PreTreatment - RustOust

Treatment quality depends entirely on the preparation!

What's so important about pre-treatment preparation?

Applying the underside rustproofing treatment to a poorly prepared surface is pointless.
The treatment process is designed to be applied onto good metal. Putting the treatment on top of already established rust will simply seal the corrosion under the rustproofing and encourage it to move inwards.
It is necessary to remove any failing factory original underseal where moisture may be stuck underneath.

Contaminates

When we refer to cleaning off contaminates, we are talking about mud, dirt, moss, leaves, grass, tar, gravel, silt, salt and just about anything else that could have been got on the underside whilst the vehicle was travelling around or parked up.

Corrosion

Corrosion is of course simply a posh word for rust. We reference corrosion into three stages (more information can be found here) all of which need to be dealt with before we can treat the underside, the longer it's been there, the deeper it goes.

Factory Underseal

Majority of vehicles leave the manufacturer factory with some sort of underseal. Sadly over time the original underseal will degrade (generally we see cracks) and allow water and contaminates to get against the metal.

Contaminates

Example of Mud & Dirt

Heavy deposits that have clearly been building up layer on layer like this will need extensive jetwashing to remove

Corrosion

Example of Surface Rust

Stage 2 corrosion with some Stage 3 patches that may be deeper than first assessment. This needs removing and conversion.

Underseal

Example of Failing Underseal

If you look closely at the picture you can see several areas where the original factory underseal (black) has cracked or degraded.

Our Process for Pre-Treatment Preparation

Getting the underside ready

1. Trim Removal

Once on ramp, wheels are removed and any undertrays, arch liners, underside covers or trims are taken off for full access to underside. All parts are labelled, all fixings are lin binned, and both are stored on racking.

2. Initial Jetwash

First Clean. We start with a high pressure cold jetwash to remove worst of the contaminates. This should get rid of mud and debris in particular, if its dried on it can take ages to get it all off. We find any loose corrosion will come off at this point too.

3. Steam Cleaning

Hot Washing! Next we stean clean the underside. This is done to melt any tar based products or oily patches and also to loosen any failing factory original underseal. Similarly if the vehicle has previously been waxoyled or had a substandard treatment elsewhere, this will remove it.

4. Chemical Jetwash

Now that the loose stuff and worst of the contaminates are removed or softened, we coat the underside in traffic film remover and allow it to soak in before more jetwashing. The chemicals should fimish off removing any tar or oil based products and remove any road salt.

5. Abrasive Preparation

Attack that Rust! Time for the tools! We use a combination of wet sand blasting, shot blasting, air needling, air chiselling, grinding and wire brushing to get back to a solid surface underneath. This exposes any holes or pitting and removes any remaining loose metal or damaged underseal.

6. Rust Conversion

By now the underside might be stained rust coloured but it'll be solid metal or exposed holes. We apply a liberal coating of rust converter to the areas where there was any build up of corrosion. This product converts rust into a water-free, protective black surface that seals to stop future formation.

7. RustRepairs (if needed)

Any holes or pitting will need repairs before we can continue the process. We offer a comprehensive range of solutions to provide high quality repairs. Most holes will need patches welded or in more extreme case panels fabricated. More information can be found here.

8. Seam Sealer, Zinc Primer & Red Oxide

A layer of seam sealer will be applied over any repair works and in any areas where the original seam sealer has failed. Repaired areas will also be coated with zinc primer and / or red oxide to prevent oxidisation and rust.

9. Blow & Dry

We use our high pressure air lines to blow through any chassis channels or cavities to make sure any small residual dust or debris are blown out, then we put heat lamps on to dry the underside ready for the treatment applied.

Sometimes we have to repeat bits of the preparation process to get it right

Average time needed for preparation is six hours for Stage 2 underside

Preparation is charged by time taken so this can vary the total price

Basic Product Information

Understanding the choice of products

There's so many different products out there, here are some of the ones we use (not all at once obviously) in different combinations depending on what works best for the job in question. If you have a specific request please talk it through with us, we can accomodate your choices as long as what you are asking for can meet our standards for longevity and warranty.

Karcher Vehicle Pro Wash

Concentrated Detergent

Broad dirt-dissolving range.
Removes stubborn road dirt.
Rapidly separates oil.
Tensides biodegradable EEC 648/2004.

Chlor-X DTS

Salt Removing Agent

Removes corrosive road salt.
An organic bonding chemical.
Neutralises salt crystals
Biodegradable, Contains no VOCs.

Phos-Kleen B

Rust Remover

Phosphoric acid based surface treatment.
Light surface rust removal.
Chemically converts to iron phosphate.
Passivates rust at micropour level.

RustBuster FE-123

Molecular Rust Converter

Tannic acid based surface treatment.
Reacts with surface oxides.
Develops neutral latex layer.
Foundation for treatment.

British 1449-CR4 Mild Steel

High quality steel

1.1 – 1.2 mm thickness
Automotive standard
Easy to Cut & Bend
Perfect for welding plates.

QuikSteel Epoxy Putty

Steel Reinforced filler

Metal Instant Repair Filler
Sets steel hard less than 1hr
Permanently bonds steel
Temperature resistant -32°C to 260°C

Dinitrol 6030

Metalised Body Filler

Pyrmoplast Aluminium
Nonporous filler
Excellent corrosion protection
Compact and pore-free

Teroson UP 210

Polyester body filler

Hard multipurpose repair paste
Resistant to water, oil, fuel, most chemicals
Perfect for body lines & pinholes
Excellent build quality and fine finish