I really think you should wait until it has been warm and dry for a while,
else risk sealing in dampness, particularly as you don't seem to be planning
to do many miles at all, let alone in the winter. I find Waxoly Underbody
seal is a good compromise between the softness of Waxoyl proper and
conventional underseal which dries hard, cracks and hold water and salt. I
paint the front half of the petrol tank on my B roadster with Waxoyl proper,
but it still gets washed off even though the car is basically a summer car.
The most I would do at this stage is to remove the flaking stuff to allow it
to dry when it can.
You mention oil. It used to be common for the oil that was drained out of
the engine to be painted on the chassis/underbody at service time, but some
have said that old oil can be full of moisture and acids, particularly on a
car that isn't run often or far.
PaulH.
----- Original Message -----
From: Louis Mehr (EML) <Louis.Mehr@eml.ericsson.se>
To: <mgs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2000 8:36 AM
Subject: To rustproof/underseal in winter or not ?
> > Hello MG World,
> >
> > Last night I finally managed to check the complete underside of my car.
> >
> It turns out that the underside is in reasonable condition with no major
rot.
>
> The condition varied and mainly fell into one of the following categories
> - underseal flaking off (black soft bitumen type)
> - underseal hard and firmly stuck on (yellow/brown plastic type).
> - exposed paint with odd brown rust patches
> - paint/underseal damaged by brake fluid
>
> I am not out to make lots of work for myself but I would like to protect
the underside and now would be a good time for me to do something with this
but it is rather cold and a little damp.
>
> I have no intention of removing the engine yet - I want to run the car for
a while first - but the engine bay is quite messy, probably due to brake
fluid spillage.
>
> I intend to inject the box sections with waxoyl in the summer.
>
> My questions are:
>
> 1/ Is it really a problem to apply rustproofing in the winter ? Is there
really much to be gained by waiting for the summer ?
> 2/ What would be the best/easiest way to approach at this ? (e.g. just
tackle the flaking underseal now, then paint the whole lot with oil, revisit
it in 18 months ?)
> 3/ I'm not too keen on thick bitumen underseal as in the future I would
like to be able to see clearly where rust is developing. Is regular
waxoyl/oil a better bet ? Stonechips should not be a big problem as I do
not intend to clock up much mileage in the car.
> 4/ What is best for sections which are barely accessible e.g. areas around
the engine where I can just see that the paint is a mess but cannot reach ?
(Given that the engine is not going to be removed)
>
> Thanks
>
>
> > Louis Mehr
> > Manchester
> > England
> > UK
> >
> > 1971 B US LHD
> >
> >
>
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