Disclaimer: living in the salt belt and fighting body corrosion when driving through winter is going to be a losing battle. I think it’s best to have this mentality from the get-go. It’s best to think in terms of “damage control” and “an ounce of prevention..” Most people don’t do a damn thing – and not doing anything leaves exposed problem areas that you can say goodbye to over time. Even after the salt is rinsed away in the Spring, fixing up small patches of surface rust is worlds easier than patching up holes in your body.
For what it’s worth, my mid-west, 136K mile car was in remarkably nice condition when I bought it. Like the body itself was 98% solid, but most everything bolted to the undercarriage had rust on it.
Before/after up-skirt shots of the rear:
Driving through winters is a thought that mortifies me. In the past, I had a first-generation Integra that I slowly watched turn to swiss cheese over the course of 12 years and over 180K miles. It was heartbreaking, especially in light of how impeccably the car ran and drove otherwise.
Said Integra, basically from showroom, to swiss cheese:
Not a huge surprise though, as much of the Integra’s life was spent in Iowa – with thousands of those miles spent on gravel (shudder) roads – in and out of 12+ winters of salt. Heartbreaking, nevertheless. Holes developed in floor panels. This led to water slowly/undetectably soaking the carpet under the passenger seat – where the car’s brain box went to shit (this was the car’s ultimate “death”). After two/three different yard boxes that also eventually failed – it became time to put the car down.
One of my missions with the e30 was to see how many years I could maintain it to a good/solid condition. In a dream world, I would/will store the car winters whenever possible. (this winter is not one of those winters – as I don’t live in a dream world apparently)
Ideally, I would have gotten this posted up a few months ago – as “winterizing” steps take up whole days of time. As I write this, it’s early November – and I’ve been chipping away at different steps as weather and time permit since early October.
General concepts:
1. First steps involve getting the car as CLEAN as possible – then “waxed down”.
2. Coatings used should be applied when the car is bone-ass dry.
- this means working with coatings after days of dry/warm/low-humidity weather or sheltered environments
3. If you find areas already coated in heavy road grime, grease, or leaking lubricants – just leave them.
- these “natural” occurrences seem to do just fine in terms of rust prevention
4. After the snow and salt begins to fly – it becomes a game of rinsing salt deposits off as frequently as possible.
For step one, I basically followed tutorials on washing, clay baring, and waxing/detailing. I won’t be re-covering them here as they can be found easily all over the web.
I will say that I had never worked with clay bar before – and found myself claying/waxing all door jams, hood/trunk seam areas, as well as window trim areas. Doing so will completely trash out your clay – but leave you with remarkably clean and protected “nooks and crannies”.
I did “step one” twice over two different weekends.
Step two: coatings
ANTI-SEIZE?
Yes. Anti-seize*. The first thing I did was use a toothbrush and two tubes of anti-seize to go over every single undercarriage nut/bolt/fastener/threads I could find. The process was tedious and took over three hours. It was a tip I read in a Bentley manual. Because I pretty much knew I’d be working on the car in years to come – I saw this as a gift to myself down the road.
* Note: After fully stripping/cleaning/painting brake calipers – they began showing signs of rusting again after only a few months – and I had gone medieval on removing rust via electrolysis. Because the anti-seize was silver, and because I painted my calipers silver, I was like “F-it”, and “painted” them up with a toothbrush and anti-seize. Months later, it was weird – like the anti-seize simply froze whatever was going on with zero change in appearance. I was sold on use of anti-seize.
“WAXY”
After research, I found working with a “waxy” spray product is desirable. If you go with something like a rubberized undercoating, then what you’re quite likely to do is trap moisture and corrosion beneath a coating where you won’t be able to see what’s going on – and actually accelerating further corrosion.
- Cosmoline – “what the factory used”. I found it difficult to acquire cosmoline. One can buy it by the case for like $150. Individual cans via ebay were pricey with shipping.
- Waxoyl – desirable, yet possibly tricky to work with. Seems like I read up on tutorials where it was best to pre-warm the can in boiling water – and that was more bother than I wanted to bother with.
- AMSOIL MP Heavy Duty* – (MP = Metal Protectant) Sprays/mists on wet, then dries off leaving a “waxy” film. Bingo. I acquired and used two cans of this stuff.
* Note: I discovered the AMSOIL MP product to be strikingly similar to chain lubricant/waxes that I’d used on motorcycles. In a pinch, one could swing by a local motorcycle dealership for a VERY similar spray-on product.
“GREASY”
I gathered that spray-on white grease was good lubrication/protection for areas like door locks, door jams, and hard-to-reach areas. My game plan was go clean – then go waxy – then follow up with coats/applicants of white grease in desired areas.
- Spray-on white grease – easily available and used as appropriate to moving parts and areas.
- B’laster Silicone Spray Lubricant – I have some of this, but plan to use it more like a quick rinse product around the engine compartment and door jams over winter time.
