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Stole this bit of intelegence. Big Healey fourm.

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jlaird

jlaird

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A local car club member who also rebuilds airplanes told me of a "tried and true method" of preventing rust that was used in aircraft construction, and, it's quite inexpensive. It's "BOILED linseed oil". It can be purchased at any of the big box stores, such as Home Depot. It's about the consistency of thin motor oil but is completely clear. I tried it on a piece of channel iron and it did seem to work quite well. It left a clear shiny coat that seemed impervious to anything other than a sharp blow with a hammer. But if used inside a frame I think it would work well. It took forever to dry, about a week. Applying it might be a trick also.
 
I use linseed oil as a furniture coating, and the trick is to wipe on multiple thin coats. Wipe on your first coat, let it dry for 15 minutes, then wipe off the excess, let it dry for 4-5 hours, rub the surface with fine steel wool or sandpaper, then repeat the above steps. Linseed oil is photoreactive, so if you can leave a flood lamp on the treated area (not too close, linseed oil is very flammable) it will dry much faster.

Also, linseed oil that contains "dryers" can be purchased. The "dryers" can be pretty toxic so wear a mask and work in a well ventilated area. Also, soak the rags that you use in water before disposal. I had a friend whose house was nearly burned down by a careless contractor who put a bunch of linseed oil rags in a trash can.
 
But will it stand up to the elements over time?
 
It will stand up to elements as well as any other coating. I don't know how well it will stand up to petroleum. Poorly I suspect. One of the best parts about using it on furniture is that if you get a hickey on your finish, just lightly sand the affected area and recoat that area. No stripping the whole thing and starting over from scratch like you must do with "modern" coatings.
 
Not a clue.
 
My point: these cars were made 30+ (sometimes 40+) years ago when technology wasn't what it is today - & they were made 'en masse'....each of us is disassembling & hand rebuilding 1 or 2 cars...with the time, effort and new technology we're putting in them, they don't need all that kind of stuff! They'll last 30+ years again....especially with the care we're giving them - something they probably didn't have in past lives....

...ergo, I don't waste my time or $$'s on POR-15, linseed oil or anything else...I just rebuild them properly!

RANT CONTINUED: Its sort like the guy who realizes his 30+ year old shocks need replacing so he wants to do a tube shock conversion because new OE shocks are "so expensive"...do the math & yo find the OE shocks were less expensive over time than numerous tube shock replacements would've been! Believe it or not, our little cars were pretty well engineered & put together - Americans just didn't understand how to do maintenance or how to care for them!

RANT OVER
 
Or care to do it. Too most folks it is a throw away society. On to the next model.
 
Boiled Linseed oil was used for centuries in the gun making business before modern blueing and varnish. Gun barrels (150+ years ago) used to be 'browned'. Browning consisted of actually rusting the barrel in a steam bath and then 'scratching' (sanding) the rust off as much as possible and then re-steaming/rusting it again and again until a smooth even rust finish was attained. Once that was done boiled linseed oil was applied in many thin coats to seal the rust from the air. I have two barrels with that treatment that have shown no additional rust and one is 200 years old the other 150+ years. The stocks were also finished with linseed oil. The stains used by many gunsmiths for the stocks most often included rust as a major ingrident along with other organic things like chewing tobbaco. Linseed oil finishes on the stocks held up quite well and when the wore from use could be 'repaired' by just another coat of linseed oil. I have a couple of guns stocks that I used linseed oil on and they have worn less than others using modern finishes.
 
I have used linseed oil on some of the limited woodwork I do. I had never thought about using it out in the elements or applying it to metal. If you use it on your projects, make sure you buy "boiled" linseed oil. The unboiled stuff takes forever to dry (if it ever will dry). Another thing to keep in mind is that it is the plant-based oils like this which are the source of stories such as "oily rags spontaneously catching fire". The oily rag fires in urban legends were not those from working on your engine, they were from your woodworking projects. Open any oily linseed soaked rags up, put them flat on a surface where they can breathe and allow them to dry before throwing them in the trash.

Tony, I'm not sure I understand your objection to treating the inside of frame members and other closed off areas to protect them from corrosion. Yes our 40+ year old cars have lasted well and were well engineered for their time. However, while investing my time, effort, and money to restore a car I certainly want to protect the hidden areas from corrosion. On the LBCs I've owned there were internal areas (never protected by the factory) which were the sites of rust-through corrosion to body components. I consider rust prevention cheap insurance if it's done right. I wouldn't put rust prevention in the same category as shock conversions.
 
Doug - I'm sorry, don't get me wrong...there's nothing wrong with protecting the car while you've got it opened up...its just not on the list of top priorities for me during a restoration/rebuild...&, if $$$'s are tight (or time), I wouldn't spend either doing it....that's what I meant...its one of those extras to me as my cars rarely see bad weather (only if we're caught out in it)...but, to each his own.
 
Since my car is a project its well worth doing- time isn't an issue and the monetary cost is trivial. I hope to keep it for a while and my daughter is already asking about her "inheritance"... and telling me which colors she likes for it to be painted....

I suspect its more of an issue the further north and the worse the weather.
 
You're probably right...I paint 'em & let 'em sit 4 or 5 years to see if any rust pops back up..if not, I polish 'em & complete the restoration...but, bad weather to us is a couple of snowflakes hitting us on the head...here's a photo of one of our snowstorms:

snowalfa.JPG
 
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