ShadowsPapa
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Bill
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2019
- Threads
- 180
- Messages
- 29,634
- Reaction score
- 35,263
- Location
- Runnells, Iowa
- Vehicle(s)
- '22 JTO, '23 JLU, '82 SX4, '73 P. Cardin Javelin
- Occupation
- Retired auto mechanic, frmr gov't ntwrk security admin
- Vehicle Showcase
- 3
I pressure wash the underside of my vehicles every time I take them to town for a commercial wash.
When I wash them at home, I always use the hose with nozzle and wash them good underneath, too.
Maybe it's why I have a 1982 car that to this day is RUST FREE. I've never had a vehicle I bought new show any rust.
Even in non-salt areas, well, if you've done the repairs and restorations I've done, you'd know it's not only salt.
Dust, dirt, sand, all get into the spots where panels are put together. Water wets that dust, dirt and sand - the dust, dirt and sand hold the water - and keep things wet for long periods of time. Doesn't take "salt" necessarily, but other chemicals from the road or the air can cause rust.
I do plating and from the time I clean parts to ready them for plating - unless I treat them the instant they come out of the last process, they are already starting to rust. That's just from the stuff in the WATER and air.
So dirt and dust and sand can cause rust by holding water against the steel. Dust and dirt are not inert.
I wash under there to keep drain channels open, wash out the dirt and dust and of course in the winter times, I wash more frequently under there. You aren't going to push things into areas they'd not normally get. I've got photographic proof of that from my restorations.
Yes, I use high pressure. Yes, I want to blast that dust and dirt outta there. No, it won't cause worse issues (Just don't focus really high pressure on electrical connections and areas.)
I also clean any rust I see starting and use a rust CONVERTER and repaint the area.
Below - 1982 car. Been in Iowa since 2007. Has been driven in winters in the past. No rust. I wash it under there regularly. The car below has over 193,000 miles on it.
My 77 AMX got washed real regular underneath. I washed out all drain holes - putting the nozzle right up to the hole and washing the inside of boxed frame channels and in the sill and rocker area and front gussets under the fenders. When I traded the car with almost 90K on it there was not a single sign of rust underneath - and it was my daily driver, summer and winter, blizzards and all, it was how I got to work and back from living in the country on gravel roads.
I'm working on restoring another where it never got washed and the dust and dirt gathered and stayed wet and rotted things where panels overlap and join because they stayed WET and were never washed out.
When I wash them at home, I always use the hose with nozzle and wash them good underneath, too.
Maybe it's why I have a 1982 car that to this day is RUST FREE. I've never had a vehicle I bought new show any rust.
Even in non-salt areas, well, if you've done the repairs and restorations I've done, you'd know it's not only salt.
Dust, dirt, sand, all get into the spots where panels are put together. Water wets that dust, dirt and sand - the dust, dirt and sand hold the water - and keep things wet for long periods of time. Doesn't take "salt" necessarily, but other chemicals from the road or the air can cause rust.
I do plating and from the time I clean parts to ready them for plating - unless I treat them the instant they come out of the last process, they are already starting to rust. That's just from the stuff in the WATER and air.
So dirt and dust and sand can cause rust by holding water against the steel. Dust and dirt are not inert.
I wash under there to keep drain channels open, wash out the dirt and dust and of course in the winter times, I wash more frequently under there. You aren't going to push things into areas they'd not normally get. I've got photographic proof of that from my restorations.
Yes, I use high pressure. Yes, I want to blast that dust and dirt outta there. No, it won't cause worse issues (Just don't focus really high pressure on electrical connections and areas.)
This ^I drove on the beach a lot with my jku. Id rinse the under carriage after every trip, but still got funk under there. I took to once a year hitting most of the underside with rust converter and then black engine spray paint. Kept it so nice the dealer always commented on it during service.
havent done this for the Jt yet, but its in my radar.
I also clean any rust I see starting and use a rust CONVERTER and repaint the area.
Below - 1982 car. Been in Iowa since 2007. Has been driven in winters in the past. No rust. I wash it under there regularly. The car below has over 193,000 miles on it.
My 77 AMX got washed real regular underneath. I washed out all drain holes - putting the nozzle right up to the hole and washing the inside of boxed frame channels and in the sill and rocker area and front gussets under the fenders. When I traded the car with almost 90K on it there was not a single sign of rust underneath - and it was my daily driver, summer and winter, blizzards and all, it was how I got to work and back from living in the country on gravel roads.
I'm working on restoring another where it never got washed and the dust and dirt gathered and stayed wet and rotted things where panels overlap and join because they stayed WET and were never washed out.
Sponsored