I went to look at a really nice 60 Chevy Apache today. Holes had been drilled in several places (around door openings, etc.), 'ziebart' sprayed in, and then little caps placed over the holes. I guess this was done right after the truck was originally purchased in 1960..... Is this good stuff? Any problems associated with ziebart? I appreciate any info. Thanks! Ben
Yep.. popular anti corrosive back in the "old days". Had it done to my 76 Ramcharger. If applied properly, it did a pretty good job.
I agree.. had it done on on my 76 F-150...... the truck was solid when sold in 2000 no rot used every day rainn snow salt
My old man had every pos car he owned done. The one problem was they would rust from where they drilled to hole to spray it. It had the consistecy and smell of roofing tar.
loveoftiki is dead on! Man that smell stayed with the car for a long time too. I worked at a Ford dealer that sprayed something like that in their new cars and we would leave work each day with sticky nostrils.
I figure if it was applied correctly or not, you will know by now. In my experience with "rust-proofed" cars, it either worked really well or made it worse. Worst case: 11 years ago I had an 87 Chevy celebrity that had the Zeibart plugs all over it and the sticker on the rear window. It was the rustiest car I'd ever driven, which is saying a lot, and it really wasn't that old of a car at the time. It's saving grace was its awesome reliabilty and cheap price. The other end of the spectrum is my brother's 82 Camaro. It had been rustproofed (Tuff Coat Dinol I think) and has sat outside in a dirt lot in MI since he stopped driving it 12 years ago. It's still almost completely rust free as of last summer. Iv'e noticed this pattern of extremes with many other rustproofed cars too, but these are the two I was most familar with.
3x, I used it on GM cars and the smell after it sat in the sun was very strong. After a day or two it was not as noticable. Yes, the edges of the holes would start rust if not treated. I would put the stuff on the back of the plugs. The stuff was a clear tan color that we sprayed inside the panels and of course the underside stuff was black.
Very popular on new cars in Chicago in the late 60's. Also a treatment done the same way by a company called Rusty Jones. I'm not sure you would ever be able to get that stuff out of the car completely.
In my opinion it was a scam,like scotch guarding and Ming finish on your paint. If it was any good thye would still be in business on every corner. If would have to heat or weld any panels you will really hate it.
My '93 Escort was Ziebarted when new and held up really well until the mid-2000s. Even then, the rust was really focused on repaired damage from a 2001 accident. The only downside is that often the drain holes would get plugged up with the stuff. As for why they're not on every corner - how many Americans hold onto a new car long enough to benefit? -Dave
Like someone else said, if applied correctly, the stuff worked great. Some shops did a thorough rustproofing job,the stuff would drip out of the car for days after application so it would flow into the nooks and crannies, while others barely put any product in the panels which really didn't help. Probably in those parts of the country, they got a bad rap. Ha! I'd forgot about Rusty Jones! I bought a 'builder that came out of Chicago with a Rusty Jones sticker on it a long time ago. Car looked really decent and about two years later, rust started on the doors, about ten inches from the bottom. I looked at the door bottoms, they looked great.Trouble was, they had sealed the drain holes shut with the stuff, and it rusted out above their rustproofing! My parents never noticed the doors filling up with water when it rained.
My OT '71 Road Runner was Ziebarted when new. I 'll let you draw your own conclusions on how well it worked...
http://www.tst5k.com/tst_3000.html I worked at a dealer that used this. I had them apply the wax based rustproofing on both of my antique cars. My truck sat on gravel and dirt for a long time and developed NO scale underneath. The other car was driven in some salt last year and again, no surprises.... And with a pressure washer, it comes off. Their paint sealant is damn good too. It's applied one time. I see 8 year old black cars and the paint still looks good - no swirls or graying.
It was a good product but like many things, the final quality was determined by the guy who installed it. When properly applied, Ziebart was probably the best thing you could do for your new car. It wasn't a failure on THEIR part that made them go away-rather it was government regulation that forced the auto industry to use rust proof materials and methods in new cars. Almost every piece of metal in any newer car is zinc, or zinc rich primer, coated along with an electo deposited primer from a total immersion.
my son bought a 1968 elcamino that had a waxy rust proofing sprayed inside every panel and nook and cranny. it was very rusty and every time you tried to weld you had a fire. we had it on jack stands in the garage and had a 30 ft chain on the axle. we never welded on it without my truck attached to the chain to pull it out in case of a major fire. we finished the car without ever having to use our emergency procedure, but had many fires. i'd never buy a project with it again.
Rustproofing needed to be done soon after the vehicle came off the assembly line. Even though a vehicle was purchased "new" it might have been sitting on a lot somewhere rusting. If the coating was applied over rust, it sealed it in and it kept on rusting. It's like powder coating, once rust gets under it, the rusts spreads fast.
I remember hearing about a few dealers that drilled alot of holes and never applied the product in most of them, got caught when rust came soon after,now thats a scam. retirement is underrated
The Jalopy Journal
