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[Brynjaminjones]

I've been lying under our Wagoneer a lot lately (nothing new there!) and noticed that it's probably approaching time to do something about the underside.

It's got a very old, very sticky undercoating on it, but there are a few places where that has been scraped off that have some visible rust coming through, especially where people have jacked it by the frame rather than the axles.

I know there's never one correct answer to these questions, but how would you guys treat this?

As much as I'd love to do a body off job on it, that's going to be a long way down the line! Ideally I'm looking for something that I can do in sections (I don't want it off the road) and without an air compressor.
I'm thinking this might be a two part thing, possibly paint to cover the exposed metal, then some kind of protection all over.

I'll post a couple of photos. I'd really appreciate if you lot could share some thoughts! 

Edit: All my photos are upside down for some reason. I've never had that happen from PC before - I'll see if I can fix!
Second edit: Never mind, they seem fine when clicked!

[Dave69]

strip off the waxoil crap and paint with a 2k marine enamel paint (awlgrip 545). no way that will rust after that has been applied.

link to the primer below

https://www.boatpaint.co.uk/acatalog/Awlgrip-Primer-Sealers.htm

top coat

https://www.boatpaint.co.uk/acatalog/Awlgrip-Topcoat-Premium-urethane-colours.htm

[JamesH]

I’ve been having similar thoughts after time under the Patrol. It’s isn’t bad but it’s starting and people say they are rust buckets and I have seen plenty of photos of bad ones.

My plan was to clean very well, wire brush to scuff and scratch more than anything, there’s very little flaking rust. Then use a rust converter like Kurust and paint over with brush on Hammerite. I’ve always found Hammerite quite good as a thick paint that can easily be touched up.

Having read Dave’s comment I might look into other paint types too.

[gazjeep]

Warm it up with a heat gun & scrap as much off as you can Bryn, then wire brush & acetone the rest before applying your paint of choice, Dave marine stuff should see it through a few more winters yet 

[donk498]

I've heard good things about Buzzweld stuff but not used it myself. Might be worth a look.

[XJ Fan]

When I was cleaning mine up a couple of years ago, I used a wire brush and a dremel to take the rust back as much as possible, then Kurust (I think - some green slime) to neutralise the remaining rust, then hammerite to cover, and finally a covering of waxoil or (and I can't remember the name of this stuff, but it comes in aerosol cans, and I sprayed it inside the chassis rails as well). It took some time, and it was off the road at the time, so I didn't have to worry about putting things back together again afterward, but it seems to have done the trick.

I've not heard about the boat paint before, but it makes sense, and feels like a long-term solution.

[wildwood]

Try Frosts.....
Marine clean , paint clean and their chassis black...
Bonds to everything ....don’t get it on your hands you’ll be wearing it for a week.......☠️

Used it on the chassis of the One Tonne after I cut and stretched it...also the Dana 60and 14 Bolt after I welded the shock and spring perches.....

After a weekend in Cheapfest orange mud a quick Jetwash and it looked new again and nothing ever got chipped off.

Not cheap but does the job..

[Brynjaminjones]

A lot of interesting ideas here, thanks everyone

That marine paint sounds fantastic, I'd definitely be looking into that if I were doing the whole underside but it might be a bit expensive for the kind of job I'm doing. I'd forgotten how pricey anything boat related can be!
Dave (69, not Donk  ), I wish this thing had a galvanised frame like your CJ!

Because I'm going to be doing this little by little, I think I might go for something cheaper for now. I plan on doing a proper job of it one day, but this will be more of a touch up to hold it off until then.

I'll get a wire brush on my drill to clean it up before applying anything, although I'm not looking forward to dealing with the undercoating!

I've been having a look at Buzzweld and Frosts, seems like there are loads of options out there (a few too many!).

Has anybody here tried Eastwood Rust Encapsulator?

