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Rust Protection

Servicing, Oil Changes, Fluids & Much More.

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Vmlinuz
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Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:53 am
Location: Canada

Rust Protection

Postby Vmlinuz » Tue May 03, 2022 3:28 pm

Hello guys, currently own an '09 GTS (Called a VRX in your guys area I think.). I figured I'd show you guys how harsh winters and salt are on these cars in the great Canadian North and how I managed to tame it for now. Bought it three years ago for quite a deal ($6000 Canadian or $6500ish AUD) with decently low kilometres at 158000 Kms and the good transmission option and a decent service/oil change history. Currently at 177000.

Car has a full protection film on the parts of the car that take the brunt of the wind/damage like the front bumper and front of the hood as well as the back quarter panels and doors since new. Despite this the paper thin clear coat that Mitsubishi loves to use is peeling/bubbling away right beside the film layers adding insult to injury. I'll have to post some outside pictures, I've considered getting the car's clear coat redone professionally with good paint.

Anyways enough rambling here's the before and afters:
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I first did the screwdriver test as described in the front sub-frame recall workshop guide and it didn't go through so I continued on instead of driving/towing it five hours the closest dealership for replacement.

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The whole process was actually quite simple in terms of complexity. It started with a good wipe down with brake cleaner to get the initial dirt off and then mineral spirits and wire brushing until my shoulders went numb and the flakey rust/original coating off. Then wipe the rust dust off with mineral spirits. After double checking to make sure all the rust flakes we're gone I got the paint I used ready.

The stuff I used called 'POR 15' or 'Paint over rust 15 minutes'(I think that's what it's called lengthened) is some very strong and very eye watering coating. This paint once it dries either on skin or the garage floor will not come off with either gas or acetone. This gives me some hope for protection that'll last at least five years haha. I debated on doing the top at the front but there was zero corrosion on top surprisingly but I painted the sub-frame mounting "arms" welds as precaution.

I did two coats for the front as it's the most vulnerable area for rot on the car going by recalls and one on the rear as it's a pain in the *** to get all the little crevices and I found myself seeing a little mount area or crack I missed in the rear. Not shown in the photos since I was in a bit of a rush to get the wet paint off myself was the over brush onto the other rear suspension arms. I'm not worried about the rust on those since when the bushings are ready to be replaced most likely soon I'll just simply replace the whole arm versus dropping the sub-frame to replace that if it fails from rust. I'm also by no means a professional painter so forgive the sloppiness :lol:. Some of what looks like bead's dropping off are actually weld's on the front sub-frame from factory so i can't be to blame :lol: .

As much as I love how these cars drive and handle especially with the 5 speed and 4B12 Mitsubishi definitely took some shortcuts especially in the coating for the suspension components and sub-frames and in this part of the world it's borderline unacceptable, Mazda is also guilty of this. The Nissan Xterra beside it looks brand new underneath compared to it and it's three years older and has more KMs.

I'm also grateful for this community as it has information about these cars and tips for them then anywhere else on the internet and I'm happy to be part of it. The D2 Coilovers have also gotta go soon in favour of some OE Kybs for a more pleasant drive, both rears are leaking as well but the ride height is set to stock-ish height as far as I can tell so that's a plus.
Rally Red '09 GTS

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lancerdarryl
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Location: Newcastle NSW Australia

Re: Rust Protection

Postby lancerdarryl » Tue May 03, 2022 3:46 pm

Lot of hard work there to protect your car. It is in way better condition than a lot of other cars from that area
Evolution X MR+ Lancer VRX Sportback +LA Lancer GSR
"Don't back off until you hit something"

Vmlinuz
Lancer Learner
Lancer Learner
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:53 am
Location: Canada

Re: Rust Protection

Postby Vmlinuz » Tue May 03, 2022 4:12 pm

lancerdarryl wrote:Lot of hard work there to protect your car. It is in way better condition than a lot of other cars from that area

Yeah the market especially for Mitsubishi's is bad here. Asking $10000 for a CVT 2010 Lancer DE with 160k is borderline criminal especially since the CVT maintenance hasn't been disclosed.

Plus rally red seems to be an uncommon color in town I've never seen it before :lol:
Rally Red '09 GTS

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Mars1811
Lancer VR/GT
Lancer VR/GT
Posts: 215
Joined: Thu May 21, 2020 10:51 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: Rust Protection

Postby Mars1811 » Wed May 04, 2022 12:59 am

Fantastic work! Great read
2011 VRX Sportback

Message me on Discord: Mars#0420
If in doubt, rev it out!

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Lancer1993
Genius
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Location: Caloundra
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Re: Rust Protection

Postby Lancer1993 » Wed May 04, 2022 6:30 pm

Watched plenty of YouTube videos from 'Just Rolled In' and they number of not so old car with bad rust damage is amazing coming from a country where most of us don't get bad winters where it snows for months. Here in Australia very few people live in snow country, I don't think we salt the roads in winter, not heard of it. But I live in Queensland, which is basically the Florida of AU but without the crazy politics (mostly) locals know who I'm taking about.
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My rides CJ VRX - CC coupe

awood
Lancer VR/GT
Lancer VR/GT
Posts: 216
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2020 4:45 pm
Location: Darwin

Re: Rust Protection

Postby awood » Wed May 04, 2022 7:04 pm

Great pic's and a good read.
Top work keeping her on the road longer.

Vmlinuz
Lancer Learner
Lancer Learner
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:53 am
Location: Canada

Re: Rust Protection

Postby Vmlinuz » Thu May 05, 2022 9:34 am

Thanks guys for the good feedback, I did miss some spots on the back like inside little mounting ears, etc but they don't have corrosion on them so I don't care too much I got all the areas with flaked factory coating and bad surface rust on both. If the coating fails and the rust takes a good hold I'll most likely just purchase subframes from an Arizona or California rust free car and get them done properly.

Back to suspension, anyone know how to get a full strut assembly for an upper model Lancer? KYB only makes the full strut assemblies for the lower trims and they're the only brand I trust for tried and true reliability, Monroe has never inspired confidence along with the other cheap strut brands.

Can't go OEM cartridge replacement as I have no stockers available and no full used sets for sale within 8 hours of me to drop those cartridges in. I'm tempted to just run the slightly lower end strut assemblies from KYB with the slightly lower spring rate and let the rear sway bar and tires handle any difference it could cause.

Coilovers unless you go full KW can't handle the elements and road grit of winter here for more then a few years without leaking even with regular cleaning of dirt off them and keeping the shaft area clean of dirt from what I've seen from friends with other vehicles. The Taiwanese coilovers the car came with had no chance as seen when I put the summer tires on..

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Rally Red '09 GTS


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