The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Anyone ever heard of this?

Has anyone ever heard of taking one gallon of used motor oil and one gallon of clean mineral spirits and mixing them 50\50, then putting it in a pump sprayer and spraying the mixture on the undercarriage of a vehicle just before winter to help prevent rust from the road salt. I seen this on a tread on some website I was surfing.
I am not sure if this would work or not?
Anyone out there in the Bolt world has a take on this?

Yup,
Here in Central PA, ...salt capitol of the WORLD!~, there are shops that advertise and spray the undercarriage of vehicles with used oil and all sort of concoctions claimin to be the savior to your auto durin the salt assault..DO THEY ACTUALLY WORK???...not sure and not sayin they dont, the reasoning sounds right "oil it up it has to help".
The spraying of oil does one thing very well an it is this in my opinion, is to promptly collect all kinda road dust/dirt an such that to the newly applied GOOEY SURFACE applied on the frame and holds it there tighter than a monkey to a banana wich cannott be doin any type of good, so I am not a participant in this fall voodoo.
I do however when there is a break in the weather and a nice day or two forecast is to run my stuff through the "TOUCHLESS" car wash that are all over now and get the undercarriage spray to at least wash the underside off of the collected road salt an other debris.
If you live in the SNOW BELT an your state uses Rock salt or the liquid version wich PA is usin now your daily drivers life expectancy is measured in yrs not decades it is just the nature of the beast in this area.
SALT+WILD TEMP SWINGS+HUMIDITY=CORROSION in its worse form..just call it like we do here PA CANCER.
Just my 2 cents.
Tim

Yeah I am with you on that one.
Just a thought, it might work on something thats parked outside for a very long time and when it's time to get it back on the road again just wash it off.
Just a thought.

Can't say I've heard of this exactly. Once I was talking with an old fella from Mississippi about saw mills of days gone by (before pressure treated wood). He said he would coat his timber of the saw mill frame with a 50/50 mix of used oil from a diesel and diesel fuel to prevent rot. I found that after a couple of rains it just washed off. Some very anal farmers will paint any ezuipment left out side to prevent rust until the next season. My tractors live out side and they rust where they aren't covered in oil and don't where they do. Dave

Oil and dust turn into moisture holding gunk. My front crossmember was rusted nearly into because of the seepage from the front seal building up inside it & holding the moisture. It might sound like a good idea on the surface but you won't catch me doing it.

My father used to spray a mixture of diesel fuel and oil all over any vehicle left outside for any extended period of time. Living in New England meant harsh weather and salt. He would periodically re-spray the vehicles after a heavy rain or snow fall. He kept this up on a 55 Chevy for years. In 1986 dad sold it after powerwashing it with detergent and hot water. The car had suprisingly little rust. Like a 16 year old idiot, I didnt think the car was cool and wanted a truck. Should coulda.....

Mac

I strongly recommend it, It works! I live in NewEngland and plow snow. Plow vehicles here rust fast. They use rocksalt & sand on the roads here, its nasty stuff.
I use transmission fluid because it sprays easy. i use it in a spray bottle. I also use PB Blaster & power lube sometimes. They are less messy and repell water & moisture nice. They dont last a long time, but it does work. It also helps keep Electrical connections from corrosion.
The best thing about oiling stuff, is nuts & bolts come off without effort.