Protecting car from salt

[355spider]

Usually I would keep my 355 off the roads during winter best I could, however it’s always a challenge as I enjoy using it most days.

I given up on keeping miles of it a long time ago as I figured lives too short for that nonsense, and I’m now thinking similar regarding winter roads.

Anyway, is simply giving the underneath a hose weekly likely to suffice

[ZedLeg]

You'll need to hose it off after every time you use it when the roads are salted, make sure it's well rinsed and dry before you put it away. You'd need to hose off the whole underside as well.

Anything less and you'll be doing rust repairs next year.

[Fatboy]

Also perhaps get it underbody sealed/waxed, help keep the salt away from the metal ...

[Krikkit]

ZedLeg said:

You'll need to hose it off after every time you use it when the roads are salted, make sure it's well rinsed and dry before you put it away. You'd need to hose off the whole underside as well.

Anything less and you'll be doing rust repairs next year.

OP get it washed properly and undersealed with some clear wax like Dynax UC or Lanoguard before you take it out.

[Stallzy]

Krikkit said:

OP get it washed properly and undersealed with some clear wax like Dynax UC or Lanoguard before you take it out.

Yeah, this sounds solid. I'm a big fan of Bilt Hamber's cleaning products as it is but just been hearing and reading about the Dynax products for underseal / rust protection wax and seems very promising. Atom-Mac (corrosion inhibitor solution) is apparently pretty handy too, but you need some sort of underbody lance system or have the car raised up to really get good contact I guess

[Koolkat969]

Fatboy said:

Also perhaps get it underbody sealed/waxed, help keep the salt away from the metal ...

^^^This. Saves you the worry and hassle of having to wash the underside regularly.

Simplest to use and relatively effective application on the market is Lanoguard.

For a more long lasting and varied application (should you choose to do cavities also and not just the underside), I'd go with Bilt Hamber products.

[sixor8]

I have a TVR which have a reputation for chassis made of cheese. Well, actually not that bad but yes, keeping salt off / washing all residue off is good. I could have used it an extra month this year than I did with the mild autumn, still not had a gritter out around here yet, but there will be in a couple of days judging by the forecast.

I often find it's components like damper bodies, trailing arms / suspension arms and the wheels themselves that suffer most from exposure to salty roads. I'd agree that wet roads are not to be feared, but salted, depending on age of car (?), I'd avoid myself.

[andygo]

I understand this is good stuff. Harrys Garage recommends it.

http://www.acf-50.co.uk/

[moonigan]

andygo said:

I understand this is good stuff. Harrys Garage recommends it.

http://www.acf-50.co.uk/

Its good but can be difficult to apply, particularly when cold. Salt-Away is a good product to use. Use a pressurised garden sprayer and you can do the underside of the car in no time.

Edited by moonigan on Monday 5th December 17:24

[untakenname]

andygo said:

I understand this is good stuff. Harrys Garage recommends it.

http://www.acf-50.co.uk/

It's ok for Bikes but for cars it's not very durable so you need to apply it multiple times over the winter and it's also really hard to apply if you're using the liquid rather than the aerosol.

I've been using Bilt Hamber Dynax ultra clear and it's still on three years later in the wheel wells, I stay away from lanoguard as it's made from sheep byproducts so can attract rats.

Edited by untakenname on Monday 5th December 17:28

[QJumper]

untakenname said:

It's ok for Bikes but for cars it's not very durable so you need to apply it multiple times over the winter and it's also really hard to apply if you're using the liquid rather than the aerosol.

I've been using Bilt Hamber Dynax ultra clear and it's still on three years later in the wheel wells, I stay away from lanoguard as it's made from sheep byproducts so can attract rats.

I used Dynax UB, but have also used ACF-50 and found the liquid easy to apply with a pump sprayer (about 15 mins to spray the underside). If it's partcularly cold put the bottle of ACF-50 in a bucket of hot water for a few minutes before spraying.

I also attach a cheap lawn sprinkler to a hose and give the underside a quick spray every so often in winter.

[355spider]

Thanks for the suggestions, will look at some sealing.

Regarding the washing straight after, I mean yes I’m sure this would be best, however washing the car in the dark isn’t something Id think to do, plus then not been able to put the car in the garage afterwards!

Surely though salt won’t damage the car that soon, would it?

My car does have an under tray although it doesn’t cover every nook and cranny.

I like the sprinkler idea above, thanks for that

[d_a_n1979]

untakenname said:

andygo said:

I understand this is good stuff. Harrys Garage recommends it.

http://www.acf-50.co.uk/

It's ok for Bikes but for cars it's not very durable so you need to apply it multiple times over the winter and it's also really hard to apply if you're using the liquid rather than the aerosol.

I've been using Bilt Hamber Dynax ultra clear and it's still on three years later in the wheel wells, I stay away from lanoguard as it's made from sheep byproducts so can attract rats.

