Your experiences with underbody rust inhibitors and paint protection

[Ahung12]

I'm interested to hear from folks who have used any of these protectants on their cars, since I'm probably going to start daily driving my R throughout the year next year. Other than mechanical stuff (winter wheels/tires, front splitter protection, oil cooler block-offs), my concern is taking care of the paint and preventing rust.

1. Rust inhibitors: recently went down the rabbit hole of underbody coatings and rust inhibitors and I'm pretty set on going with CRC 6026/Cosmoline. Do I just spray this stuff all over anything metal? How do I protect the exhaust, assuming it gets too hot for the CRC? And do I need to get anal on covering rubber/plastic from overspray, or am I OK to just wipe it off?

2. PPF vs Ceramic Coatings: if you went with PPF, did you go with a full cover or just the front end? And did you also apply a ceramic coating beneath the PPF, or just PPF over the factory paint? I wasn't aware PPF was so expensive, so I'm thinking of just self applying a ceramic coating but I really want to protect this paint. If you went with ceramic coating, any recs? There are so many on the market, but I want one that is going to last years and not need to be reapplied every year.

TIA.

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[jalts]

I'm interested to hear from folks who have used any of these protectants on their cars, since I'm probably going to start daily driving my R throughout the year next year. Other than mechanical stuff (winter wheels/tires, front splitter protection, oil cooler block-offs), my concern is taking care of the paint and preventing rust.

1. Rust inhibitors: recently went down the rabbit hole of underbody coatings and rust inhibitors and I'm pretty set on going with CRC 6026/Cosmoline. Do I just spray this stuff all over anything metal? How do I protect the exhaust, assuming it gets too hot for the CRC? And do I need to get anal on covering rubber/plastic from overspray, or am I OK to just wipe it off?

2. PPF vs Ceramic Coatings: if you went with PPF, did you go with a full cover or just the front end? And did you also apply a ceramic coating beneath the PPF, or just PPF over the factory paint? I wasn't aware PPF was so expensive, so I'm thinking of just self applying a ceramic coating but I really want to protect this paint. If you went with ceramic coating, any recs? There are so many on the market, but I want one that is going to last years and not need to be reapplied every year.

TIA.

Former Illinois resident here- moved to SoCal to avoid snow and cold, but we got lots of "other" problems here. I can't comment on rust inhibitor portion as I never done this before, but cringe on driving a Shelby (even an R) in the winter/snow/slush/salt mayhem in the midwest.. I realize we all have different circumstances, but figure this (rust inhibitor) is best option to preserve a beautiful car. Others in the rust belt can chime in here. For point #2, the front end is what gets the most hate from rocks/stones/chips and makes sense to PPF Mirrors, Hood, bumper and front wheel panels to keep this in check. This cost me about $1800 and came with a 3 year warranty. In retrospect, I should have PPF the entire car (roof, doors and rear) to keep the rest protected. I got the Jaeger Bro's removable front wheel covers to minimize the rock chips on the rear wheel arches and doors. I elected not to do ceramic coating since my car is parked inside a garage and not my daily driver. The wheels are the biggest PITA to keep clean with the stock pads, but the rest of the car gets a wash or a quick waterless wash as needed. Good luck and enjoy the car.

 

[Snakebyte]

Back from my days in the rust belt I recall a couple instances where cars were paint-nicked by a passing snow plow throwing salt. And of course we know what the result was. While a good coating of wax (in those days) could have minimized risks, I tend to vote for PPF in the 21st century. (At least PPF on the sides and frontal areas if you think you'll be driving in inclement weather.)
Others can chime in on the PPF for the top. Some folks have had issues with roof seam paint cracking and corrosion near the back. Not sure if PPF will adequately seal that problematic location.

 

[Ahung12]

Thanks gents. I'm leaning towards an entire PPF wrap but hooooooo-boy. That's my entire year's fun money gone.

 

[matthewr87]

For the amount you spend on rust proofing and whole-body PPF and winter wheels and tires you can probably just buy a winter beater car.

 

[robvas]

I remember cleaning cosmoline off pallets of old rifles my friend used to buy... no interest in having that shit on my car

 

[MAGS1]

If you want to minimize/eliminate paint chips from flying road salt, full PPF is the answer.

Rust inhibition on modern cars is actually pretty good. I’m on my 3rd winter with my GT here in Chicago and the undercarriage looks fine. My Steeda jacking rails are rusting but nothing regarding the actual car itself. When the weather allows, go to a DIY touchless car wash and spray the car down really good.

