Abrasive Blast and Paint Undercarriage? 7 year update

[PZLCruiser]

So a little update for you all. Its been 7 years and 7 New England winters. Here is where we are at. I went to a local fair and played in the muddy parking field so gave her a good power wash and remembered a few of you wanted some pics. A few observations. Edges, corners and welds are beginning to show rerusting. Flat steel surface arears are doing great. My under coating was sprayed applied so the corners and edges naturally did not get the same amount of coverage. If I had to do it again I would brush or roll the areas prior to or after spraying for additional coverage. In the painting industry this is called a "stripe coat''. Its good practice.

 

[PZLCruiser]

 

[PZLCruiser]

 

[Tedward]

That worked out well. 7 years of salt is tough on a wagon and it held up nicely.
Now that it's clean you should consider putting fluid film/wool wax on it.

 

[jonheld]

Typical northeast rust spots.
A Fluid Film treatment every October could have prevented any rust you now see along with the delamination of the body seams. Once it starts, it's very difficult to stop.

 

[PolarRunner]

This gives me hope. My undercarriage now looks similar to how yours did. I'm going to do some light de-rusting and proofing this year but have plans to do a more thorough job next year.

 

[jonheld]

This gives me hope. My undercarriage now looks similar to how yours did. I'm going to do some light de-rusting and proofing this year but have plans to do a more thorough job next year.

One of the GCLC members offers Fluid Film treatments out of his workplace close to Morristown, NJ. It's a good option if you can't do it yourself.

 

[PZLCruiser]

Yah I could do some grinding and needle gunning and touch up some spots but overall its holding up.

 

[PZLCruiser]

One of the GCLC members offers Fluid Film treatments out of his workplace close to Morristown, NJ. It's a good option if you can't do it yourself.

We do some fluid film at the work shop for our work trucks so I may opt for a dress this go around. I just want to do my touch up painting first.

 

[PZLCruiser]

I found some better pics of what it looked like before as a good comparison. Salt on the roads should be a sin.

 

[94trilocked]

I grew up in Portland, but escaped to Virginia Beach in 2007. That's looking pretty darn great compared to most things that vintage up there. They don't even bother plowing in most of the neighborhoods here let alone deicing... I stopped shoveling my sidewalk around the house after my neighbors were like - "Thanks, but WTF are you doing that for?"

“Many state and municipal transportation departments have shifted from using traditional rock salt to liquid de-icers because they have lower freezing points and melt ice faster,” says Fran Makyo, spokesperson for AAA Northeast. “Unfortunately, these same chemical characteristics can damage vehicles because they remain liquefied longer and are likely coat a car’s underside components.”

Next time I'm up visiting I should stop by Old Saybrook and get blasted.

 

[PolarRunner]

One of the GCLC members offers Fluid Film treatments out of his workplace close to Morristown, NJ. It's a good option if you can't do it yourself.

Thanks for the tip! I really need to join GCLC.

 

[PZLCruiser]

I grew up in Portland, but escaped to Virginia Beach in 2007. That's looking pretty darn great compared to most things that vintage up there. They don't even bother plowing in most of the neighborhoods here let alone deicing... I stopped shoveling my sidewalk around the house after my neighbors were like - "Thanks, but WTF are you doing that for?"

“Many state and municipal transportation departments have shifted from using traditional rock salt to liquid de-icers because they have lower freezing points and melt ice faster,” says Fran Makyo, spokesperson for AAA Northeast. “Unfortunately, these same chemical characteristics can damage vehicles because they remain liquefied longer and are likely coat a car’s underside components.”

Next time I'm up visiting I should stop by Old Saybrook and get blasted.

yah its a constant battle with rust up here. Im trying to avoid the ''rust bucket'' vehicle status as many others are.

 

[nothovi]

$500 seems like such a steal given it’s held up that well over 7 years. Even if you have to do it again here in 2-3 years it absolutely seems worth it.

If anyone knows a place in Minnesota/Wisconsin/Iowa area that does this type of work please drop it here because I’m definitely in the market. Otherwise it’ll be an exhaustive couple weekends hitting the undercarriage with a grinder

 

[cruiserpilot]

yah its a constant battle with rust up here. Im trying to avoid the ''rust bucket'' vehicle status as many others are.

Impressive save of your truck. I’ve got access to sand blasting like that. My 60 is right on the line,
this would be the perfect save for it too. I’m not sure why you seem to just keep driving it.
Why are you not actively thinking of a complete redo this dry season? The blaster could target the
edges and seams a bit better and repaint. You’d be good at that time. Thanks for the thread,
better yet thanks for the well documented updates. Very cool.

 

[PZLCruiser]

Impressive save of your truck. I’ve got access to sand blasting like that. My 60 is right on the line,
this would be the perfect save for it too. I’m not sure why you seem to just keep driving it.
Why are you not actively thinking of a complete redo this dry season? The blaster could target the
edges and seams a bit better and repaint. You’d be good at that time. Thanks for the thread,
better yet thanks for the well documented updates. Very cool.

Thanks for the kind comments! I have allllll kinds of ideas and plans but unfortunately time and money is limited. 2nd kid has arrived so priorities have shifted. Id love to redo the undercarriage again but im looking to get in new body mounts and address the fuel tank and filler hoses soon. Then itll be time for cosmetics; undercarriage, body paint, etc but yes its about time to brush/sweep blast and reshoot the underside.

 

[BILT4ME]

Thanks for the kind comments! I have allllll kinds of ideas and plans but unfortunately time and money is limited. 2nd kid has arrived so priorities have shifted. Id love to redo the undercarriage again but im looking to get in new body mounts and address the fuel tank and filler hoses soon. Then itll be time for cosmetics; undercarriage, body paint, etc but yes its about time to brush/sweep blast and reshoot the underside.

Considered Fluid Film in between blast and coating?

 

[cruiserpilot]

Considered Fluid Film in between blast and coating?

an afternoon with angle grinder with wire brush wheel first and 3 cans ( cheapest way ) of FluidFilm would be quick and dirty protection.

 

[BILT4ME]

an afternoon with angle grinder with wire brush wheel first and 3 cans ( cheapest way ) of FluidFilm would be quick and dirty protection.

The only reason I wouldn't do it this way is because the wire brush and grinder will expose raw steel. Fluid Film is an oil type coating, but is NOT a hard coating like an epoxy or a paint.

Over an area that has had epoxy, yes, but I would not remove the epoxy, even if there are scratches in the area. I would do the Fluid Film unless I was doing a complete blast and recoat with epoxy again.

You will get a rude awakening on the latest price and availability of the 646 epoxy these days.