Edited by untakenname on Monday 5th December 17:28

It's lanolin and if applied properly and left to dry; it won't have any issues at all...

Loads of folk use it and have never seen anyone complain about rat issues...

[Fiammetta]

It’s a bit involved but I remove the arch liners and under trays and use warmed up waxoil brushed on everything .Even inside wheel arch lips .
Oct and April .
If there’s any surface rust by April is so minor the April dollop neutralises it anyhow .
Aprils effort also enables stones and other crap to be brushed out of nooks and crannies that winter regular driving on mucky roads throws up .

I has the bumpers off too , one offs to treat the metal work under those .You know the tin horn gagging to rot away .

[steveo3002]

simply dont use it on salty roads if you want to keep it nice , not worth the hassle the salt will get in somewhere you missed or failed to wash off , the rust starts almost instantly on bolt heads etc

[d_a_n1979]

355spider said:

Thanks for the suggestions, will look at some sealing.

Regarding the washing straight after, I mean yes I’m sure this would be best, however washing the car in the dark isn’t something Id think to do, plus then not been able to put the car in the garage afterwards!

Surely though salt won’t damage the car that soon, would it?

My car does have an under tray although it doesn’t cover every nook and cranny.

I like the sprinkler idea above, thanks for that

No; salt won't damage it that soon; it takes a bit of time to get going and the lack of washing etc...

I've run Japanese import BMWs for a number of years now; they like to fizz in the rain if they're UK cars; so the Japanese cars tend to be undersealed when imported, or done by the owner if they've any sense... Unfortunately neither of mine were; my previous touring I did early 2021 with Lanoguard; once I'd stripped all the wheel arch liners out, jack pads etc. Washed, fully dried with a heater and then applied the Lanoguard and left it to dry properly & then refitted the stuff I'd removed...

My plan was to do exactly the same to my current 540i Sport; I've got the Bilt Hamber stuff in as fancied trying that for a change, but not got round to it yet and currently selling the car, so it'll go to the new owner to do...

I'd not worry about trying to get it done now, we're into Winter, so just keep it rinsed as often as you can (snowfoaming the underneath and wheel arches and then rinsing will help, a lot) and then look to get it done properly come the warmer, drier weather in 2023

There are too many muppets out there that do this for a living but don't strip the parts properly, nor wash/dry it properly before applying the underseal...

So if you're going to get a company to do it; ensure that they do a thorough prep job and underseal a bone dry car etc!

[LunarOne]

Is the fact that you enjoy driving it really a good reason to allow unnecessary salt damage to what is a valuable and likely appreciating asset? I have a car that I enjoy driving very much and it's nowhere near as special as a 355. But it goes away for the winter before the salt arrives on the roads. Road salt is VERY destructive, and it gets in places where it's VERY difficult to remove. Rinsing the underside of the car can potentially make things worse unless you can guarantee that you can remove all of the salt. Underseals will only do so much, and your car WILL eventually succumb to salt damage no matter how careful you are. If that's something you don't want, then the only solution is to keep it away from salted roads.

[Smint]

I wouldn't apply underbody seal this late in the year, unless the body is exceptional in which case go for a full rustproofing job which means starting with a clean dry car to begin with, going to be difficult now to achieve unless you have a heated garage and a lot of hours spare for proper prep.

If you must use it, i'd give the underbody including all the nooks and crannies a good blasting with ACF50 or similar oil based product, and if you take it out in particularly wet salty days give it a good hose down underneath..not pressure washer, before putting it away, drying the brakes off by driving is good practice but if the roads are wet and salty?

Spraying Bilt Hamber's type waxes without due prep will only seal in any nasties, plus without due prep the product will start to lift over the coming years and allow moisture and salt to get trapped inside to do its worse.

[darreni]

QJumper said:

I used Dynax UB, but have also used ACF-50 and found the liquid easy to apply with a pump sprayer (about 15 mins to spray the underside). If it's partcularly cold put the bottle of ACF-50 in a bucket of hot water for a few minutes before spraying.

I also attach a cheap lawn sprinkler to a hose and give the underside a quick spray every so often in winter.

Any pump sprayer recommendations? The ACF -50 buddy sprayer is more a jet as mentioned.

[hiccy18]

untakenname said:

andygo said:

I understand this is good stuff. Harrys Garage recommends it.

http://www.acf-50.co.uk/

It's ok for Bikes but for cars it's not very durable so you need to apply it multiple times over the winter and it's also really hard to apply if you're using the liquid rather than the aerosol.

I've been using Bilt Hamber Dynax ultra clear and it's still on three years later in the wheel wells, I stay away from lanoguard as it's made from sheep byproducts so can attract rats.

For bikes you need to apply ACF50 multiple times over winter too, after every wash really as detergent releases it. However, XCP Rustblocker is awesome, lasted all last winter and I ended up needing to use alcohol to take it off. For a lightly used car it would be straight forward to spray on before the salt goes down, but your mechanic might swear at you come spring.