To rustproof or not rustproof that is the question..

Hello all, nearly 5 months into 996 ownership and after some initial issues, covered under warranty and discussed earlier, all is fine n dandy. In fact, more than that, car never fails to put a smile on my face, when driving and just staring at it! My question is, as the car will be living on the drive for most of the year and open to the elements is it worth getting some kind of rust prevention done? ie Waxoyl or Dinitrol etc? I have not had the wheel arches off yet but on an inspection up on the ramp it looked okay with no corrosion of note detected. I know of a local company that steam clean and Waxoyl. I keep the arches as clean as I can and regularly wax the paintwork with Natty's paste wax stuff. Car will be hibernated in a dry environment for the winter months (approx November to April)and is not my daily driver. What do you guys think? Thanks

ACF50 is the 21st century equivalent of waxoyl. A clear spray applied by aerosol can. Mask brake discs etc and apply liberally, wheel arches and entire underside. NB: not used it myself but many on here swear by it.

Thank you, i'll Check it out. Anybody else got any tips for using this stuff? Ta

if you hit 'Search Forum' at top right, and look for ACF50, you get loads of results.

Thanks, bit of a Forum amateur... appreciated

Mines lived on the drive in rainy Langho for over 5 years. No nasty rust stuff anywhere (well nothing that needs attention).

Hello Alex, was hoping you would pop up with some words of reassurance, although I think Langho is positively tropical in comparison to Clitheroe... any tips for keeping the rust worms at bay?

I always coat my older cars. I have used ACF 50 on my motorbike and some parts of the Porsche - I used it when I stripped the rear end to replace the exhaust gaskets - but to be honest I found it quite messy as it's very runny. I stripped all of the underbody panels off the C4S last summer and gave it a good wash, dry and coating of Bilt Hamber Dynax S50 (brown) for the unseen bits and Dynax UC (clear) for around and on the shocks springs and suspension links. Rust and corrosion only ever get worse when exposed to moisture so anything you can do in a moist climate to keep moisture away is hugely beneficial. I also sprayed any new metal clips and brackets I replaced with the Bilt Hamber Zinc spray Electrox and then covered in Dynax. I also cleaned up the radiator frames and coated them too, along with power steering pipes and clamps. If it was any sort of metal it got a clean and a coat. I hate rust! I took this approach on my previous classic cars and land rovers and it paid dividends when selling as the metal was always near perfect under the wax when it was cleaned away to inspect. The lips of the front arches at the very top are rolled more than the rest of the arch and will trap more crap which will trap more moisture. The rear of the arch/ front of the sill is a dirty place too under the liner. Hope this helps

Just keep the car clean and watch for any unwanted rust progression.

Great detailed response with some top tips, thank you. Might be a Dynax vs ACF50 challenge then, see which one I get on with best. Ta.

Thanks Alex, will keep a beady eye out for the orange worm. Think I have rust paranoia from having had older classic vehicles..

my 2001 C4 on 195k miles had some rust at the back of the sills, and a few spots underneath. I treated with dinitrol. Details on my project car thread. MC

MC's post reminds me that one of the jobs I have asked Hartech to do while my gearbox and engine are out is to clean the underside of the car in those areas and wax it. As well as replacing the brake line.

Place near me imports Japanese cars. They rust-proof them all before sale, so it's a slick operation. They've certainly stopped using Waxoyl, as it doesn't last long enough. They use Dinitrol now and they say cars that come back to them for re-sale/servicing are exactly as when they were treated. Don't know about Dynax, but Waxoyl is no longer the daddy.

Yep Waxoyl is old hat for people with flat caps and drive Rovers. The Dinitrol and Bilthamber products are the thing to use these days. For the OP do a search on "rust" as there was a couple of threads in the last year on the sill and rear arch rust. Its worth doing if you can for sure.