“OILY”
Not sure what to say here – other than to note one guy told me a story about how his father would mix 4 gallons of water with 1 quart of diesel fuel. He would take this mixture and spray down his farm equipment and service vans with it with great results. As crazy or weird as it may sound – an oily film is left on treated areas. I can see myself picking up some sort of pump applicator and using this mixture as a “salt-rinse-off” in my driveway. In theory, it sounds good to me.
Extra virgin olive oil – also deserves a note. I apply it twice a year to my dash to prevent cracking. I plan to wipe down rubber trunk, door, and hood weather stripping with it. In theory, it should preserve elasticity of the rubber, and prevent those times when it’s hard to open a door or window because water wasn't displaced and caused things to freeze up.
And now, for an onslaught of further commentary and pictures..
One way or another, you'll want the car up.
As far as cleaning the undercarriage, I didn't really. Gravity is on its side, and it generally stays clean naturally. Aside from occasional "undercarriage" washes, I used the head of a nylon-bristled kitchen broom to brush dust and debris away before application of "coatings".
I started at the rear - and that's where most of my time and products went to. From the tank rearward, there's a lot of surface area and components to address. It's also an area where a lot of swirling undercurrents deposit grime and road salt.
Following pictures are spotty - as I was chugging along with more thought toward getting job done than taking pictures.
Shots after toothbrush and anti-seize:
I'm pretty sure this area on both passenger and driver-side will give me headaches in the future..
Shots taken after hosing things down with the AMSOIL MP product:
All wheel wells and inner wheel well lips received generous coatings.
Standard "i" lip installed for greater clearance in snow. Skinny-ass snow tires and wheels mounted up.
Rear plate filler was removed since it would just be another place for snow and slush to accumulate in - and license plate lights are a problematic area enough as is.
Finishing touches included taping off sunroof. The area under my roof is just pristine – so taping it off from moisture and corrosives is like putting it in storage.. and it’s still rocking the original roof gasket, which I’m sure is near whatever life it has left..
Only two lines of rear defroster worked. Closer inspection indicated that most all "junction joints" of vertical and horizontal grid lines were broken or very weak. I procured a permatex defroster repair kit. A toothpick was used to dab repair formula to weak joint areas. The photos are bad due to house-siding reflected in glass - but you can just make out the little orange dabs were formula was applied to grid on inside of glass. I'll report back on if it worked or not..
Keyless entry is a good thing in winter. I'm having trouble with an ebay unit I installed - otherwise, I'd be willing to tape off all key lock points, as well as door windows and trunk lid.. but that's pushing the silly side of winterization.
Closing notes include doing an oil/filter change, as well as checking other fluids and battery health. I like to skip doing maintenance work in the winter if possible.
On a lighter note, there are things in life much worse than having to tool around in a rear wheel drive, LSD-equipped vehicle in the winter time. It's OK to play - just make sure to leave lots of room for error. It's a crazy world out there..
For what it’s worth, my mid-west, 136K mile car was in remarkably nice condition when I bought it. Like the body itself was 98% solid, but most everything bolted to the undercarriage had rust on it.
Before/after up-skirt shots of the rear:
Driving through winters is a thought that mortifies me. In the past, I had a first-generation Integra that I slowly watched turn to swiss cheese over the course of 12 years and over 180K miles. It was heartbreaking, especially in light of how impeccably the car ran and drove otherwise.
Said Integra, basically from showroom, to swiss cheese:
Not a huge surprise though, as much of the Integra’s life was spent in Iowa – with thousands of those miles spent on gravel (shudder) roads – in and out of 12+ winters of salt. Heartbreaking, nevertheless. Holes developed in floor panels. This led to water slowly/undetectably soaking the carpet under the passenger seat – where the car’s brain box went to shit (this was the car’s ultimate “death”). After two/three different yard boxes that also eventually failed – it became time to put the car down.
One of my missions with the e30 was to see how many years I could maintain it to a good/solid condition. In a dream world, I would/will store the car winters whenever possible. (this winter is not one of those winters – as I don’t live in a dream world apparently)
Ideally, I would have gotten this posted up a few months ago – as “winterizing” steps take up whole days of time. As I write this, it’s early November – and I’ve been chipping away at different steps as weather and time permit since early October.
General concepts:
1. First steps involve getting the car as CLEAN as possible – then “waxed down”.
2. Coatings used should be applied when the car is bone-ass dry.
- this means working with coatings after days of dry/warm/low-humidity weather or sheltered environments
3. If you find areas already coated in heavy road grime, grease, or leaking lubricants – just leave them.
- these “natural” occurrences seem to do just fine in terms of rust prevention
4. After the snow and salt begins to fly – it becomes a game of rinsing salt deposits off as frequently as possible.
For step one, I basically followed tutorials on washing, clay baring, and waxing/detailing. I won’t be re-covering them here as they can be found easily all over the web.
I will say that I had never worked with clay bar before – and found myself claying/waxing all door jams, hood/trunk seam areas, as well as window trim areas. Doing so will completely trash out your clay – but leave you with remarkably clean and protected “nooks and crannies”.
I did “step one” twice over two different weekends.
Step two: coatings
ANTI-SEIZE?
