Rust. how to stop it, slow it down etc?

[honhon]

hey all... i have an 07zx3 and i intend on keepin this car for awile... my ultimate ending plans for my car is to convert it to RWD with a 2.3 turbo'd

sinse this car will be around for AWHILE, with me... i am wanting to help protect it from rust... what can i do?

when i work on it.... how can i tell if i scratched down to bare metal? does anyone know behind the painted plugs if its primed? theres a plug by the driver door i passed some wires through and i couldnt get a good eye to see if it was primed... so i sprayed blindly with that RUST stopping black krylon paint.

i heard from someone also that ford's metal they use in their cars resists or takes longer to rust than any other mfg?

i live in FL... so i dont have to worry about freezing and watery salt... but i have been thinking of undercoating my car incase i run over anything by accident... what would be a good brand to look for?

thanks all for all your help! i might be alittle parronoid sinse my car is an 07 and only has 5,000 miles on the clicker.... but i see my car as an investment and i dont want it to waste away from rust while im putting money into it, wether it be extra parts or even my car payment.


thanks!

[Sponsor]

[Oregon-ized]

Rust shouldn't be a problem where you live; your Focus will wear out before it rusts out. Just drive it, follow the owner's manual for maintenance, and enjoy the ride.

[Buickboy]

POR-15 (Paint Over Rust) is pretty good stuff. They advertise that the one thing thatll break it down is direct sunlight. I used it to paint the core support/ frame on my Buick and It turned out nice! If theres anything that requires paint id suggest this. The undercoating isnt a bad idea either, couldnt hurt.

Its hard to plan ahead for rust, who knows where the design flaws will let water collect or whatever? Id say spray the clips holding the hatch trim on, they started to rust on my 2001. Good luck!

[mmmoose]

When I was going Focus shopping I noticed that the place most likely to have paint start chipping, flaking, and rusting was the outer edge of the trunk, after you open the hatch lid of ZX3 models. The trunk gap areas allow for water and ice to easily collect and settle. Previous owners who neglected to clean or dry this area properly had visible signs of wear and tear.

Considering you live in Florida, I don't think that should be too big of a problem for you. But don't overlook to clean and maintain those areas if the need ever comes up. My muffler and exhaust system is also pretty rusty, but overall the undercarriage handles pretty well, even in Pennsylvania's salty winters. I wouldn't worry too much about anything else, really.

[WD40]

Considering you live in Florida, I don't think that should be too big of a problem for you.
Just don't go driving on the beach!

Seriously though, if you do live close to the Gulf or Atlantic coasts,
make sure you give your car a good underbody bath now and then.
I've seen some pretty badly rusted cars that spent most of their life in Florida.
Just because they don't salt the roads (snow) doesn't mean there isn't salt in the air itself.

[Alpinestar05]

At my shop we use R-M paint products (for the last decade or so) and they supply us with under-coating as well and it works great (its just messy). People bring their cars back for repairs and all the cars we've had to under coat compared to the ones that are'nt, seem to have no rust at all where the undercoating was applied. But in the long run, if your gonna under coat the car your gonna have to do ALOT of prep work. Un-less your gonna do it your self its pretty impractical on a new car, and you also live in florida.. if you keep it ina garage or some sort of shelter you should be good.


-Eric

[honhon]

well... i just moved out and the only time my car will see a garage is when i plan to do some major work and it'll spend the night in my dad's garage....

i do try to clean it and dry it as best as possible.... i live right now about 45mins to an hour away from the gulf... but at my moms which is 150miles south of me in bonita springs shes about 5mins away from the gulf, and usually because its 300miles round trip i give my car a nice bath when i get home to get all the bugs off..

does anyone know the process ford uses to paint our cars? my main concern is right now is the rubber plug i pulled out and put a hole in it to pass my gauge wires in the door hinge area... i was wondering if ford primed the entire body then put plugs in and then painted the car...

i thought about takin my driver side fender off so i can inspect it in better detail sinse i cannot get a good eye because of the door... anyone know if... as long as i dont do any scratchin myself and am 11000000% careful... will i be opening any rust issues if i take the fender off... like are their unpainted/primed areas i should be worried about?

thanks again for the replies

[Alpinestar05]

^ They put the car on a rotisserie and prime the whole shell. Then they shoot a coat of base on what ever they can(the hard to reach spots). then they paint the car with all the panels bolted to the uni body (2 coats). Then comes
2-3 coats of clear..wet sanding all imperfections between every coat shot. This is how they used to do it atleast.. according to the painter at my shop. Hope this helps..


-Eric

[honhon]

can anyone confirm that the whole thing is primed so i dont have to bite my nails worrying about rust.?

[TimHickey]

just buy a rust module like me and not worry about , guarenteed not to rust as long as its in my name