clean, and I'd guess it was washed on a semi-regular basis. Bottom line...one more area for us to watch.

I like the Cadillac splash shield idea mentioned above. Never would have thought of that.

[nelson480]

MInes starting to get crusty in that spot..

[Randy T.]

Aug 31, 2013 12:52:10 GMT -6 randnon said:

Hi I live in Buffalo NY, (rust capital ) and have owned a 95 since 1994. After visiting many local wrecking yards and my own experiance with this car I can tell you the areas to watch. On the upper visual areas rust first shows around the upper rear wheal house. when new I used a sprayer and satirated that area with paint from the trunk untill it ran out the bottom, My 19 yr gen 1 shows no rust in this spot.
Underneith is a different story and the areas for concern is back by the gas filler in the rear wheel house and where the engine cradle bolts to the body under the front floor.
The gas filler pipe goes through a protrusion in the body with a loosly fitted cover. I made a new better fitted steal cover to keep the salt out and foamed the cracks to seal it . On my rust free 99 I purchased in 2011 I also fitted full rear plastic fender liners from a 2009 cadilac dts, it took some trimming and effort but it should fully protect the rear wheel house area.
The engine cradle are is the bigest problem area as I did not forsee this untill an ovious thunk giong around corners showed and their was much damage to the body (rust and Fatiuge ) on the passenger side rear cradle mounts . Much fitting and welding 10 hrs later the 95 is operational and may be 20 lbs of steal stouter. There are many "g" body cars in the scrapyard locally because of this problem. I did give the 99 more attention to prevent this form happening to that car. I did fit addional plastic splash shields to the front fender liners to keep the salt spray from the tires from hitting the cradle mount area.
I always fully paint the bottoms of my cars as well as inside the trunk area and inside the doors when new and again at ` 10 yrs old ,and get 20 + years up hear in buffalo ( unherd of )The GM cars of the mid 90's were double sided galvanized steal and hold up better than most. I believe paint to be better than other coatings for the same reasons that heavy coatings can trap moisture. Do this, Keep it clean and that 1st gen body will last a very long time. Feel free to contact me with questions, I am a rust prevention nut and have ` 20 yrs experiance with fighting it on this car, I plan to be driving it when it is 30 yrs old!!!! Rich

Don't forget above the rear springs, that is a major dirt trap.

[buck91]

I will be applying fluid film with a HPLV airless sprayer this year to the 01. Shoule be pretty easy, hope it is as effective as people say.

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