Very important! Do you guys and gals have your new MM's undercoated/rustproof

What an incredibly timely thread (with the sound of little ice pellets tinkling against the window of my office)... in fact, I was thinking of starting this morning of starting an identical thread.

Seems I've made up my mind to use the Civic as the primary winter beater, er... choice of vehicle. This will involve procuring Blizzaks and getting down and dirty with the timing belt change this coming weekend. The idea is to keep the MM available for nice days only. The lower fuel costs of the Civic will help us $ave a bit more for the upcoming hou$e purcha$e.

So the way I'm understanding this... as long as I wash off the undercarriage fairly regularly (once a week?) and keep the finish protected (Zaino?), I should be okay?

What freaked me out the most was that I bought the car at the very tail end of March this past spring. We had a snow dump within 2 days, which forced me back into the Civic for another week or two as the salt flew once again. Even in this situation, I noted that some undercarriage components were rusting incredibly quick! (ie. rust stains on the exhaust piping and hangers, shock mounting points, etc.). In contrast, my '87 and '98 F-bodies have seen a handful of salty slushy days in total, and nothing looked worse for wear. (my '78 doesn't count... it had an automatic self-lubrication system, which would dump half it's engine oil all along the bottom of the car as it drove ;) ).
 
IMHO having been born and raised
in Cleveland, O. (if you love your Marauder)
you don't drive it in the winter....period.
Undercoat or No Undercoat!

My Mother's cousin owned the
Bar on the corner of W.115th & Western

Gotta Love It!:eek:
 
Huh.

Just had my MM undercoated/paint protected today, as the ****ty weather continues here in STL. I bought mine in Daytona Beach; didn't think that FL cars would be all that well protected. Sure, there's the salt air down there, but only in the immediate coastal areas. The rubberized undercoating and paint protection was applied by a local place here in STL called Fantasy Coachworks. They primarily specialize in ricer stuff, with a healthy side business in truck modification. That said, they didn't have any problems taking care of the MM...Mine's gonna havta be a driver this winter, as I don't have two cars anymore. I agree with Beemer on one point: Looks like a lot of the lower surfaces of the MM are heavy-duty fiberglass/polyurethane/etc...that stuff doesn't rust.

On a related topic: while the weather around STL gets crummy, it seems to avoid the main part of the city. LML and 93tealcobra, out in the western approaches to STL (St. Charles/O'Fallon), prolly get it worse than I do in the immediate southside of the city (known as South County). Seems the wx around here dodges either north or south, but doesn't get into STL proper. Freaky.
 
Merc-O-matic said:
(if you love your Marauder)
you don't drive it in the winter....period.
Click to expand...


Problem is... I do love it. Storing my F-bodies is hard enough (and seems to be getting tougher every year, for some odd reason). But this winter was supposed to be different... I was almost looking forward to it. Hasn't happened since I owned a '92 Integra GS in the late 90s as a winter car (hey, it was cute and somewhat zippy...). The thought of a nice car throughout the year was damn enticing. But the thought of getting rammed by someone else was not so appealing.

So, the best compromise is to let the Civic have one last gasp at greatness by enduring the really ugly days (heck, no need to relearn a car's dynamics, I can drive a Honda on bald tires through a glacier blindfolded, I'm so used to those cars' behaviour). But then that means the Marauder has to get exposure to some road salt dust.
 
marauder307 said:
Seems the wx around here dodges either north or south, but doesn't get into STL proper. Freaky.
Click to expand...


Says something about STL if the weather doesn't even wanna go there...

