To undercoat vanagon or not...

[AlpenGlow6]

Hi everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!
Appreciate your opinion on this one...
I own an '84 vanagon that spent it's life out west and has now come to live with me on the coast of NH. It's a 1984 and although there is seam rust, the bottom of the van is rust-free. Do you think undercoating it is worthwhile? Has anyone had a negative experience/unintended side effects from doing this?
Thanks for your time!
~Renee

[djkeev]

Rare are the rusty Vanagon bottoms.
Focus on your seams and other early rust spots.
Find these spots clearly pointed out in the FAQ section.

I am not a fan of covering the bottom with annoying sticky goo! I do not undercoat ever.

Others will feel differently.

Dave
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I would use something like fluid film. I made my own and just brushed it on. Basically used Everbilt Wax Toilet Bowl Gasket from HD combined with miniral spirits. Youll find recepies online. Works great!

[MsTaboo]

Fluid Film.
Buy it in bulk 1 gallon pails (aerosol cans are a waste of money except for small spot jobs) and get a cheap spray gun from Eastwood.

This stuff will save your van. I used to live in Seattle and then moved to S.E. British Columbia where they use lots of salt and other deicers; death to car bodies! My beautiful rust free vehicles started to show signs of rust after the first winter here even with careful washing. Started using FF and the problem has abated.
Still have to clean the underside and pay attention, but the cars are much better. When we bought a brand new truck the first thing I did was spray the whole underside carefully. Still looks new.

The nice thing about FF is it's a lanolin wax based product and it can be washed off with hot water. It's clear so you can see if there is any rust developing (although it won't), and it stays soft.

If you want to go with something more permanent you need to very carefully prep the body and use a quality product. All rust must be removed and the surfaces thoroughly clean for good adhesion. If you use a permanent underbody treatment (like 3M Schutz) onto a dirty/rusted surface it will coverup the rust and it will continue to grow. Or it will lift off the surface and water/salt will penetrate, allowing rust to get started.
Preparation is everything with these products! (which is why I like FF, it's not permanent but more forgiving in application.)

Don't use the cheap black crap they sell at the auto parts store, it will dry out and crack.
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[DuncanS]

djkeev knows what he is talking about here. I've had at least 7 Vanagons, a couple of bay windows and 7 or 8 splits. I believe in undercoating, but not if it is sealing crud in. At least a half dozen of these were bought new and I had them undercoated before the first mile of my ownership. Most used purchases had issues with seams by the end and only my '87 bought new in Germany through a US dealer with the overseas delivery option developed any frame or rocker panel problems. That doesn't mean it can't happen, but if you use the car in the winter, FREQUENT trips to the coin op wand washer facility will make a huge difference. With all due respect to djkeev, there is a giant difference between New Jersey and Vermont and New Hampshire winters where most of my bus/vanagons have lived. And.......it's getting worse. The town where I live now has a dry road--not just plowed--DRY road policy. Within 24 hours of an 18" snow fall, our roads are dry--not even wet. The chemicals that do this have a direct hot line to our seams and rocker panels---and they use it!!!

Go to his weekender site and check out pages 8 and 9. He is very thorough on how to deal with it. This spring, I'm going to reef out my seams and re-do per his advice. I'm an experienced boat builder and understand epoxy and I think his choices were correct. On my current '91 from Virginia that was undercoated there is none of the rust I've seen on my others--yet--but the paint has failed at the joint and there are indications that the grim reaper has me on the list.

DO NOT IGNORE SEAMS They go within a couple of New Hampshire winters once they start to show significant signs. Serious panel replacement, welding, body work and painting are then required. This is a stitch in time that saves 4 or 5 thousand later.

[ZsZ]

+1 on Fluidfilm
Or some wax-oil type sealant
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Zoltan
1.9 MTdi 2wd Multivan (ex Caravelle)
Van since 2006, engine since 2008

[BUGSLEE]

lots of options and opinions when it comes to undercoating.

Oil, Wax, Tar, Rubber, don't do it, Ect

I use Krown Rust Protection on all my vehicles, This is a oil based Product.

My currant van has been done twice , once just after I picked it up and removed the drive line, knowing that it was going to be sitting for a while , and again about 2 weeks ago ( four years later) as I plan to test out the AWD this winter. In that time I have not noticed progression of any rust, and this van lives outside.
the nice thing with an oil based product is it will not harden or seal anything against the vehicle, this is important when dealing with older vehicles that already have some rust. The oil will pull moisture away from the metal and leave a self healing layer of oil in its place keeping moisture away.

I'm Hoping with this and regular washing with a salt neutralizing soap my van will look the same in spring.

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[Merian]

undercoating it is worthwhile - rocks thrown up will chip the paint and rust will follow

it may not matter if the seams are left untreated as the Van will then collapse into a pile of sheet metal

(unless it burns first)
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[DuncanS]

Guys, this OP wanted thoughts on undercoating which are helpful, however, subsequently her real need seems to be advancing seam deterioration. I received a couple of PMs which say she doesn't have the skills to do Dave's seam repair process. Can anybody suggest some help here? What are your thoughts about media blasting as an alternative. Since she lives on the coast, it should be fairly easy to find a boat yard familiar with epoxies and so on that could take over once the seams had been hit.

About 5 years ago, I looked at a really nice '84 Weekender for sale in Rochester, New Hampshire. A 30ish year old nice guy in a dilapidated building stuffed with cool vintage ovals, split busses and so on--not a web site sort of operation. Do any of you know about him or where the OP might be able to locate somebody like him to do the Dave O thing in her general area? She doesn't use the car in winter and so it could be dropped anywhere relatively nearby to be fitted in with a shop schedule.

Does FAS do this kind of work or is it below their pay grade?

[WillSharp]

I undercoated my rig in a 3M undercoat (spray can) product. It is quite good and reasonably thick. I would definitely use it again.

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1889 Syncro Adventure Wagon 3.3 SVX

[peterT3syncro]

Swear by SW2
Made by same people who make POR15
Easy to apply, has excellent capillary reaction, can be painted over and dries rock hard.
Brilliant stuff
I poured it into all seams and recesses
And very little smell
Peter
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Peter

Type 3 Syncro Kombi, EJ22 Subaru