Has anyone used Rusfre Undercoating?

Hi all,
I'm in the process of replacing my rockers on my 1999 Venture and I'm concerned about the rust returning. I've been trying to find the weld thru primer, but my local auto parts stores haven't even heard of it or refuse to acquire any. I hate to just replace the steel without some type of covering on the inner parts of the panels, because I know what will happen inside during the winter.

On Raybucks site they sell a product called Rusfre Undercoating. I'm curious if anyone here has tried it and if they have a good or bad or any opinion on it? They offer a kit for around $30.00 and I was also wondering if that would be enough to do a coating on both sides of the inner rockers and how this spray nozzle that comes with the kit works? Will it get right up into the panels? I notice it has plugs with it, so I assume you can drill holes at random and just spray away.

Thanks for any input, Toni.

Yes, I use it and it is very good stuff. It will creep for a day or 2 to get into all of the nooks and crannies, then sets up to a little firmer consistency. I don't know about the kit you are talking about, my kit was around $100 and included: 1 gallon of clear rusfre, 1 gallon of black rusfre, 1 gun, 1 extension wand, 2 supply hoses (1 for clear one for black), some solvent for cleanup and a buck to put it all in. I've done a couple of cars with the clear and still have about 1 quart left. It's good stuff. As for weldable primer, go to your local NAPA store, they have it or can get it. Tell them to get you: CTSWP in the Martin Senour line or 05917 in the 3M line (MMM). It's pricey stuff at over $20 a can, but it seems to work well. Good luck.

Hey thanks dwaynep. Yea the kit is a P/N BB7001. It has 2- 17 3/4 Ounces of inner panel rustproofing and 2- 17 3/4 Ounces cans of the rubberized coating with 5" spray wands and 10- 1/2" plugs. I figure it may be enough to do both inner rockers, but I'm not sure. How far does this stuff go in your opinion?

One thing I was considering was to drill some drain holes prior to doing the spraying. That's what caused the rust in the first place. When I took this thing apart, it seemed like it had a couple of gallons of sand and gravel within the rocker panels and this stuff was soaking wet. Its no wonder it rusted out. Of course it didn't help that there were holes in both wheel wells either, allowing this crap in there. I have sealed that up with the long strand fiberglass, so that should be OK now.

This rust was quite extensive. I've had to go in and do some repairs on the inner panels as well. In reality if I'd have known how bad this was, I probably wouldn't have even bothered with it, as its taken up a lot of my time this Summer. But in the end, I should have a decent repair.

Toni.

That's about 1 quart of each clear and black. That should be enough to do the inners and the back of them also as well as the rear wheel wells. I think once you use it though, you may find you'll want more to do other vehicles you have. It's very sticky stuff so spray it outside and cover the ground with a tarp or old sheet to keep it from getting all over the place.

Thanks dwaynep for this info. I'll go ahead and purchase this kit I think.

I'd like to find a source to buy one of the panels. It's the one in front of the rear wheel on the drivers side. I can weld one up,but I'd just as soon but the piece if I could find it. Raybucks sells them, however they are for the LS model and this one is the standard base model and I'm not sure if they are the same. Do you have any idea if this will fit. I asked them and they weren't sure either. I'll keep looking around in any event.

Thanks, Toni.

Toni- Did you ever find replacement rocker panels for your Venture?

Noetic1, yes I did find the rockers. You can either buy OEM exact replacements or you can buy the universal type ones. Raybuck's has the OEM's for around $160/ea. and the universals run about $80/ea.These are sold in several places, do a internet search and you'll find them available elsewhere as well.

I opted to make mine, where I work in a fab. shop type environment anyways. Probably not perfect, but it will suffice on a 11 year old vehicle.

Toni.

Toni- It's great that you have the ability to fab your own rockers, I wish I had the same.

The rockers on my 2002 Venture are definitely starting to get worse specially before the rear wheels. In fact the drivers side complete rusted through already. The van looks great and is still shiny but I can't believe how rusty these damn rockers got.