The Rust Belt is a region comprising parts of the northeast and midwest of the continental United States. But as with so many human endeavors, we like to know that we’re at least fighting the good fight.Rust Belt States Rust Belt, United States We may never be able to fully defeat oxidation, not as long as we want to venture out of our hermetically sealed garages on less-than-ideal days. And in the never-ending battle against rust, there are few things as dangerous as complacency patina today is a tetanus risk tomorrow. If nothing else, I now feel like I’ve done something meaningful to help keep my truck going.
Hopefully, it’s equally good at keeping the rust at bay on my Jeep-we won’t know for a while yet. So will any of this actually make a difference? Encouraging tests on various pieces of scrap metal over the winter tells me that Fluid Film works, at least on a small scale. As almost anything is cheaper than rust repair after it really sets in, it’s a price I’m willing to pay. Now that I have the sprayer, that works out to about $40 per treatment. I figure I’ll go through about a gallon each time, though that may be overkill. I plan to make this a regular routine, applying it at least once a year-or, more likely, ahead of and after the winter season. Ultimately, I burned through a little over a gallon of Fluid Film in this process. Note the uneven application on the frame-I was still getting the hang of things. To apply it, I purchased a $25 (effectively disposable) paint sprayer from Harbor Freight. Fluid Film comes in spray cans or larger containers after estimating how much I needed, I opted to buy a couple gallons rather than individual cans. Though I toyed with the idea of making my own Waxoyl, a very flammable-sounding process involving white spirits, paraffin oil and/or motor oil and candle wax, I ultimately settled on Fluid Film. If you miss an area, or some wears off, you just add more-it’s a flexible, though admittedly never-ending, process. Also I own a Barbour jacket (and a number other waxed cotton goods) and I’m comfortable with touching it up from time to time with relatively nontoxic wax. This means you have to apply it regularly, but it also means that-should I decide to do a frame-off resto at some point-cleaning off the coating will be trivial. Two, I actually like the fact that it’s removable. One, I’ve always been shocked at how nicely preserved metal bits can be when they’re coated in decades of leaking lubricants and the dust and grime they attract spraying on a lubricant stand-in yourself is a way to speed up that process. I happen to like the waxy/oily treatment method myself. Some of these mitigation methods might even work! But there are a lot of factors at play here, and you’re still fighting rust here, not defeating it. There’s also the world of waxy/oily treatments that need to be applied annually (or as needed). You could buy a whole lot of cans of rubberized coatings to spray on the underbody or daub on something like POR-15 and hope you don’t miss a spot. And here there are many options: A professionally applied rust-preventative system from a company like Ziebart is one.
0 kommentar(er)