Exhaust tips. Not a whole lot you can there as far as protection, I give mine a good cleaning and use Mothers Mag & Aluminum polish after my first wash every spring and they look good as new. I believe the exhaust tips on these cars are 304 stainless so they shouldn’t ever rust. I tried ceramic coating them with a wheel coating (for the higher temps) but the coating didn’t really hold up very long.

Driving an R during our winters is brave, but there are several C8 owners that drive theirs all winter long here too. Good winter tires are the key. Go a little taller on the tire if you can too, just to give yourself a little extra ground clearance. I run Blizzaks and have zero issues in the snow. Nokian Hakkapeliitta is really good too. Can’t run studded snow tires here in IL though, so you’d have to the non-studded Hakka’s.

These cars are loads of fun in fresh snow though. Find a safe, empty parking lot and shred some snow

 

[FISH22]

I’m a huge fan of ACF-50. I’ve used this on my old Triumph motorcycles and just recently did the entire undercarriage of my 2020 GT350. It’s low miles, but was purchased a few hours north of me where their winters are a little more harsh than southern Virginia.

This stuff works. Within a few weeks of applying it to components showing light corrosion (bare metal and painted suspension), you can tell it reversed the corrosion. I plan to do this at least once a year.

You don’t spray directly onto the surface, just need to keep spraying a rag and wipe everything down.

This is the kit I bought, I think Amazon carries it:

 

[FISH22]

Also, an undercarriage sprayer is a must have. Added this to my arsenal last year. Even though we don’t have salt here, I do it with every wash to rinse away any grime or corrosive material.

There’s a few different brands out there, but Adams had great reviews so that’s what I went with.

 

[FISH22]

My 2 cents regarding PPF. It provides a false sense of protection. Sure, it can prevent rock chips and scratches, but I’m way past those days of stressing the little things. It’s expensive and not a fire and forget solution. It will need to be replaced eventually. A good ceramic coating (I use Adams Graphene Pro) and frequent washes are your best friend to combat corrosion and material degradation.

Here’s a pic of my old G80 M3. It was Frozen White, so I played around with some 3M matte PPF and covered the entire hood. This was the discoloration after just one year. Obviously, much more noticeable on a white car.

 

[ZX3ST]

For the amount you spend on rust proofing and whole-body PPF and winter wheels and tires you can probably just buy a winter beater car.

Gonna have to agree here.

I wrapped the entire car in xpel, and even at a discounted rate, you totally could buy a beater.

PS, my situation was to protect from track duty.

 

[MAGS1]

Also, an undercarriage sprayer is a must have. Added this to my arsenal last year. Even though we don’t have salt here, I do it with every wash to rinse away any grime or corrosive material.

There’s a few different brands out there, but Adams had great reviews so that’s what I went with.

I’ve got that one. It works great, you’ll love it!

 

[S550HPP]

I would not spray anything on undercarriage you have no idea how these aggressively bonding petrochem derived products will affect the myriad of petchem derived seals, protective covers etc.

I have not seen a spot of rust after 40K miles and 3 hard winters public wand washing at least weekly, incl inside wheel wells and underneath as convenient.

I have black car....Full PPF incl headlights, signals and matt on front end trim is worth every penny on a daily driver if want the new look for years. I would do it on any color. Would never drive a beater, why drive one when you can have full PPF?

You can get PPF plus ceramic coat incl lifetime maint plan ones that refresh it forever....very costly, but monthly quick ceramic detail spray and wipe is great, especially if have a lawn blower to blow all water off seamlessly.

 

[Nightmonkey]

What i did:
Cavities flooded with Mike Sanders grease, underbody showered with Dinitrol/Carlofon 4942.

Some pics:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...-do-and-how-should-i-plan.180591/post-3654338

More in detail:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...-do-and-how-should-i-plan.180591/post-3656936

This is a tried and tested procedure over here for vintage cars, off-road vehicles and so on.
Testet means not only on the road but also in the laboratory over long term.

The Mustang comes totally unprotected from the factory.

PPF is nothing for me, I will partly respray, if it is really necessary some day, what I don't expect.
But maybe in the US the road conditions are different.

 

[Crew4991]

Hey OP, I personally don't like to deal with PPF.
Instead my vehicles are Feynlab ceramic coated. It is pretty expensive but works excellent. I daily drive my gt/cs convertible in Colorado winters and Arizona summers... kind of the worst of both worlds. LOL Would highly recommend it if you go the ceramic coating route.

They have both installers or DYI products if you would rather do it yourself.
https://www.feynlab.com

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