Preparing a car to live in hawaii?

[Nova1963T]

Hey it looks like I will be saying aloha to Hawaii in about a year. Of course my nova will come with me but something that concerns me.

Every older car I've seen on the islands has rust holes in it that appear to be coming from the inside of the panels. Like the paint appears perfect yet the cars there have holes in them... I would like to avoid this with my car. What should I do to keep her from turning into a pile of dust?

Thanks!

-Tom

[nova66mussl]

Store it at my place on the east side of the mountains. I will make sure it gets plenty of exercise in the warmer months.

[Bouncer]

The salty air....
We spray in every cavity and even on inner body panels wax based sealant to prevent rusting from the inside. I'm pretty sure you can get a special penetrating oil/wax too. We have a product here, based on wool wax, called Fluid Film http://www.nlsproducts.ca/ff_e.html . You can get it in different viscosity from very thin to thick. It is used to prevent rust in water ballast tanks in ships wich were flooded with salt water. Very good! Try to get it and don't think about rust any more.

[1966LongRoof]

Leave it in the states, buy an island clunker. Was stationed at KBay for 3 years. Not worth wasting a nice car while living in paradise.

[Nova1963T]

Originally Posted by Bouncer

The salty air....
We spray in every cavity and even on inner body panels wax based sealant to prevent rusting from the inside. I'm pretty sure you can get a special penetrating oil/wax too. We have a product here, based on wool wax, called Fluid Film http://www.nlsproducts.ca/ff_e.html . You can get it in different viscosity from very thin to thick. It is used to prevent rust in water ballast tanks in ships wich were flooded with salt water. Very good! Try to get it and don't think about rust any more.

yeah I was thinking something like this. I was curious if I should just pull the door panels out the carpet and the headliner and just spray something like this or paint on every unpainted surface of the car. There are of course some places that can't be reached.

I don't really want to sell my car. It was my first car. But if it is going to be destroyed I will see if I can sell it to a family member or close friend. I will only be there for about three years while I finish getting my degree.

[1floho]

Went to Maui a couple of months ago, not impressed. California is much nicer. Mexico is the best.

[Nova1963T]

Originally Posted by 1floho

Went to Maui a couple of months ago, not impressed. California is much nicer. Mexico is the best.

I've got family there so while I finish out my degree I will be able to pay in state tuition. This is why its gonna be Hawaii. Actually the school is on maui lol. I think its just gonna be a process of taking the interior of the car out and the fenders and just painting everything in reach. I will have an undercoating put on the bottom or something and fix all the leaks.

I was doing some research and it seems like the real damage happens at night when it gets colder and everything is covered in salty dew so I will just have to find a place with a garage or be religious about the car cover.

[Bouncer]

Originally Posted by Nova1963T

yeah I was thinking something like this. I was curious if I should just pull the door panels out the carpet and the headliner and just spray something like this or paint on every unpainted surface of the car. There are of course some places that can't be reached.

You can pull the door panels and kick panels. I use a pistol like this http://www.ebay.de/itm/Unterbodensch...item4aafd0b412 for applying the wax. You can stick the tube up in the A-Pillar, no need to remove the headliner. As it has very good penetrating capability you don't have to reach every little spot. Applied in the lower door it will crawl up to the window channel in a couple weeks. Paint will not work. You can't reach all these spots where rust starts like where panels are doubled. Only way to stop rust there is penetrating oil/wax.

[Nova1963T]

Interesting. I will definitely give that a try. Thanks for the suggestions!!

-Tom