I'm also considering plain old Hammerite. I'd forgotten until just now, but I used the brush on stuff about 8 years ago on a skid plate somebody on here gave me (Robsrottie I think, is he still on here?) for my XJ, and it's still going strong in the places I've not scraped it.

Too many options, I can't make my mind up!

[wildwood]

I seem to remember that Hammerite does  tend to chip off after a while.......

Robs Rotti.....good guy ....last spoke to him whilst on my way to see The Australian Pink Floyd..... don’t like tribute bands as a rule but you can’t seen the originals anymore......(I’m lucky I did .....lots)

That must be three years ago....
.
Happy days

[JamesH]

I’ve been Hammerite coating a few bits recently and coil mounts were the latest. Scraping coil springs over it hasn’t chipped it off but my old rock slider sills chipped a lot (but most  things would)

[Dutch]

strip off the waxoil crap and paint with a 2k marine enamel paint (awlgrip 545)

Not knocking the idea but that will be 'sell kidney first' territory   

When I spruced up the CJ I stumbled over a can of bitumen paint at work.  Nasty shit but I thought it wouldn't matter on the underside of a truck and dirt cheap.  I thought it worked quite well.

[Dave69]

the only reason i mentioned the marine 2k paint is that the better half was a marine finisher and once that paint has been applied and no gaps the metal will rust from the inside out as opposed to normal rust seen.

plus the paint if applied correctly will have a glass finish and can look like its been spray painted rather than by a brush

[JamesH]

I’ve done a bit more research into this and thought I’d share my current thinking. I have a reasonably good condition chassis I want to protect. I also have some under body sheet metal that is showing rust and I definitely want to stop that getting worse.

Bilt Hamber Deox Gel for rust removal. I’ve tried this on a test area and it’s very effective. A thick gel that you leave on and the wire brush off. The end result is back to shiny metal. Maybe not if you have bad flaking rust.

Buzzweld rust encapsulator. I’m going to use this as a primer after using deox gel where I can get access in for cleaning. It’s a rust converter and primer that doesn’t need top coating but will take most paint finishes. Haven’t tried it yet.

For cavities I’m going for Buzzweld cavity paint rust stabiliser.

I’m not 100% decided on a final finish. I’m tempted by the thin waxes that creep and deep into seams etc. Either Buzzweld WAR or Lanoguard are the ones I’m currently thinking about using.

I do like a bit of brush on Hammerite but that probably comes for how handy it is for skid plates, rock sliders and bumpers because touch up is easy (if you aren’t fussed about a perfect finish)

[Dutch]

Some other products to consider 

After removing loose & flaking rust use Vactan Rust converter.  Good stuff.

After overcoating with a paint/colour of your choice cover with clear Valvoline Tectyl out of a spray can.

[XJ Fan]

I used Dinotrol (I think that's how it's spelt) to get in to the hollow spaces that I can't otherwise get to. It's supposed to creep in to nooks and crannies.

[Brynjaminjones]

Interesting, thank you all! I feel like this really is a can of worms, there are so many products and I won't know what's effective until it (hopefully!) hasn't rusted away in 5 years!

James, that Bilt Hamber Deox Gel sounds interesting. I wonder how it compares to something like Kurust.


I decided to bite the bullet a couple of weeks ago, as I figured that coating in something was better than nothing. I've only done one section so far. I stripped it back in each direction until I found original paint, using a wire brush on a drill. I then cleaned it up and applied Kurust. I went for that because I could buy it locally. I find it hard enough to build momentum with this stuff, so I know if I have to wait for shipping I'll never get around to starting!

After that had "converted" I applied an epoxy primer, then covered in satin black Rustoleum, which seems to be basically the same as Hammerite.

The results look fine for now, although time will tell. I'm not sure how much the Kurust did, but everything certainly turned black. I've also now read people stating not to use epoxy primer over Kurust, but my understanding was that epoxy primer encapsulates whatever it's used on, so seemed sensible to me.

It's not pretty, but here are some photos: