I am working on my daily driver '84 300TD. Also I have noticed that the factory put a rustproofing on the 86 300SDL my dad bought, but this car The '84 does not have any. It was a southern car, so may be it is a Dealer option? The SDL's rustproofing appears to be really thick and hard not like the Zebart or rusty jones stuff I used to see 15 years ago that was more like rubberized grease and rather thin at that.


What Ideas do you all have about rust proofing? Oil bath undercoating? a steam clean then, paint? The car is not a show queen, but I would like to keep the underside from rusting away, If that can be done.

Jason

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46 WDX Power Wagon

84 300TDT daily driver

I have an '85 that lived its life in GA before I got my grubby hands on it. It's got this fibrous, kinda organic-like rubbery/leathery undercoating that's kind of thick underneath it. I like it. No rust on the beast, save for a spot that was caused by a plugged up trunk-hole. These things are supposed to have undercoating, from my limited feeble understanding. Mine may have had supplemental rustproofing applied, when I peeled some back whilst treating the lil spot I found from underneath it almost looked like leather on the inside, but it's black on the outside. Weird stuff.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

That undercoating is really good at blocking water. Too good. When water gets behind it, it can't escape. There is more rust underneath that undercoating than you think. That goes for all you Dixie Chickens and Tennessee Lambs, too.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

I've been using a product called Waxoil for a couple of years. One coating a year. It's a oil wax mixture, comes in various size cans. You soak the can in a bucket of hot water for a half hour or so, then shake it up and attach garden sprayer attachment(included)pump it up then spray your heart out. Good stuff.

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1981 240d
Newport,RI

My 1982 399TD has a thick wax like substance in the rockers-factory?

I wouldn't think original. If your not original owner, probably previous owner had it injected. Excellent place for it by the way. I only stuffed my jack hole plugs with the stuff and outside the rockers, didn't know you could get inside the sills.
I have read that some new cars are now injected with a wax like substance into the the cavities.

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1981 240d
Newport,RI

Punky,
Where do you get that waxoil stuff?

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46 WDX Power Wagon

84 300TDT daily driver

Rocker Shutz (sp) is a product used on the rocker panels of many cars and it works great. It comes in spray-on and brush applications. The products used for spray-on pick-up bedliners can also be used on the underside of the vehicle. I'm finishing up a rust-resto on my '85 300D and used POR-15 inside and out. It is an outstanding product (brushed on) that comes in a few colors and only needs a top coat of paint if it will be exposed to the sun. I painted my battery tray (among many other things) with it and it will never rust again.

Just read up on application methods of various products and choose one that works for you. All MB's have the factory "coating" and it is a blessing and a curse.

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Rick
Avid Benz watcher

Previously owned 126's: 2 1981 300SD's, 1987 300SDL, 1991 350SDL,
Previously owned 123's: 1978 300D, 1983 240D, 1985 300D
Previously owned 124: 1994 320TE

Currently:
2004 Toyota Sequoia SR5 206k
2010 Ford Edge 122k
Always looking for the next MB diesel!

JDMills,

The best rust proofing is a garage with the car parked in it all winter. MY '80 300SD is virtually rust free because that is what I do. My '79 300SD is the sacrifical lamb and is practically destroyed by the ravages of road salt, so bad that I have to junk it within a year before it breaks in half.

Its getting harder to find mint condition '80s MBs, so its best to keep the one you have in top condition, you might not find another. Use a junker in the winter.

P E H

FWIW Waxoil is a product with which (we) Brits are very familiar - it's very popular on older British cars. The British roads are salted in the winter and Waxoil definitely seems to help. Smells cool too!

Kevin

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'85 300SD

Here's the link from the company I bought it from. It's located in Mass.

http://www.propermg.com/waxoyl.htm

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1981 240d
Newport,RI

I used some of this paint on stuff that you pre-mix the two parts and it warms up
Sort of like a bedliner type material..
Put that on the bug and it works GOOOOOODDD
Also
Spray on Undercoating made by 3-M from the local parts store works pretty good.
I had some stuff...apparently older than I am...that I put on the bug..
Burned my throat, got in my hair, made my glasses a difficult cleaning job afterwards BUT it sure works good.
I dunno if they sell it anymore.

I've been rustproofing cars for over 20 years. I made a hobby out of it. I even picked the brains of corrosion engineers when I was working at Chrysler who recommended Texaco Rustproofing compound.

I tried oil... didn't like it... it disappeared, leaving the metal dry before winter was over.

The Texaco rustproofing compound is used by only a few rustproofing shops in the Detroit area. When I was a young engineer, I went on a quest for the best rustproofing compound in the Detroit area. I sat down with some people that manufacture Polyoleum, and found I wasn't too impressed with their product. Though it sprays on wet, it hardens to a wax consistency, which can get harder with age, delaminate and even trap contaminants, leading to poultice corrosion.

Type L Texaco rustproofing compound is essentially wool grease with 1 to 3% stearic acid. There are other formulations of this compound such as for painted surfaces, but I use Type L, formulated for undercarriage.

The compound must be cut with mineral spirits to be sprayable. The mineral spirits evaporate leaving the greasy compound on the sprayed surfaces. This coating must be renewed every few years since, with time, the compound dries away to nothing, especially in the high-wash areas. This is no big deal, since I have yet to see rustproofing from a shop last for the life of the car without touchups. (To everyone in Chicago, how may old cars have you seen with a "Rusty Jones" sticker that look like hell?) I buy the compound from a wholesaler in Detroit in 5-gal pail or 1/4-keg quantities. The pail can last me at least 3 jobs; and I like to spray it on thick!

I've adapted my paint spray gun with a long nozzle made of brake tubing to pressure spray the compound into seams, crevices, and blind areas where corrosion typically starts. Corrosion rarely begins in the middle of a metal panel! The compound needs to be reapplied every few years, especially in the high wash areas. But I've never had rust on the protected parts. The only rust I've had is where it originated from the outside or in the A- or B-pillars, which are closed sections.

I've had mechanics praise my work during buyer inspection. Nothing like rustproofing a car yourself for a job done well.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K