Lanolin based rust proofing products

[FridgeFreezer]

1 hour ago, Bowie69 said:

If it turns purple and sets, it is likely the same stuff as Bilt

TBH that describes every rust-removing treatment I've ever used... I'm sure commercial spray suppliers probably sell it by the gallon.

[reb78]

KuRust turns purple - thats the hammerite one. I'm sure that's supposed to be ptfe based. I've only used it on VERY mild surface rust though and it does seem to have halted that for 20+ years!

Edited May 9, 2022 by reb78

[Bowie69]

It may be ptfe based, but that would make it fairly difficult to paint over....

[smallfry]

Apparently lanolin is one of the constituent parts of WD40 along with white spirit.

WD40 is a good water dispersant, that will be the white spirit, but as for any sort of long term corrosion protection and lubricant, I have found it useless.

Hence my reluctance to use lanolin.

[Mossberg]

I don't think standard WD40 is a lanolin product. I just did a search and it shows a WD40 product with some lanolin, but the couple of reviews I read said it was naff and nothing like the proper lanolin stuff!

I would like to see some long term reviews of lanolin products.  On Defender2 a well respected corrosion guy, Zagato,  mentioned it wasn't a great product and some reference to it being like glue(?)  He said there had been discussions about it on social media but I can't find them. If anyone knows where to find such posts, please let me know so I can read them.

All the reviews I have found about Lanoguard seem to be people saying how good it was as it is easy to apply, but I would like to see some reviews from people that have been using it for a few years. 

I have done my chassis with Lanoguard and I can confirm it's easy to apply and gives the clear coat I want (I want to see the chassis so I can monitor it rather than cover in a layer where I can't see what is happening). Unfortunately I now have doubt in my mind as to how good it will be. I don't want to keep recoating with Lanoguard if it's going to fail!

[FridgeFreezer]

12 hours ago, Mossberg said:

I would like to see some long term reviews of lanolin products.

I'd like to see long-term reviews on any damn product - in all the decades, there seems to be no car magazine or anyone bothering to run either meaningful long-term tests or fairly basic but scientific ones in a lab on any of these products.

Then again, magazine reviews are 90% about who's willing to send the best free stuff and a pre-written "review" to the editor

[landroversforever]

26 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

I'd like to see long-term reviews on any damn product - in all the decades, there seems to be no car magazine or anyone bothering to run either meaningful long-term tests or fairly basic but scientific ones in a lab on any of these products.

Then again, magazine reviews are 90% about who's willing to send the best free stuff and a pre-written "review" to the editor

This, and IMO the same goes for one of the 'new'ish chassis coatings that appeared a few years back. It was raved about whilst having no long term proof it was any good.

[Happyoldgit]

16 hours ago, Mossberg said:

I don't think standard WD40 is a lanolin product. I just did a search and it shows a WD40 product with some lanolin, but the couple of reviews I read said it was naff and nothing like the proper lanolin stuff!

I would like to see some long term reviews of lanolin products.  On Defender2 a well respected corrosion guy, Zagato,  mentioned it wasn't a great product and some reference to it being like glue(?)  He said there had been discussions about it on social media but I can't find them. If anyone knows where to find such posts, please let me know so I can read them.

All the reviews I have found about Lanoguard seem to be people saying how good it was as it is easy to apply, but I would like to see some reviews from people that have been using it for a few years. 

I have done my chassis with Lanoguard and I can confirm it's easy to apply and gives the clear coat I want (I want to see the chassis so I can monitor it rather than cover in a layer where I can't see what is happening). Unfortunately I now have doubt in my mind as to how good it will be. I don't want to keep recoating with Lanoguard if it's going to fail!

Ah yes, I remember when he burst onto the scene with 1001 questions about new Defenders prior to owning one. Same with the corrosion treatment malarky.

[Nonimouse]

34 minutes ago, Happyoldgit said:

Ah yes, I remember when he burst onto the scene with 1001 questions about new Defenders prior to owning one. Same with the corrosion treatment malarky.

It's nothing like glue - except maybe a glue that gradually washes off over a year, as per the design statement on the packet. I find it better than even Ankerwax. But it's a yearly application. I put it on in the autumn, before the winter gritting.

