Surface rust - rust just beginning to show on top of the paint/top coat. This is a light dusting and can be removed usually with light sanding or some hot water/degreaser.
Rust - rust that has penetrated the paint and attached to the bare metal on the body. This is the last step you can do with major repair work. Sanding is required to remove rust.
Corrosion - rust that has penetrated the paint and eaten away at the metal on the body. This is the worse type. It is cancerous and must be removed. Cutting via plasma cutter/air tool cutter/torch, etc... must be done and then fresh metal welded back in place with added weld/plates where the removed metal is structural on the body.
I imported a gorgeous L400 that I made the mistake of not having it inspected in Japan (a 1st for me).
The whole rig is in excellent shape for the exception of some core areas where corrosion (see above) was present. Fortunately, the corrosion was limited to a few low areas.
If you look at the images, you'll see the corrosion & rust areas are above and around the front subframe area on the L400. These areas are prone to rusting and corrosion due to a few factors.
1. battery acid leaking down through the vertical plates and rusting from the inside out
2. A/C coolant leaking down through the vertical plates and rusting from the inside out
3. salt water not being washed/rinsed from the body (these are area hard to get to)
Another fortunate for me was that the vertical plates were intact and clean. What happened here was someone probably drove it on the beach in salt water and rinsed the whole vehicle but didn't get down underneath. What ended up happening is corrosion and rust present up to a certain point and everything above that line is clean.
A hard pill to swallow is the cost, labour and time involved in doing a project like this.
The subframe has to be removed to reach these prone areas. To remove the subframe, the engine has to be removed. To remove the engine, the front bumper, entire front clip has to be removed. It is a long process. Ask Edwin & Butch
Once the engine/subframe was removed, the close inspection revealed a much better condition front end and minimal cutting/welding was required.
The longest part and hardest part of the job was the grinding, sanding and prepping the surface for the POR-15 paint compound.
Once the prepping was done, I used the following :
POR-15 Marine clean - biodegradable degreaser solution to remove oil/grease and contaminants from the surface.
POR-15 Prep ready - an etching solution with zinc oxide that penetrates rust/corrosive and any form of metals.
POR-15 - a thick paint with metal shaving/compound that bonds to the prep ready / prepared metal. Once it bonds, the surface is as good as metal. There is no removing it.
Because the van was in the air and the whole underbody exposed, I decided to POR-15 the whole chassis. This is good for the van because it will never rust. Essentially, this treatment will keep this L400 alive longer than a stock L400 here in Canada (due to salted roads/northwest climate).
This is a very good option if you are planning on keeping your L400 in Canada.
Even if there is no rust present, coating the chassis with POR-15 will give your L400 many more years of life.
This is good for any metal/any vehicle. The reason why this is exceptionally good for the L400 is that if you have looked under the chassis of an L400, you'll see that there is no protection, no undercoating (real undercoating from factory). The bare metal is just painted with overspray from the rest of the body color. It will rust eventually.
Now there are many options to keep your L400 healthy underneath. My recommendation would be Krown treatment or something similar using an oil film sprayed underneath to prevent moisture buildup and contact with metal chassis.
If you have rust already present, then I can't stress enough to start now instead of later.
A quart / 1L of POR-15 is $60 at Lordco (order the Silver color - it has metal shavings where other colors do not) and $25 for the marine/metal prep bottles. Add $25 for a dropcloth, foam brushes, gloves and a one time full painters suit and for $100 you have what you need to really protect your L400 underneath.
A hoist is mandatory.
It is also very time consuming to get in every little nook.
Enjoy the lovely images.
