I'm voting with the southerners on this one, I'd pass.
Note to self, re-apply fluid film before the weather turns.
Note to self, re-apply fluid film before the weather turns.
This '04...too crusty to be trusty?
- Thread starter HeavyEarly
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Control your rust phobia 
There is going to be a little Surface Rust on nearly all 10+ year old LX's.
As a reference, here are photos of my 2002 LX from Santa Barbara, California - 24K miles:
There is going to be a little Surface Rust on nearly all 10+ year old LX's.
As a reference, here are photos of my 2002 LX from Santa Barbara, California - 24K miles:
Here's another reference of underbody rust...I saw this car in Charlotte 2 weeks ago. Its sold now..which i cant believe. It was a rust bucket. It also had rust bubbles on the doors corners. It was in bad shape.
https://goo.gl/photos/jWi3KBjMRkhdBdSg9
https://goo.gl/photos/jWi3KBjMRkhdBdSg9
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- #24
Control your rust phobia
There is going to be a little Surface Rust on nearly all 10+ year old LX's.
As a reference, here are photos of my 2002 LX from Santa Barbara, California - 24K miles:
View attachment 1314971
View attachment 1314973
View attachment 1314974
View attachment 1314975
View attachment 1314976
Thanks for posting those.
@cwmoser- don't think your 100 counts as rusty, that's not really rust- that's rust dust
- heck you still have shiny fasteners.
The OPs prospective truck however is a good example of sub par Japenese steel marinated in New England brine. Not what you want to buy. Especially the ad stating Excellent condition- Wtf ?
- heck you still have shiny fasteners.The OPs prospective truck however is a good example of sub par Japenese steel marinated in New England brine. Not what you want to buy. Especially the ad stating Excellent condition- Wtf ?
I've restored Flats, so I've seen rust. While this is clearly not rust free it looks to be primarily surface. I'd negotiate a really good deal and the get under it with a few bottle of rust convertor, if you are so inclined, and hit all of it. It will convert into a super hard black epoxy and will not rust any further. Just knock off the loose paint or whatever is flaking and spry it down. Wear glasses as a key ingredient is aIldefonso acid that dissolved the ferrous oxide and then over the next 24 hrs dries into a hard epoxy covering.
It all still looks very solid, so if you want to do the work the truck looks sound, so long as you address it now.
It all still looks very solid, so if you want to do the work the truck looks sound, so long as you address it now.
So, typing on a phone....
Any specific rust converter you'd recommend?
I have a local Northern tool who carries Krud Cutter. Comes in a hand spray bottle (aka Windex bottle). Once that stuff has cured it's damn near impossible to even sand all the way off. Good stuff and less than $10 a bottle. Get two bottles and you might have an unused bottle when done. But there are many good rust converters out there. Look for a bottle like this and has a 24 hrs cure time. Saturate the area and the next day everything with rust will have changed to black. Do not sand all the surface rust off, it need some rust to be able to work. Just hit it with a hand wire brush to get the loose stuff off. Use eye protection as it is slightly acidic and will burn eyes and skin.
What do u guys think of this? Its been a Maryland car.. i think its too much, but what do u think?
https://goo.gl/photos/AyhuTY6p8MiuYQJh7
https://goo.gl/photos/AyhuTY6p8MiuYQJh7
The asking price of the original LX posted is outrageous. If it was priced in the $5-7k range I think it would be a deal.
I will say that rust does not bother me on a vehicle I plan to drive in the salty winter. The rust appears to be what I call 'deep surface' rust. It is under the paint and has caused some pitting but hasn't structurally damaged the frame. If the frame is solid it wouldn't take much effort to slow the rust, make it presentable and make the frame last. I bet there is significant body rot behind the mud flaps and running boards around the rear fender. Once again, easily slowed but a 'repair' is quite expensive.
I will say that rust does not bother me on a vehicle I plan to drive in the salty winter. The rust appears to be what I call 'deep surface' rust. It is under the paint and has caused some pitting but hasn't structurally damaged the frame. If the frame is solid it wouldn't take much effort to slow the rust, make it presentable and make the frame last. I bet there is significant body rot behind the mud flaps and running boards around the rear fender. Once again, easily slowed but a 'repair' is quite expensive.
I'm in that exact boat...getting a few estimates tomorrow to hopefully fix a significant rust related issue in that exact spot behind the board/flap...
I'm going to wire wheel the rest of the underbody this weekend, hopefully slow the rust to a minimal crawl, and drive my 2000 for another 100K miles (has 180K).
This is how I treat chassis rust. Wire wheel affected area, rust convertor( dinitrol or aquasteel),apply zinc primer, then 2K Epoxy primer, cavity wax(dinitrol), underbody wax(dinitrol). I use dinitrol r900(epoxy rust convertor) inside chassis rails using tubes then apply cavity wax inside after. I have never had to do any structual repairs after this, you might not stop rust but you can certainly slow it to the point of not having to worry about it. These are brands that are available in the UK, not sure about the US. Keep the undercarriage clean by power washing often during winter months, if I can see any grey of the zinc primer showing in spring I apply some more cavity and underbody wax to keep it protected, I like the dinitrol underbody wax as it dries to a smooth fairly hard surface, the cavity wax is applied first as this will self heal if any stones chip away at the underbody wax. Hope this helps anyone who does drive on salted roads in the winter. I also use a clear hard wax on suspension parts that I dont want the underbody wax on, this protects the bolts aswell from corrosion. It is high temp so the engine bay gets a coat of this also, this is also made by dinitrol.
Control your rust phobia
There is going to be a little Surface Rust on nearly all 10+ year old LX's.
As a reference, here are photos of my 2002 LX from Santa Barbara, California - 24K miles:
View attachment 1314971
View attachment 1314973
View attachment 1314974
View attachment 1314975
View attachment 1314976
Show off.