I have a 29 year old Disco that had it's first chassis weld this spring (directly above the exhaust at the rear). It's been Waxoyled/Ankerwaxed/Lanoguarded since it was new. Every year. Waxoyl is a yearly top up, so is Ankerwax. 

I like it becuase it works well, is cheap, is easy to remove if required and a doddle to apply. Two days of prep and spraying with ankerwax is now a quick steam clean, a dry off with the air gun and apply. Application is a peice of wee, as it doesn't matter if it gets on the exhaust and is easy to wipe off the brakes (with an aircraft wipe). I'll keep using it.

[Mossberg]

3 hours ago, Nonimouse said:

It's nothing like glue - except maybe a glue that gradually washes off over a year, as per the design statement on the packet. I find it better than even Ankerwax. But it's a yearly application. I put it on in the autumn, before the winter gritting.

I have a 29 year old Disco that had it's first chassis weld this spring (directly above the exhaust at the rear). It's been Waxoyled/Ankerwaxed/Lanoguarded since it was new. Every year. Waxoyl is a yearly top up, so is Ankerwax. 

I like it becuase it works well, is cheap, is easy to remove if required and a doddle to apply. Two days of prep and spraying with ankerwax is now a quick steam clean, a dry off with the air gun and apply. Application is a peice of wee, as it doesn't matter if it gets on the exhaust and is easy to wipe off the brakes (with an aircraft wipe). I'll keep using it.

Thanks Nonimouse. May I ask how long you have been using Lanoguard. I like the look of the Lanoguard after I have applied it as I can see the chassis so I can keep an eye on the rust. I am interested in the aircraft wipes as if I do need to clean the chassis to do some work, I don't want the coating contaminating the weld.

[Nonimouse]

11 hours ago, Mossberg said:

Thanks Nonimouse. May I ask how long you have been using Lanoguard. I like the look of the Lanoguard after I have applied it as I can see the chassis so I can keep an eye on the rust. I am interested in the aircraft wipes as if I do need to clean the chassis to do some work, I don't want the coating contaminating the weld.

This coming autumn will be the 4th time I've applied it

Aircraft wipes are via a contact in the fleet air arm - but a rag soaked in GT85 will do as well

[Mossberg]

8 minutes ago, Nonimouse said:

This coming autumn will be the 4th time I've applied it

Aircraft wipes are via a contact in the fleet air arm - but a rag soaked in GT85 will do as well

Thanks Nonimouse, I appreciate your time coming back to me.  You are the first person that has given any kind of timeline of their use and that is reassuring. 

Do you use it inside the chassis too?

Thanks again. 

Mick

[Nonimouse]

58 minutes ago, Mossberg said:

Thanks Nonimouse, I appreciate your time coming back to me.  You are the first person that has given any kind of timeline of their use and that is reassuring. 

Do you use it inside the chassis too?

Thanks again. 

Mick

I have used it inside the chassis, yes.

[Mossberg]

2 hours ago, Nonimouse said:

I have used it inside the chassis, yes.

Thanks Nonimouse 

[Nonimouse]

Another point I ought to make. The application kit supplied in the kit, can vary in quality. I simply use a cheap 'shultz' gun, set to fine spray. I always do the 'bucket of hot water' trick. Also the lanolin grease supplied in the kit is fantastic stuff

[reb78]

What does it do on existing rust nonimouse? Does it appear to halt it?

[Nonimouse]

1 hour ago, reb78 said:

What does it do on existing rust nonimouse? Does it appear to halt it?

yes and it works behind it to 'push' the big flakes off

[simonr]

Another option (which I've tried) is Sacrificial Anodes.

They are usually used on boats - and corrode preferentially to the steel.  On a boat, you fix them close to the waterline so they are in air but stay wet - to get the best result.

I fitted 4 Magnesium Anode blocks, one behind each wheel - so they were wet when it was raining.  I welded the blocks to the chassis (the Magnesium came bonded to a steel plate), for the best possible electrical connection.

Make sure you don't paint them with anything and wire-brush the surface when you can be bothered.

