underbody treatment

[jonnyboy54321]

Guys

Putting this in the lounge so that for members searching who dont have a 120, same should apply?

Had a 120 viewed by a pal today who managed to blag a ramp

I'll only put a couple of pics up as there are loads.

Wondering about how to approach treating this one if I go for it, there is some wiggle in the pricing, in other respects its a "proper" truck. For reference, he reckoned nothing in the pics has a serious hold - no welding should be needed. Have done some reading up and the stories of waxoil hiding rust and it spreading, hidden, worries me. I don't know if I have the physical capabilities to do it myself with my largely-broken body, my mechanic could be persuaded but he's mobile and we've got no ramp.....

Or do we know of someone in my area who could be trusted to do a proper job not just blast loads of gunk over what's there? I have no idea what that would cost...



Or should I run for the hills and avoid this one bearing in mind what I said above?

 

[StarCruiser]

Have you thought of having someone like Rustbuster do it for you? I think it was something like £400 to £600. There's a thread on here somewhere.

 

[IRLGW]

Jaysus...is it amphibious?

 

[silvercruiser]

its going to be a good few hours of prep work if you do it yourself.
I admit the 120 do seem more prone to rust. my collie looked lovely underneath. the 120 is still pretty good but there are some area's i will be treating myself. I will be using air/hand tools to prep my bits and then luckily the type of work i do requires 2 pack marine paint so i will be using this.

I think that one, needs a good blast off underneath and a complete coating if your thinking of keeping it for a while.

 

[Towpack]

WHY WHY WHY can't they put a decent protective coating of something on at the factory!! The extra cost would be so small as to be negligible and these are not cheap vehicles. You expected this from vehicles in the 70's.

 

[StarCruiser]

It looks to me, in places, that there was a coating, clearly visible over most of it, that has detached in some areas.

 

[Pat]

I have a 1993 kzj78 without a skerrick of rust and old friends of mine who were Land Rover fanatics used to do a lot of beach driving.They pumped waste oil into all the box sections and cavities and never had problems.Is it the salt on the roads that stuff uk vehicles?

 

[Shayne]

I would pressure wash the loose away and lash a load of Fertan rust converter everywhere . That should halt the rust at least and it lasts about 6 months without a topcoat so will give you time to attack different areas with a wire brush and apply a more permanent fix in fits and starts as and when time allows .

 

[chapel gate]

Tbh, id probable walk with that amoung of rust..

 

[jonnyboy54321]

Tbh, id probable walk with that amoung of rust..

Starting to think that way although that's two seriously viewed (ie underneath), and its 2/2 like that....wondering if its just as common as rot on 100's etc

 

[Rob Cowell]

Starting to think that way although that's two seriously viewed (ie underneath), and its 2/2 like that....wondering if its just as common as rot on 100's etc

I don't think it looks that bad. Needs a clean up and treating, but areas on mine have looked as bad. That cross-member above the axle looks good. The front wishbones are very thick. I'd give them a wire brush and a lick of Hamerite and they'll last much longer than the bushes, and then for how much Milners charge for original new ones, just replace the whole wishbone. At least it's honest. I'd much rather that than one someone had undersealed and you couldn't see what it was hiding.

 

[jonnyboy54321]

It's a point Rob. Good to hear from an owner who's "been through it" on one so to speak. Fr*gging awful job to do though so am looking into subbing it out but to someone who I can trust to do it properly.

 

[IRLGW]

it looks to me like it has been body shooted ( wish to god that stuff was banned). Body shoot works as good at trapping moisture as it does at keeping it out. If you are going to spray under there use stonechip. It is much tougher than shoots. When you retro spray it you will never really get compete coverage unless you spend a silly amount of time on it. you can get clear waxoil now which is a happy medium and doesnt look too bad but it needs heat to go on thinly enough for spraying. Honestly unless it is dirt cheap I wouldnt just walk away from this- I would run

 

[lc 120]

If you took it into Rustmaster you can watch them clean, prepare and treat it....

 

[mrdelmonti]

Buzzweld do some fantastic products for dealing with this unfortunately it's a diy job.

A lot of 120s are starting to look like that, poor protection from the factory.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Shayne]

I grudgingly used direct to metal paint on my trailer from these guys http://www.militaryvehiclepaint.co.uk/index.php because of time limits and to be honest i was really quite impressed with it .

I have since wondered about the chassis paint they offer , has anyone tried it ?

 

[frank rabbets]

Any rust treatment is a quack remedy. Once you have rust there is absolutely no point in covering it up. It just gets worse under the surface. Hot soapy water to get rid of all the salt then thoroughly dry then spray with oil is the only prevention worthwhile. Most often the rust is worst where you cannot see it so there is no point of carrying out any protection anyway unless you can get into unseen areas.

Trust me I've restored cars since 1959 and if rust cure was possible treatment would have been available then. There is no product that says it will cure rust, so it won't. It's a bit like cancer. There are remedies but not cures.

The amount of rust depends on the quality of the steel. In the 80's I worked on 1959 cars that had no protection from new and had no rust. Then in 1963 with the same model car all hell broke loose and they turned to red biscuit in 10 years.

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

Two aspects to this thread,
1) That 120 looks like buying a load of work and expense.
2) the main beneficiary of all the hard work is the next owner who doesn't have to do the job.

 

[GeekOKent]

Tbh, id probable walk with that amoung of rust..

me too!

that looks pretty bad in places. And as Rich noticed too - it does look as if someone at some point has done some underbody paint / seal - potentially sealing the problems in?

 

[Rob Cowell]

Any rust treatment is a quack remedy. Once you have rust there is absolutely no point in covering it up. It just gets worse under the surface. Hot soapy water to get rid of all the salt then thoroughly dry then spray with oil is the only prevention worthwhile. Most often the rust is worst where you cannot see it so there is no point of carrying out any protection anyway unless you can get into unseen areas.

I'm not going to try and argue with your experience. OK, I am I'm not convinced about rust being worse where you can't see it.

My much, much more limited experience is needing to weld bits that in hindsight I could have protected. On my 90 it was (massively awkwardly for my MIG) the top of the 2nd cross member from the back. The stupidly designed concave coil spring mount. And OK, the rear cross member bottom, but also vertical pieces that were just from being hit with muck from the back wheels. And the bottom of that cross member could have been quite easily sluiced out and oiled.

On the 2 LRs I've had it's been the easy to get at outriggers, and OK the rear cross member probably from the inside.

The two cars that really crumbled from the inside were a Morris Minor and a Triumph (made of milk bottle tops) Herald. And they were both more than 30 years old when I bought them.

I agree you can't cure rust, but I do think you can slow it down. But I do think you need to look at it every year. I've been happy with the longevity of POR-15. Although I haven't had any since I had my 120 which gets any rust or bubbling-rust wire brushed back each year, some acid stuff to slow it down and re-Hammerited. I don't like underseal, I think that just hides trouble and is a pain to clean off if you do want to weld. I would have thought oil will just attract dirt and make you unpopular with the MOT man?