Rustproofing/Underbody treatment...Who does this in Melbourne?

[Pickles2]

I am continuing my search for information!
U.K. owners, and apparently quite a few in Aus have issues with rusty Defenders...some not very old.....some even when new I've read?
So, I was wondering are there any places in Melbourne that carry out this service, & would be familiar enough with all the "trouble spots" on a Defender (ie "inner" chassis rails I've read?) to do the job properly?
Thanks, Pickles.

[clive22]

I can't answer your question directly.

But I've had one, the same one for 28 years now no (well really not much) rust and its lives outside always. Don't worry about the Brit ones they salt the roads, it eats cars.

After any trips, get in behind the front wheel and knock out any accumulated mud, trouble spots are:


Clean out the rear chassis rail, from inside the back archs really clean out with pressure washer -clean water. Trapped damp mud is dynamite for rust.
Strip any trapped mud or other built up gunk rubbish between gearbox, t/case, top of rail and body
Behind the front wheel, around chassis outrigger and body
Pull off door skins say every 2 years and clean inside the door get rid of wet rubbish at the bottom of the door
Check and clean around firewall.
Pull out all mat and clean any gunk

Coat with Lanolin spray everywhere once every twelve months

The corrosion process goes gangbusters loves partially wet and exposed to the air conditions, doubly so if different metals. Break this your on you way to prevention.

Clive

[BilboBoggles]

Many panel beaters will do this - but none will have experience of Defenders. there are three authorised Land Rover panel shops in Melbourne - and I don't think any of them do rust proofing. I spent quite a while investigating when I bough my MY09 back in 2008. I ended up reading as much as I could about the process, and doing it myself. The MY09 I used 4liters of Tectyl 506 on. The Tectyl worked OK and I'm sure was very good - but it was hard to apply, and made everything catch dirt.

I decided on my MY13 to follow a slightly different approach - I used the Tectyl 506 on the exposed bits of the chassis that get hit with road grit, because it's very good at abrasion resistance. The rest I used Lanox and Inox with an intention to refresh once or twice a year. I like the Inox because it stays liquid and is incredibly good for soaking into seams and crevices. It's also a very good rust preventer. I've injected that stuff on the inside of the chassis, the door frames - and the bulkhead, and the rear tub cappings. I also sprayed it on the inside of the bulkhead and under the floor mats.

I'm sure there are better ways of doing this - but I think a yearly rust treatment is better than a once in a lifetime treatment at least that way you can see any problems that are developing.