Yes. Anti-seize*. The first thing I did was use a toothbrush and two tubes of anti-seize to go over every single undercarriage nut/bolt/fastener/threads I could find. The process was tedious and took over three hours. It was a tip I read in a Bentley manual. Because I pretty much knew I’d be working on the car in years to come – I saw this as a gift to myself down the road.
* Note: After fully stripping/cleaning/painting brake calipers – they began showing signs of rusting again after only a few months – and I had gone medieval on removing rust via electrolysis. Because the anti-seize was silver, and because I painted my calipers silver, I was like “F-it”, and “painted” them up with a toothbrush and anti-seize. Months later, it was weird – like the anti-seize simply froze whatever was going on with zero change in appearance. I was sold on use of anti-seize.
“WAXY”
After research, I found working with a “waxy” spray product is desirable. If you go with something like a rubberized undercoating, then what you’re quite likely to do is trap moisture and corrosion beneath a coating where you won’t be able to see what’s going on – and actually accelerating further corrosion.
- Cosmoline – “what the factory used”. I found it difficult to acquire cosmoline. One can buy it by the case for like $150. Individual cans via ebay were pricey with shipping.
- Waxoyl – desirable, yet possibly tricky to work with. Seems like I read up on tutorials where it was best to pre-warm the can in boiling water – and that was more bother than I wanted to bother with.
- AMSOIL MP Heavy Duty* – (MP = Metal Protectant) Sprays/mists on wet, then dries off leaving a “waxy” film. Bingo. I acquired and used two cans of this stuff.
* Note: I discovered the AMSOIL MP product to be strikingly similar to chain lubricant/waxes that I’d used on motorcycles. In a pinch, one could swing by a local motorcycle dealership for a VERY similar spray-on product.
“GREASY”
I gathered that spray-on white grease was good lubrication/protection for areas like door locks, door jams, and hard-to-reach areas. My game plan was go clean – then go waxy – then follow up with coats/applicants of white grease in desired areas.
- Spray-on white grease – easily available and used as appropriate to moving parts and areas.
- B’laster Silicone Spray Lubricant – I have some of this, but plan to use it more like a quick rinse product around the engine compartment and door jams over winter time.
“OILY”
Not sure what to say here – other than to note one guy told me a story about how his father would mix 4 gallons of water with 1 quart of diesel fuel. He would take this mixture and spray down his farm equipment and service vans with it with great results. As crazy or weird as it may sound – an oily film is left on treated areas. I can see myself picking up some sort of pump applicator and using this mixture as a “salt-rinse-off” in my driveway. In theory, it sounds good to me.
Extra virgin olive oil – also deserves a note. I apply it twice a year to my dash to prevent cracking. I plan to wipe down rubber trunk, door, and hood weather stripping with it. In theory, it should preserve elasticity of the rubber, and prevent those times when it’s hard to open a door or window because water wasn't displaced and caused things to freeze up.
And now, for an onslaught of further commentary and pictures..
One way or another, you'll want the car up.
As far as cleaning the undercarriage, I didn't really. Gravity is on its side, and it generally stays clean naturally. Aside from occasional "undercarriage" washes, I used the head of a nylon-bristled kitchen broom to brush dust and debris away before application of "coatings".
I started at the rear - and that's where most of my time and products went to. From the tank rearward, there's a lot of surface area and components to address. It's also an area where a lot of swirling undercurrents deposit grime and road salt.
Following pictures are spotty - as I was chugging along with more thought toward getting job done than taking pictures.
Shots after toothbrush and anti-seize:
I'm pretty sure this area on both passenger and driver-side will give me headaches in the future..
Shots taken after hosing things down with the AMSOIL MP product:
All wheel wells and inner wheel well lips received generous coatings.
Standard "i" lip installed for greater clearance in snow. Skinny-ass snow tires and wheels mounted up.
Rear plate filler was removed since it would just be another place for snow and slush to accumulate in - and license plate lights are a problematic area enough as is.
Finishing touches included taping off sunroof. The area under my roof is just pristine – so taping it off from moisture and corrosives is like putting it in storage.. and it’s still rocking the original roof gasket, which I’m sure is near whatever life it has left..
Only two lines of rear defroster worked. Closer inspection indicated that most all "junction joints" of vertical and horizontal grid lines were broken or very weak. I procured a permatex defroster repair kit. A toothpick was used to dab repair formula to weak joint areas. The photos are bad due to house-siding reflected in glass - but you can just make out the little orange dabs were formula was applied to grid on inside of glass. I'll report back on if it worked or not..
Keyless entry is a good thing in winter. I'm having trouble with an ebay unit I installed - otherwise, I'd be willing to tape off all key lock points, as well as door windows and trunk lid.. but that's pushing the silly side of winterization.
Closing notes include doing an oil/filter change, as well as checking other fluids and battery health. I like to skip doing maintenance work in the winter if possible.
On a lighter note, there are things in life much worse than having to tool around in a rear wheel drive, LSD-equipped vehicle in the winter time. It's OK to play - just make sure to leave lots of room for error. It's a crazy world out there..
Comment