zeroptzero

Has anyone here every done their own rustproofing ? Every time I purchase a vehicle I have visions of keeping it forever. A couple old cars I owned in my younger days were consumed by rust and they could never be ridded of the cancer- a 74 Camaro and a 74 Datson 240Z. Since then I've dreaded the thought of rust on a vehicle. I've purchased rustproofing treatments on past vehicles, but I always suspected that the typical rust proofing job doesn't get access to keep body cavities in order to be effective. Reality has been that I've never owned any car longer than 9 years and most of my cars tend to disappear after 3 years, so I don't know why I obsess with this single detail lol.

My new project car is meant to be kept by my son in the future, but it came with some typical Honda rust spots. This car had the Honda dealer rustproofing job done to it in the past. The rust spots will get professionally painted next month and we can hopefully keep them at bay after that. I've invested in some Schultz guns and various rustproofing products and I'm doing my own rustproofing job on this car as I want it done right. I'd estimate that the typical dealer rustproofing job probably takes 2 hours max to complete, some of the aftermarket rustproofing jobs maybe take less than 1 hour, so I can understand the shortfalls when you rely on others to protect your car.

To do it right you need to take out a number of body panels , interior and exterior. You need to use a combination of products, such as thinner creeping products, and thicker dripless self-healing products. The Rust Check products you can find at crappy tire seem to work quite well IMO. From what I can see the Honda dealer type rustproofing does a decent job inside the front fenders. They coat the fuel lines and brake lines well on the underside too. The engine bay is well coated but that is not important IMO, and it looks really bad over time. They do a poor job inside the door cavities, and rear hatch/trunk cavity. If you open up those areas you tend to find very little rustproofing as they just spray up through a couple small drain holes and their product does not creep or mist as they tend to be thick wax like products. They totally miss the lower rocker cavities from the rear wheel well to the front wheel well on the very lower side. They miss the front and rear bumper supports, rear wheel wells, and rear panels around the trunk/hatch. So they basically miss most of the areas that are most prone to rust. They do a decent job on the underside of the vehicle, and the thicker coating on the underside works well to stay in place without washing away.

To get it right I've removed the bumpers, front fenders, and all interior panels to get access to the side panels. The tail lights removed, and the lower rocker cavity access holes exposed. Rust that I found on the interior side of the exterior body panels have been wire brushed smooth. Rust converter sprayed on all rusted areas after cleaning, then coated with rust killer paint. Once painted the panels are coated with a combination of thin creeping and thicker self-healing coatings from Rust Check. The Shultz guns allow you to blast the crap everywhere and it goes in all directions when using wands in tight cavities with good misting action. When you blast inside the rear rocker cavity you can see mist blowing out the front rocker access holes 5 feet away, using the guns off my air compressor at 70 psi.

I'd say a proper rustproofing job that will protect key areas well into the long term takes 10+ hours to complete, and the work is spread over 2-3 days. Tools and material costs certainly add up but they go a long way. It's no wonder why Hondas rust in all the same areas, those are the cavities that dealer and aftermarket rust proofing places don't access and/or don't access properly. If you want to protect your car and keep it long term its well worth doing it yourself. Using a dealer or aftermarket rust proof joint won't likely give you the proper results and is probably a waste of money. Just thought I'd share my experience as I've tried various forms of rustproofing over the years. I know the S2000 is very good at resisting rust and most aren't exposed to winter conditions, but they can develop rust in the typical Honda rust areas over time if you keep them long enough. In the long term it's definitely worth considering a DIY project as the only way to get it done right. On the S2000, like most other Hondas, its a good idea to remove the rubber rear wheel well covers as they promote rust in the rear. I prefer to remove the rubber trim and roll over the wheel well lips with undercoating, then top coat the areas with rustproofing spray. I'll be doing the same thing to my project car.

noodels

Discovered rust on the S today,above front bush rear upper arms inner arch to chassis area..Think its a very bad area so have a look everyone....
I thought the area looks like an area not uniform to rest !! on inspection was in very desperate need of some treatment.
Spent the afternoon treating and under sealing both sides..more is needed for sure in many areas,rear bumper off and treat that area next.
The stone chip guard I had is a aerosol type and was not happy to say the least !!
My VW Polo 2000 MY was rust treated from new at a VW center,<family owned from new > and has no rust anywhere ..
My 98 civic has had much better protection from factory than the 04 MY S2000 it has less rust also & is painted in all areas ,unlike many S2000s.
The S2000 will be very rare in 10 yrs due to corrosion issues, if not corrected now....

zeroptzero

That is a common area to find rust.

noodels

A wild guess !
spot welding from new would stop ingress of water in this area.
The more I investigate, the woes increase with the build quality.

Boosted04S2K

Everyone should take a look at ACF 50.

ACF-50 Anti-Corrosion Formula Review Rider Magazine

starchland

hawkman199

I've used 'RustCheck'. Buy a couple of cans and spray inside all cavities. Repeat each spring.
Had a Mustang with that treatment and after seven years it looked like new.

sleepR

I use Krown, usually get a couple cans when I take my other cars. My other cars get Krown done professionally once every 2-3 years.

zeroptzero

^ My neighbour just brought me two large spray guns and canisters full of Krown , he buys it by the pail and applies it on his work trucks regularly. He brought me enough to do 2-3 vehicles with spray wands and everything, all gratis. Great neighbours ! lol.