Under coating a DB

[Mpgp1999]

Currently the undercarriage is starting to rust. Mostly along the front of the running boards. But also in between the leaf springs and the brakes along with other places that get hot. Everything is somehow coated in grease. I need to have everything properly protected looking clean and neat.  What should I do? Clean and degrease the underbody. Then run a wire wheel brush to remove scale. Then coat it with some rust reformer. A graphite based oil paint (many model a places sell this as leaf spring paint). Over that coating. I have some ideas but I am not sure what work best. 

[Sactownog]

take it all apart, clean it very well with solvents and wire brush, then paint it black OR coat it with a rubberized spray https://www.zoro.com/rust-oleum-rubberized-undercoating-black-15-oz-248657/i/G0903865/feature-product?gclid=Cj0KCQjw2efrBRD3ARIsAEnt0ehGx4zAmx3W7FWhxYIz67HsVkUtM6XTSbLMtPgEuJ2Bb4bEuxeaWs0aAqZ1EALw_wcB

 

I personally took all my leaf springs apart, rear end rebuild, then primer and painted the whole area black. 

 

if you are working on bottom of vehicle cab, I would go with a rubberized spray like line - x or a can of what I linked above. 

[trini]

Take them apart. It looks like your DB has mechanical brakes. Use vapourust .You may have to wire brush to help the vaporust. Follow the instruction on the can. I have great results with that stuff. You may paint with any rust inhibitor. You can do the springs  like in some Rolls Royce  . Grease the springs and sew oil soaked leather around the. .

[Spinneyhill]

Don't use graphite! When the oil dries out, graphite will be left on the steel. Corrosion will follow, quickly. It is galvanic corrosion of dissimilar metals. It will occur in air, which contains some amount of water vapour. If you use graphite ANYWHERE, you are committing yourself to ongoing maintenance to keep it moist with grease.

 

Oil is a wetting agent. Every bit of dust and dirt that gets near it will stick and be wet. The whole thing will be come an oily lump of grinding paste. Grease is not a wetting agent, so is better to use for lubricating partially exposed workings. It gets a layer of dust on it and that is all.

[Mpgp1999]

Any recommendations for products or methods to degrease. Where I work they sell this krud kutter metal prep. It says it prepares metal surfaces for painting and it removes rust,oil,grease and dirt. Water based and biodegradable (because it’s California). I don’t have to get this product it just sounds too good to be true. There may be better old fashioned ways of doing it. 

[Mpgp1999]

bill hirsch miracle paint, por 15

or some other products?

[RichBad]

6 hours ago, trini said:

Take them apart. It looks like your DB has mechanical brakes. Use vapourust .You may have to wire brush to help the vaporust. Follow the instruction on the can. I have great results with that stuff. You may paint with any rust inhibitor. You can do the springs  like in some Rolls Royce  . Grease the springs and sew oil soaked leather around the. .

I just had my springs remanufactured - I asked the guy about lubrications and he said not to oil or grease between the leaves unless they were designed for it.  He said it will result in them being overloaded (resulting in premature degradation) and also takes away the inherent damping action of the springs.  Not a great issue if you have shocks/dampers but the early ones don’t.

[Spinneyhill]

If you look on Rust-oleum's web site, there a many Krud Kutter products. It is a range. Be careful with metal prep. it is often acid to etch the metal. There are chemicals that are non-caustic that remove oil and grease too; I suppose it has some of them in it. Best to look at the SDS to see what it is.

[trini]

Vaporust is safe to use, You can wash your hands with it. Remove grease and oil before using. I used it many times . It is very good especially if you want to reuse original bolts, nut screws, washers. Economical way is to put all parts to de rust in a tomato juice can or pop can, depending on the amount of parts, and just  put enough to drown them. Leave them overnight. Check daily . If the liquid turns black discard and use fresh one. If after use the liquid is still good you can reuse. Very large pieces might be difficult unless you have a receptacle large enough .I used a bench wire wheel to remove rust from my 28 DB drive shaft and steering drag links.  

[trini]

I have great success removing oil and grease with varsol. It is helful to have a container to catch the "wash." Varsol is used as a paint thinner so it is safe to paint over newly varsol washed parts. After removing rust with wire wheel wash with varsol  or paint thinners before painting  Sit the "dirty varsol" a few days and all the dirt settles . Makes good recycling. 

[Mpgp1999]

The inside of transmission housing is painted. I want to flush the old gear oil and metal dirt etc... what should I use? The same for the differential.  

[Mpgp1999]

The book says to use graphite and pry the leaves apart?

[Spinneyhill]

Use graphite grease IF and ONLY IF you intend to continue with that. I would use a modern grease with molybdenum disulphide, which is as good as graphite and because it is similarly corrosive, the grease carries a load of corrosion inhibitors. We have better greases these days!

[Mpgp1999]

Update. 
On one wheel well I wire brushed it. Cleaned it with simple green and acetone. Used a rust encapsulator then spray painted over. The leaf springs were mostly cleaned then I will apply a layer of grease.  I was thinking about using a 50/50 mix of oil and grease?