sand / salt effects on new auto?

Consider getting a winter beater vehicle. No matter the precaution, a vehicle driven on salted roads will have ill effects. I hope there is some better advice comming your way; I would like to read it.

automobile..

Attach a snow shovel to the front, keep driving until someone ask what's that? Take up residence there.

Bill

I take my Explorer to an automatic car wash, the type that has blowers that dry the vehicle as it moves through. I also pay a little extra for the under body wash, to clean the salt and sand of it.

I was told a long time ago that salt doesn't corrode stuff until the temp gets up to around 40. After a salt/sand period here, I wait until the temp is above freezing and the roads are kinda clear, then hit the car wash with the underbody wash. Try different ones until you find one that uses a lot of water for the under wash...

PoD

automobile..

some entertaining replys and some good ones... thanks all for the help.. ill just keep her washed up....

automobile..

automobile..

======================== Have you heard of these gizmos? I have no idea if they work. Just a thought. Im sure there are other companies making the same type of thing.

Can you elaborate on this? What oil is used? How is the procedure done exactly?

Thanks!!

Store it in the showroom until spring !!!

|On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 04:26:14 GMT, "Ken Gallo Jr" | wrote: | |> Hi all... I never used to care about the winter sand / salt they use on |>the roads affecting the paint or speeding up the rusting of my automobile.. |>however recently i purchased a 2003 f250 and I was wondering what other |>people do to keep the damage down to minimal... |>

|>I think washing it often is a good idea however its so cold sometimes that |>once it gets wet it freezes... LOL...

This is a good question. I am faced with the same problem. I just got a 2003 Sable. I think I am going to ( in the Spring when the air temperature is right ), apply something to the underbody to keep the rust down, and also put on a very high-quality wax for the paint.

Now this IS a problem, because, the build up of crap wax from the drive-thru car wash might interfere with the bonding of the good plastic stuff ( polymer-based wax ). That means, I might have to hand the job over to somebody who can get the crap wax from the car wash off the vehicle before applying the *good stuff.*

Then again, I've been investigating sacrificial anodes, and electrical rust-control systems, but from what I've read so far, they are next to useless. I think some kind of water-displacing oil underbody application applied 2x / year is the right idea for the underbody. I think the good wax is the answer for the paint. AND, I think that a sacrificial anode is another good idea. IOW, I am tossing -all- the corrosion resistant technologies at the car I can think of, hoping that the combination of all of them will do the job.

Lg

Why spend all the money to have someone do this? Just take an electric grinder with a very coarse abrasive blade, and grind off all the wax. Then wash the whole car with several five gallon buckets of lacquer thinner. Let it soak for an hour or more, wipe it off any excess, and rinse with another 10 gallons of lacquer thinner. Dry thoroughly, and coat the entire car with hydrochloric acid. While the acid is still wet, coat the entire car with rock salt. Let it sit for a day, and take a paint sprayer and spray the whole car with muriatic acid, being sure it's well soaked. Now cover the whole car with a large sheet of plastic. Duct tape the plastic tightly around the whole car. In the very center of the roof cut a small 1 inch hole in the plastic, and pour 2 gallons of water into that hole. Apply tape over the hole, and let the car sit in the hot sun for several months. All wax will be removed.

Let me know how this works.

That's a great idea, but I'd be careful if you do that after applying the 10 gallons of lacquer thinner. I'd suggest you stand back at least 3 feet with the flame thrower, and do it outdoors..... :)

Maybe you should just wash the car at home, and totally avoid the car washes and their crappy wax.

PS. Never smoke when using a flame thrower, you dont want to accidentally start a fire.

|On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 15:49:51 -0600, Lawrence Glickman | wrote: | |>Now this IS a problem, because, the build up of crap wax from the |>drive-thru car wash might interfere with the bonding of the good |>plastic stuff ( polymer-based wax ). That means, I might have to hand |>the job over to somebody who can get the crap wax from the car wash |>off the vehicle before applying the *good stuff.* | |Why spend all the money to have someone do this? |Just take an electric grinder with a very coarse abrasive blade, and |grind off all the wax. Then wash the whole car with several five |gallon buckets of lacquer thinner. Let it soak for an hour or more, |wipe it off any excess, and rinse with another 10 gallons of lacquer |thinner. Dry thoroughly, and coat the entire car with hydrochloric |acid. While the acid is still wet, coat the entire car with rock |salt. Let it sit for a day, and take a paint sprayer and spray the |whole car with muriatic acid, being sure it's well soaked. Now cover |the whole car with a large sheet of plastic. Duct tape the plastic |tightly around the whole car. In the very center of the roof cut a |small 1 inch hole in the plastic, and pour 2 gallons of water into |that hole. Apply tape over the hole, and let the car sit in the hot |sun for several months. All wax will be removed. | |Let me know how this works.

Or to make it even easier, I could just burn off the wax with a flame thrower.

What I'm doing is washing the car at the car wash every weekend, requesting -no- wax. Yes a *little* might get on the car, but I bet more comes off than gets put back on by the wash brushes.

Then come summertime, I should have a wax-free car. OTOH, there may be a *prep kit* for removing wax. Haven't looked around for one yet, as at this time of year, nobody does anything to their cars except _drive_ them.

A good polymer wax should last 6 months. I used similar stuff on an old Rambler Sedan, and it held up great. Now that's for the _paint_.

The underside of the vehicle is another story. And so is corrosion I can't see taking place inside panels ( e.g. door ).

Keeping the body alive on this until the engine goes south is going to be a challenge, as I live in the Rust Belt of Chicagoland, where they throw salt at everything. A real challenge, as I know it is _easy_ to keep the paint looking good until the rust from the inside comes through in blisters.

Lg

|On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 02:45:29 -0600, Lawrence Glickman | wrote: | |>Or to make it even easier, I could just burn off the wax with a flame |>thrower. | |That's a great idea, but I'd be careful if you do that after applying |the 10 gallons of lacquer thinner. I'd suggest you stand back at |least 3 feet with the flame thrower, and do it outdoors..... :)

Dang. It's so cold out, I was thinking about doing this in my living room. ;-(

|Maybe you should just wash the car at home, and totally avoid the car |washes and their crappy wax.

Too cold. Hoses are frozen solid. All outdoor water here is frozen solid. Kind of hard to wash a car with ice cubes.

|PS. Never smoke when using a flame thrower, you dont want to |accidentally start a fire.

Sissy.

Lg