Long Term Rust Proofing Test

[andy666]

As the title suggests, I am going to carry out a long term rust proofing test. The idea is to find out which is the best rust spray on rust proofing that I can then use on the hilux.
The test is going to be carried out on pieces of mild steel, which I prepared today. One half is sanded back to shinny bare steel to represent worst case scenario, the other half is the original black coating (with a bit of surface rust) to represent a typical chassis.
The rust proofing I'm testing are: Fish Oil, Cavity Wax, Penetrol, Inox, Lanox (lanolin), car Wash & Wax mixed with water, car Polish mixed with water, Canvas Waterproofing spray (not pictured).
All of these can be sprayed and give a good mix of traditional coating and a few I just wanted to test. Also I stayed away from any oil baed products that could damage rubber, such as diesel.
The plan is to let the coatings dry for a week, then spray with with salt water to replicate driving on the beach. I'll then sit the steel samples outside and see what happens. Every few weeks I'll respray with salt water or fresh water and every week I'll take a picture and post it up to show the progress.

Rust proofings tested:


Metal before coating:


There are 2 spare spots on the test board, so if anyone has any ideas for other rust proofing I could test please let me know (or an electronic rust proofing unit )

A few initial impressions from spraying the metal today. The cavity wax flows a lot better then I thought it would. Also the odour of the lanox is very strong, easily as strong as the fish oil and to my nose a worst smell then the fish oil.

[andy666]

15hrs after sprayed with salt water

[StevenS]

Great idea, I'm sure many people will be keen to see the results of your experiment.

Maybe try black Cold Gal? I know it's a paint rather than a treatment, but considering the worst parts of our utes to rust is the chassis I've used this to coat several places before and found it to work very well (great for touching up spots in the bullbar too)

[Ciboats]

Thanks for that Steven s. I've probably bought over 60 liters of cold gal in my time on tools and I didn't know it came in black..... DOH !

Probably should have asked.

Great test Andy 666 I admire your patience. I probably would have got the shits after making the board. I look forward to the results.

[BIGFOOTJR]

Inox MX3, all fishermen and boat builders use it to prevent corrosion..

Buy a 5 ltr from BCF and have sprayed mh entire ute, live a stone throw from the beach and no corrosion.

[pisso01]

Maybe you could put a bare one with no treatment on it as a comparison too.

Looking forward to the results.

Cheers,

Chris.

[andy666]

The piece of metal that is labeled "Control" is bare metal with no coating on it.

Yeah, the inox reads like a good option, but its only a really thin coating so may not last long term? I guess we'll see.

So anyone got any other ideas I could test?

[fgk228]

What about the commercial rust proof stuff they try and sell you at the dealership?

[Batman]

Have you put and permanent markers on the samples in case they get knocked off the board? Be a shame to get weeks into the test and then have all of them mixed up...

[10 luxxxx]

Would it be possible to use some sort of electric rust protection

[Hellbound]

Would it be possible to use some sort of electric rust protection

x2

[andy666]

All the metal pieces are marked on the back, plus now that they are coated I have screwed them to the board so they won't get mixed up.

The stuff that the dealerships try and sell is just cavity wax. Different label on the bucket, but all the same shit.

Would it be possible to use some sort of electric rust protection

x2

If you want to supply the electronic unit, then I'll gladly add it to the test, but I haven't got $500+ to throw away

[10 luxxxx]

Yeh I thought that might be the case it's a bit hard to replicate but good idea and thanks for giving it a go

[BIGFOOTJR]

Electronic rust proofing is a load of shit, to replicate just get a 12v battery and hook up a positive and negative terminal.

What people fail to realize is that there is already a current going through the car/chassis and adding more will actually fast track the corrosion.

Its banned in the US and has seen court action against companies.

What works is every month give it a good soaking of clean water not in a jet but flood and then apply a protective barrier like inox.

[andy666]

Added another one to the test, canvas waterproofing spray. Also I have put a scratch on each piece of steel to see if the coatings have any "self healing" ability.

[BIGFOOTJR]

Nice one, any starting to show surface rust?

[andy666]

All are still pretty clean, but then it has only been 5 days and they have been kept dry in the garage. I'll spray them with salt water and sit them outside this weekend. The idea was to replicate rustproofing a vehicle one weekend and then heading to the beach the following weekend.

[andy666]

Ok, late yesterday arvo I sprayed with plates with salt water. I used sea salt diluted in tap water at 35g/L (which is average for sea water).
After I sprayed the plates I sat the test board outside near the BBQ, so that it was under cover, but still exposed to the outside air. I should mention that it is raining here, so there is very high humidity.

Plates sprayed with salt water.


This morning I went and checked the progress. HOLY CRAP they have rusted fast! I expected some rust on the control plate, the wash and wax and the polish plates. But the big surprise was the rust on the fish oil plate. So much for fish oil being the greatest rust proofing.
Probably the best performer so far is the lanox.
I'll give the plates a few more day, or maybe a week, and then give them a wash with fresh water. This should simulate driving on the beach one weekend and then washing the ute the following weekend.

Plates after 15hrs

[Stu.wrf450]

What a good experiment! Will be interesting to see what it going to be the best in long term..

Good job andy666!!

[furious]

thanks for doing this. I'm thinking of rust proofing my car soon. this will help heaps/