Chassis Rust Treatment - Bad or Good?

[Landy369]

Hi everyone

I am looking at having the chassis on my Land Rover 90, 2013 treated to resolve existing rust and prevent anymore.

A restoration workshop has said that the products they would apply during the process would be POR15 as the first application, and then Dinitrol over...

What are your thoughts on this, is it correct?

I don't mind about cost, and looking to have the best treatment carried out. If this is not correct, what is the best treatment?

I am considering prepping for a sale, though I may end up not selling. But in terms of selling, what would purchaser prefer to have been carried out on the chassis...

Really appreciate your insights, experience, and guidance on this, as I'm a bit lost and struggling to decipher the best way forward.

 

[Halfsize]

Soak it in old engine oil

 

[mikeau]

Hi everyone

I am looking at having the chassis on my Land Rover 90, 2013 treated to resolve existing rust and prevent anymore.

A restoration workshop has said that the products they would apply during the process would be POR15 as the first application, and then Dinitrol over...

What are your thoughts on this, is it correct?

I don't mind about cost, and looking to have the best treatment carried out. If this is not correct, what is the best treatment?

I am considering prepping for a sale, though I may end up not selling. But in terms of selling, what would purchaser prefer to have been carried out on the chassis...

Really appreciate your insights, experience, and guidance on this, as I'm a bit lost and struggling to decipher the best way forward.

There is a lot of argument over which chassis treatments to use, but POR15 and Dinitrol are recognised and known to be good.

You need to avoid any treatments that would look like 'rust being disguised' if planning on selling at some point.

 

[SWBFreeLoader]

POR15 falls into the rust disguising camp, really.
If you want the rust sorted, get out a grinder and replace it with fresh metal, there is no substitute.
If you want to arrest the onset and ignore surface corrosion for now, then you can just as well brush on that old engine oil
If you're selling the vehicle, i'd do the latter. It's not snake oil sales tactics then, they can see the state of the chassis and make an informed opinion. POR15 will look great until one day you touch it and realise there's nothing behind the plasticised coating.
Dinitrol is really an 'squirt inside' type affair, not something i'd put on the outside of a chassis, certainly pointless over POR15. I'd question the actual ability of anywhere trying to sell you the process that you describe.

 

[Beast O Bodmin 1]

I mix diesel with waxoyl. Warm it up in a ban Marie ( do not heat it in a pan on a petrol powered Coleman stove as this is very dangerous )
Then I spray it in the chassis through the air gun.
I do clean .scrub and brush up all areas and replace bad bits before hand.
Cover up rubbers ,just, swivels etc as the waxoyl buggers up stuff.
This has served me well for years and after a couple of days drying out it's a good solid treatment.

 

[ericbeaumont]

POR15 as the first application

Heard that POR15 is not as good as it's made out to be.
Labour cost may be steep to remove old chassis paint, rubbish and underseal and prep for treating.
Converting & stopping exterior chassis rust: Zinga, Rust Anode or Bilt Hamber Electrox are 90+% zinc and good at both.
BH Dynax UB or UC (black or clear) would be my choice of waxy top coat.

what would purchaser prefer to have been carried out on the chassis

Did the workshop suggest how they propose to treat inside the box sections? That's where rust will do most damage. To be effective the product must creep (warm it first or apply in summer) and injected using compressed air. Engine oil is cheap but used oil contains chemicals that will damage metal. Bilt Hamber have a good rep. and their S50 came out on top during testing.

 

[Beast O Bodmin 1]

Spray diesel or oil inside the box sections

 

[old steamer]

i spray and fill chassie ,sills with old engine oil ,leave them to drip in to buckets and trays for a month ,whilse on sorn ,,otherwise you will have slug trails every whare you park ,dont see steel engine sumps rusting from the inside out ,or old oil cans left on the shelf fo 40 years with oil in ,rusted on the inside ,i have some very very old oil cans ,outside rust ,not inside ,landy chassies are made layered and that ware the rust starts ,between the layers ,so whatever you are going to use in the chassie it need to be thin enough to penatrate ,,pref befor it starts to rust

 

[mikeau]

Ive read not to use old engine oil as it contains all sorts of contaminants (sulphates and the like) that can cause problems, but Ive no idea if thats a proven fact or something that someone on LZ made up to try and sound smart...

