[PoMans4x4]

It's not really a fun process, but why only an hour?

You will be able to preserve what you have by applying woolwax or fluid film yourself and you can get it done in an hour or less once you get a system down and you get good at it. I buy woolwax by the 5gal pail and have the spray guns and wands. You can get a 1gal bucket and a spray gun kit for about $120.

Any wax or oil based product needs to be applied yearly for best results. You can skip years after a few years depending on the quality of the application and product.

 

[PoMans4x4]

Well, the "hour" is arbitrary, but the point is that I have other things I'd rather spend time on. I have absolutely zero desire to crawl around under my truck, much less for long periods, much less being rained on by rust bits, much less being sprayed by oil and chemicals.

Just priorities and preferences.

I know at 53, I certainly don't desire to roll around on my back, in my driveway, to apply WW and/or FF, but it's a necessity in the rust belt if you want to protect your vehicle and get the most out of it. I'd rather do lots of other things.

I mainly use WW these days. It's thicker and doesn't contain the petroleum distillates that FF does. FF can react with some foam rubbers (swell it and make it softer) like door seals, where WW will not. Both can be sprayed on wiring and electrical connectors and will protect from corrosion in connectors.

Woolwax is not a messy product and doesn't drip unless you over-apply or let it pool/drip. I apply it right over my concrete driveway. It will leave dark marks on the concrete if you spill over overspray on the concrete. It fades away in a few weeks at most. I throw some old work clothes on and have at it. The overspray on you washes right off with soap and hot water in the shower.

Krown and NH oil are also great if you have them nearby and would rather pay to have it done. They are thinner products. A krown job is like $180 for a truck these days.

 

[PoMans4x4]

Good to know, thanks! I like that WW comes in black, too.
Do you use rattle cans or did you buy their regular gun for use with a compressor?

Unfortunately no nearby Krown or NH unless I want to drive a long way.

Depending what these other shops say, and if I can't find somebody to do it, I may have to bite the bullet and just do it myself.

Yes, you can add graphite powder to WW or FF to make the product black. That's how they do it. You can also add mint oil or scents of your choice to it. FF tends to smell like a sheep farm, where WW usually smells much better, like a hand lotion. All batches of it smell different though. I have the standard spray gun kit, another cheaper universal undercoat gun I bought off Amazon years ago and I also have an Astro Tools undercoat spray gun. My compressor is a Kobalt quiet tech 26gal unit I bought from Lowes some years back. I have used rattle cans of FF over the years. They're nice to have around for a quick shot here and there during a brake job, etc. Welcome to kellsportproducts.com - Woolwax lanolin vehicle undercoating. Woolwax stops rust ! is where I get most of my WW/FF products. Either directly thru them, or through amazon, ebay, etc.

 

[PoMans4x4]

Applying a lanolin product over a frame, chassis and flat components with surface rust will keep moisture and air away from the surface of the metal. Keep those components away and the rust can't progress. The key is repeat applications.

Something along the lines of rust bubbles and holes in sheet metal on body panels, there's no way to keep a lanolin product in place, or on the margins of the rust holes. There's no saving that with an oil / lanolin product.

 

[PoMans4x4]

The only shops I can find are about an hour away, and they want to keep the car for 1+ days which means 6+ hours of combined driving with a 2-car caravan.

If anyone's curious I stopped being lazy and finally watched a couple videos on undercoating application. It looks pretty idiot proof so I went ahead and ordered some woolwax, a cheap gun, and a respirator.

I decided I'll knock off the loose rust with a brush, but I'm not going to use a grinder and take it to bare metal. I originally thought that was necessary but now I won't bother. That'll make the job a lot less painful.

Thanks all for your feedback, ideas, and experiences!

You did good and your plan sounds solid. Do you have a decent air compressor and hose? I'd recommend a good swivel joint on the spray gun or end of your hose. Once you get your first application done, the subsequent ones take a fraction of the time.

 

[PoMans4x4]

I have a 10 gallon california air, and it seems to fill pretty quickly. Hopefully it keeps up, but if not I'll just twiddle my thumbs and wait.

Good call on the swivel joint. I don't have one and should have gotten one years ago for other projects anyway.

You should be good to go with that. My kobalt air compressor has a California air tools style compressor on it. These things are amazingly quiet. About the same noise as a a/c window unit compressor.