Hi,

I just bought myself a virtually rustfree Toyota Hiace from 1984 being 31 years old with a mileage of only 40000 miles (that is less than 2000 mi pr year). The car has never seen salt and snow and all panels are rustfree. It looks almost like new. Even all cavities are totally rustfree. It has however some scratches that have been touched up

The plan is to make this car my daily driver for the next 20-30 years with an annual mileage of 15000 miles and operated in all conditions such as summer, winter, salt, snow, rain etc.

It is a sure thing, that if I don't do anything to the car now - it will look miserable in 5 years.

I have decided to give the car a new coat of paint, both inside and out - but also the entire underbody, suspension system etc. For the underbody and suspension it is very common to use a tacky wax system but I prefer a classical paint system (maybe marine paint) where I can visually see whats going on everywhere instead of sheet metal being hidden behind several layers of black, thick wax. I will only use a wax/oil/grease system for the cavities.

1. I only want to use 1 single color for the entire car. No metallic, no pearl, no special effects or 2 toning.
2. I prefer maximum corrosion, scratch, dent and stone chip protection over perfect showcar conditions. I dont need that perfect mirror like finish if I can have more durability of the coating.

Discussion of the outer body alone and not the underbody and suspension:
What paint system or coating system would you use for such a car with extended lifetime requirements? How many coats of primer, how many coats of base coat, how many coats of clear coat? Is it worthwile spending money on a reflow technology clear coat or a clear coat with elastifiers to better absorb stone chips? I do realize that there is a maximum total coating thickness which should not be exceeded - but I still believe that more micrometers is better - to a certain extent.

The best thing would be to get some hands on real World experience from people who live close to the salty sea . And not so much from people who only have experience with cars being operated in the desert.

Is it unrealistic to paint the car and expect 20 years of worryless driving without any rust problems?

Thanks in advance,

Lucas from Denmark.

I can remember back in the 80`s i was working in a car yard and we had a system that works like electrolysis, it passes a small current through the body which prevents rust starting. havent seen anything much about it since but it was a very interesting system. Could be possible to cobble something up with a bit of research.

For the exterior body panels just follow the traditional methods: DTM primer or Epoxy primer followed by base then 3-4 coats of a good clear coat.

For the suspension an epoxy primer followed by a good rubberized undercoating would be good.

I don't know your vehicle that well, but I have been rolling with a 1982 Toyota 4x4 truck. The rust issues on this truck was the seams that were not factory sealed underneath. So for me to keep this thing on the road with Canadian winters, I sealed all the seams and hit it with anti corrosive wax every couple of years. Any rust was removed and followed with the usual epoxy primer etc.

Watch under coating. It's great until it starts lifting and then it will collect salt , sand and water and give you issues before you know it.

I hate to say this but if they salt the roads their your in trouble, that car is going to die a slow painful death. you can stop some of it but you can't stop it all. that salt water is going to get places you cant reach then in a short time and you have a rust problem. most all of the pinch welds are almost impossible to seal up, if you do try and seal them or seal one side and it does get salt water in it it most likely can't get out it stays wet for ever really promoting the rust. If you really value this car, an it sounds like a keeper I would get an old beater of a car and drive it in the winter. Toyotas are a fine car but back in 84 they weren't worried about corrosion from salted roads and there spot weld construction doesn't help. 20 - 30 years I think is a dream, do all you can to it and maybe you'll get 8 - 10. I would just keep it away from the salt.
Jay D.

I don't know your vehicle that well, but I have been rolling with a 1982 Toyota 4x4 truck. The rust issues on this truck was the seams that were not factory sealed underneath. So for me to keep this thing on the road with Canadian winters, I sealed all the seams and hit it with anti corrosive wax every couple of years. Any rust was removed and followed with the usual epoxy primer etc.

Watch under coating. It's great until it starts lifting and then it will collect salt , sand and water and give you issues before you know it.

Here are some pictures of the car

http://s1353.photobucket.com/user/lucas ... t=3&page=1

Question: When and how do you decide to completely remove all existing paint down to bare metal using for instance soda blasting or chemical baths before applying a new paint system from the bottom up?

Lucas

Badsix is right. Salted roads are a killer for cars. In Oregon, we never salted the roads until the last 4 or 5 years and I never saw as much rust problems until the last 4 or 5 years. I lived in the valley for 25 years and the rust problems were minimal, despite raining almost every day.
I live on the coast for the last 10 years and the salt air is a real killer also. They just started using the liquid salt solution in the last few years for the winter. Every car from Japan has huge rust holes or entire sections missing within about 20 years on the coast.

No matter what, you really can't prevent salt air from attacking the backside of panel, any edges of panels or seams. Anywhere that the paint can get thin or have poor coverage.

I media blast everything with "green diamond" or industrial quartz. They are the cheapest and most effective medias. Soda Blasting can have paint/primer compatibility issues. Its very hard to remove and neutralize all of the soda and can come back to bite you.

When I restored my bus, I media blasted all surfaces and treated panels with 2 coats of epoxy primer, inside and out. All procedures were followed to a "T". When all is said and done, I have rust poking up around the edges of the doors, windows, or anywhere that the paint is "thin". This bus was only painted about 3 years ago with quality materials! I have 3 or 4 cars that are in a similar state from different countries of origin.

Dipping a car can be very effective. Just make sure the shop who does it has lots of experience and coats or treats the car after removing the rust and neutralizing the chemicals. I have seen some car bodies at shows that looked immaculate after dipping. Looked brand new, despite the rust holes they left for demonstration purposes. My dad has had a few cars dipped, but we were using lacquer and enamel paints back in those days. One frame was in storage for the last 30+ years and had no signs of damage when we sold it last year.

Like Badsix also said, buy a beater to use in the winter time. Save your nice car for the summer on dry days. Store it in a nice garage with minimal sunlight, and it will last forever. The guys with heated garages and no windows can keep cars like a time capsule. We've all seen the pics of cars trapped in a shop for 40 years and come out looking like new.

The way to know when to strip a car is if you are refinishing over old lacquer materials, failing clear coat that has gone down to the base coat, or multiple paint jobs. If it is the original paint (in decent condition) on a car made in the last 15-20 years, it doesn't need to be stripped to be refinished most of the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J6rRj98A5s

I do realize that it is a tough question and the best thing would be to get a winter banger. However I still want the best advice for a paint system. If it starts rusting after 10 years I will know that I did everything possible ... and that I did not choose a mediocre solution. I want the best possible solution for this car.

I am a firm believer in the fact that more is better: More coats or more total thickness is better. But I also know that you cannot exaggarate the total thickness and you will end up having cracks in the paint.

So how would you build up the ultimate paint job observing max corrosion and stone chop resistance (what product, what thickness, how many coats etc)?

Next, are the self healing, nano, scratch resistant clear coats worth the money?

Lucas