Hi,

I'm wanting to keep my 9-5 for some time now and was wondering if anyone was as sad as me and thought about (or already done) applying waxoyl to the underside of their car to protect it and spruce it up a bit (just in case someone decides to take a look?!) was looking at Hammerite's underbody seal as it is supposedly easy to put on and just like waxoyl but not as messy? i presume you can put it on any metal underneath the car - chassis\suspension components etc, maybe not the exhaust! I heard that the alternative hammerite stonechip protection can cause more damage as it harbours moisture but is longer lasting?

thanks

I used to waxoyl my cars years ago in the 70s when underseal etc wasn't as comprehensively applied as it is now. Had a couple of Japanes motors that rusted as you watched.
Ah, the joys of diluting the stuff with just enough white spirit so it wouldn't clog up the pressure gun.

I gradually stopped doing underneath, and inside the doors, etc - electric window motors being the main reason - and just did wheel arches inside any liners, enough to get the far corners of wings and door pillars. Stopped completely around '85, by then a waste of money IMO, the manufacturers' precautions were good enough for me. Which is not to say waxoyl wsn't good stuff in its own right.
I always felt that Hammerite or similar - bitumen type stuff, etc - was used to cover up what the seller didn't want to be seen, when I looked at motors.

FWIW.

Too right. In my student days, early 70's a mate had a Renault 4. He advertised it for sale and we set about cleaning it up. When we lifted the rubber mats, we could see the ground through a rusty hole. Newspaper and flour & water paste sorted it from the inside, mats glued back in place to cover up. Next day we painted some bitumen on underneath, took it for a run down a dusty track while it was still wet to even up the grubbiness, sold the car for the asking price.

Probably lasted longer than the Anglia he sold with a cracked cylinder head araldited onto the block half an hour before the purchaser called round.

His fairly amoral plans did come unstuck with a Vauxhall Victor though - it was so bad he decided to get it stolen. Left it in Manchester, keys in, unlocked, most evenings. Someone smashed the window and stole the radio. As the window cost more than the car, it went to the scrap man.

My only comment on waxoyl is that it is really nasty if it gets in your hair! In those days, we did jobs like that by finding a pavement with a high kerb, drive one side up onto kerb and slither underneath. Not much spraying room and hard to move quickly when it drips. Ah, memories. I ramble.

I would use it if I had a classic, but wonder if the solvent might not soften the exisiting coatings on a modern car and actually make matters worse?