I cut up the chassis of that vehicle (it was a 1986, 110) back when they were worth nothing.  It was in good condition, with an MOT but I still couldn't sell it for £100.  I got more for it as scrap metal.

Anyway, the inside of the chassis, beneath the mud only had a thin coat of surface rust.  Even the inside of the bulkhead was clean.  The reverse side where the anodes were welded was perfect.  The Anodes themselves had corroded almost to the steel plates.

I've meant to do this on subsequent vehicles - but they've all had good Chassis and I never got around to it.

I did use them though, on a machine I built for work which was intended to be used in water and live out in the rain.  5 years on, it was still spotless!

[JeffR]

On 5/14/2022 at 3:10 PM, simonr said:

Another option (which I've tried) is Sacrificial Anodes.

They are usually used on boats - and corrode preferentially to the steel.  On a boat, you fix them close to the waterline so they are in air but stay wet - to get the best result.

I fitted 4 Magnesium Anode blocks, one behind each wheel - so they were wet when it was raining.  I welded the blocks to the chassis (the Magnesium came bonded to a steel plate), for the best possible electrical connection.

Make sure you don't paint them with anything and wire-brush the surface when you can be bothered.

I cut up the chassis of that vehicle (it was a 1986, 110) back when they were worth nothing.  It was in good condition, with an MOT but I still couldn't sell it for £100.  I got more for it as scrap metal.

Anyway, the inside of the chassis, beneath the mud only had a thin coat of surface rust.  Even the inside of the bulkhead was clean.  The reverse side where the anodes were welded was perfect.  The Anodes themselves had corroded almost to the steel plates.

I've meant to do this on subsequent vehicles - but they've all had good Chassis and I never got around to it.

I did use them though, on a machine I built for work which was intended to be used in water and live out in the rain.  5 years on, it was still spotless!

Err I always thought that a landrover chassis WAS the sacrificial anode...

[deep]

When I got into Land Rovers, the done thing was to use fish oil (which is probably very similar to lanoline).  I never bothered too much until I built up my 110 a few years ago.  I was concerned about the long term rust thing so tried some fish oil, which I sprayed through every orifice in the bulkhead.  Where it leaked out, it made a sticky run which stuck hard to the paint and persisted for the next six years.  I'm pretty confident it would have done the same inside, where I couldn't see.  Not a hint of rust anywhere but a car which lives in a garage does do better anyway.

I don't really get the idea of using temporary coatings on external surfaces.  A phosphoric acid treatment, quality undercoat and quality paint and it's all good for many years.  I guess that would be different if you drove on the beach all the time, or salty roads.  In that case, I would definitely be going the galvanised or sacrificial block route though.

[Mossberg]

3 minutes ago, deep said:

...  A phosphoric acid treatment....

How do you use the phosphoric acid?

[Bowie69]

28 minutes ago, JeffR said:

Err I always thought that a landrover chassis WAS the sacrificial anode...

Doesn't seem to much help the aluminium body.... or the bulkhead.

[deep]

22 hours ago, Mossberg said:

How do you use the phosphoric acid?

There are various rust treatments out there based on it.  Just read the labels, I guess.  It seems, every time I want to get some, there's something different on the market.  It just turns iron oxide into iron phosphate, which is more stable and less likely to spread.  You simply brush it on and then wash off any surplus afterwards (you don't want acid on your clothes etc.).  Still needs a protective coat of appropriate paint on top, though I did find one once that included the paint in the treatment.  It went on white, dried black and lasted years.  Wish I'd kept the bottle 'cos I can't recall its name.

[Mossberg]

I have tried Aquarust - goes on white then dries a black/blue colour- but to be honest I didn't have too much success. It doesn't work on clean steel, doesn't work on rust that iss too deep,  and if you try to clean it up you end up with a mix of too much rust, just right, and too clean!

I have some 80% phosphoric acid that I dilute to 40%. I paint this on to clean steel after it has been in the electrolysis tank. It turns the steel a grey colour but I then wire brush and wash it again. I then paint it ASAP to avoid flash rusting.  I can't say how well it works as it hasn't been done long enough to prove itself.