:lol:
 
Hi all,
I don't know about today, but years ago the old HEAVY TAR treatment was terrible. It was rough, and covered all the goodies underneath. It also made it harder to fix stuff. Do they have something like a clearcoat type protection these days? :confused:
 
Hey buds! Just to muddy the rustproof or no rustproof issue a bit more- I found out tonight that there is a company close by that uses a fogging process for door skins-NO holes drilled like the process Ziebart uses, which seems to be the biggest concern for those of you who are anti rustproofing(the probability that rust will start at the drill holes.) Would this change your no rustproofing vote to a yes vote?? Thank you RedMM):confused:
 
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RedMM,

Comically, you're fogging up, rather than muddying up, the rust-proof issue.
In my opinion, however, the term "rust-proof" is a misnomer.
Ther are other proofs that are household words: bullit-proof windows, explosion-proof electrical motors, sound-proof insulation, water-proof scuba diving watches, and the like.
Trouble is, all these proofs are always subject to quantitative limitations...bullit-proof windows, motors, insulation, and watches will fail by the impact of a bigger bullit, a bigger explosion, a louder sound wave, and a deeper diving depth.
Perhaps "rust resistant" may be more realistic than "rust-proof" in
Lastly, for the comical record, one "proof" that won't fail quantitatively (and is debate-proof too) is 100 proof whiskey.
 
CRUZTAKER is exactly right. Dealers today hardly offer rustproofing anymore and the ones that do...take a can of 3M rustproofing and spray your frame rails (Check it out Bootlegger). Bottom line is...Body shops today do not see rust problems in the shop on vehicles after 1991. This is when almost all of the manufacturers switched to the "galvanizing" of the steel and "E" coat primers from the factory. This is also why I constantly argue with insurance adjusters about 3rd party replacement parts vs. OEM. I know OEM maintain the standards for replacement panels. Joe Schmo Inc. body parts...well you get what you pay for. My body shop .02 TIFIW
 
Thanks to everyone who took the time to offer their opinion on this subject. I appreciate your input. I've made an appointment with Miracle Shield, instead of Zbart(who DOES make a minimum of 2 holes per door. Miracle Shield uses existing door holes to apply their product-no holes are drilled, hence, no damage to protective finish on sheetmetal. Also comes with a "lifetime warranty"-not sure if they mean MY lifetime or the Mercs lifetime and free yearly inspections/reapplications as needed. Ford employee price-$239.00. I've spent a lot more for less important things, and feel this is worth the gamble. Sincere thanks, again to all who offered opinions. I appreciate it very much! Mike(aka RedMM)
 
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Mike,
Any automotive related "Lifetime Warranty", most likely, is limited to 10 - 12 years.
Ford's factory rust perforation warranty is 5 years.
In my opinion, there will be an improved, "Marauder-like" eplacement vehicle available by then.
I had a new 1989 Mark VII that I babied for 9 years.
It was undercoated, had urethane lower body protection, and many other after-market protectorants/enhancements.
Trouble was...I missed out on many technologically improved vehicles during those 9 years, and didn't realize it.
I'm not trying to talk you out of caring for your DTR MM, but I don't think you'll experience any rust issues for 5 years.
Jim
 
Hey gilby04! You are probably right, but after seeing all 4 door bottoms on my 98 Navigator rusted at 40K miles(no extra rust protection) and no rust anywhere on my 96 Windstar(aka THE TRUCK) which was "rustproofed, I think I'm willing to take the $239.00 chance. Some of the guys made great points about not damaging the sheet metal protection that the factory uses, so as long as the installer makes no holes or damages the metal, should be OK. I'm heading to NYC this morning-do you think there will be a few yellow Crown Vics there?!?! I hope to see the stretch version that I've read about. As always, thanks for your reply and kindness. Mike(aka RedMM)
 
Hey junehhan,

Pull your door panels sometime and check out the rustproofing. I had rustproofing dealer-installed on my 92 Ford Conversion Van, due to the holes cut in the side of van for the side windows. There were fan shaped spurts going up about a foot into cavities, no where near where needed. I went back to dealer and he said "what's the problem, we'll repair it if it RUSTS THROUGH". Is this what we are paying for rustproofing for? Read the warranty, before paying, what does it say? How many of us will still have the car, when it has RUSTED THROUGH? Chances are that we'll still have it when the rust starts showing up at the plug holes.
Have any earlier CV/GM's experienced rust at bottom of door skins like my five year old F150 with 40,000 miles, but not my six year old SVT Contour with 75,000 miles? My eight year old Van had no rust on it (except for plug areas), no thanks to a worthless rustproof job.

Ken
 
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