 

[Cliff4WD]

Ive read not to use old engine oil as it contains all sorts of contaminants (sulphates and the like) that can cause problems, but Ive no idea if thats a proven fact or something that someone on LZ made up to try and sound smart...

New engine oil is the way to go. I painted my chassis with partially used clean, EP90. doesn't seem to have done any harm.

 

[Halfsize]

Ive read not to use old engine oil as it contains all sorts of contaminants (sulphates and the like) that can cause problems, but Ive no idea if thats a proven fact or something that someone on LZ made up to try and sound smart...

If you look at a 60 year old car in a scrapyard you'll find that the engine bay bodywork 'contaminated' by old caked on engine oil is pristine and even retains it's 60 year old gloss finish.

 

[mikeau]

New engine oil is the way to go. I painted my chassis with partially used clean, EP90. doesn't seem to have done any harm.

EP90 from a gearbox etc wont carry combustion contaminants the same way that old engine oil will, so I have no problems using old EP90 etc.
I generally add it to the diesel a bit at a time as it helps keep the FIP lubricated and a bit quieter.

 

[ericbeaumont]

If you look at a 60 year old car in a scrapyard you'll find that the engine bay bodywork 'contaminated' by old caked on engine oil is pristine and even retains it's 60 year old gloss finish.

It may work well, but information online suggests that used oil is rich in carcinogens and chemicals and run-off will poison the environment, which it can do without. HSE says that repeat and prolonged exposure to used oil can cause skin disorders, including cancer. Having read a bit online (usual variable hearsay) even the effectiveness appears uncertain: one source claim that it degraded rubber components, another that it accelerated rust!

 

[Halfsize]

It may work well, but information online suggests that used oil is rich in carcinogens and chemicals and run-off will poison the environment, which it can do without. HSE says that repeat and prolonged exposure to used oil can cause skin disorders, including cancer. Having read a bit online (usual variable hearsay) even the effectiveness appears uncertain: one source claim that it degraded rubber components, another that it accelerated rust!

Maybe so but my 75 year old hands have been soaked in old oil and dirt for 60 years at least and no sign of any problems, young folk tend to read too much crap on the interweb imo

 

[SWBFreeLoader]

If you look at a 60 year old car in a scrapyard you'll find that the engine bay bodywork 'contaminated' by old caked on engine oil is pristine and even retains it's 60 year old gloss finish.

This is certainly true of my experience.
I know an 'old boy' who would plug the drain holes on his sills and dump his oil change into them while the front was still jacked up and let it run down into the whole length, collecting it out the rear most unplugged hole.
I can't say the inside of his sills were mint, but it kept a layer of protective coating over the base metal and if it did rot it, it was way slower than air/water/road salt. Probably about as good as galve, but it could wash off

 

[old steamer]

Ive read not to use old engine oil as it contains all sorts of contaminants (sulphates and the like) that can cause problems, but Ive no idea if thats a proven fact or something that someone on LZ made up to try and sound smart...

bad for the hands and pouring down drains ect ,hence the month to drip into trays ,but tractor oily rag condition and old cars dont worry bout the oil leak it will stop them rusting ,are 2 great old sayings ,of corse someone trying to sell you 50 £ a tin of fancy rust preventer will tell you old oil will disolve your car away in weeks ,but its in your steel sump for quitte a while sometimes and sumps rust out side inwards , ,replaced the sills 8 years ago on my D1 ,fill them with old oil twice a year and then plug them. Just removed a plug clear water comes out not rusty ,no rust inside the sills I can see. ,,I drill a 2inch hole in the floor for oil filling ,,ok can't stop it coming in so I oil the floor under the carpets as well ,and the front axle (original )of the 110, 39years old ,the oil leaks on that in the center ,some of the old farmers round here used to dip fence posts in old oil to stop them rotting ,

 

[mikeau]

I read of someone who takes their crankcase vent via a hose into the chassis. Seemed like a good idea at the time...