Fluid Film!

Intragration

Member
Apr 2, 2019
72
37
18
Chicago
I don't know how I haven't come across this stuff yet. I'm an avowed rust-o-phobe, I'm always looking for the best ways to avoid/eliminate/roll back rust, and yet, I never discovered Fluid Film until a couple days ago. I've always tried to keep a step ahead of rust on all my daily drivers. I've tried things like undercoating, oils, frequent winter washes, everything I could think of. I've spent countless hours using wire brushes, rust converter, naval jelly, paint, you name it. And you can never GET everything either. There's always a spot you missed. I was also confounded by things like grease. So, there's a rusty area, adjoining a greasy area. So you want to prep it, but you intermingle grease with rust, and then you try to clean it, and convert it, and paint it, and undercoat it. But nature has her way, and it all ends up rusty anyway. Short of a rotisserie restoration, where everything can be blasted, and primed, and painted, and undercoated, it's a losing battle. And then, a couple years pass, the undercoating fails, and you're right back in the same spot.

I thought about Ziebart, because, it's undercoating, it's great, right? But then I found all the horror stories, about how it essentially encapsulates your frame and EXISTING rust, and creates the perfect environment to destroy metal. Does no favors for future service either.

I then found a service called Krown, which sounds kind of like a thin, WD40-type coating, which has to be applied frequently to have a lasting effect. The closest one is 200 miles from me though, so that was pretty much out.

Finally discovered Fluid Film. It's essentially lanolin, the grease/wax from wool. It's my understanding that in certain places in Scotland, it was discovered that 100 year old iron fences/gates that were used to retain sheep ended up, basically, never rusting. Someone also told a story about a 90 year old car frame they bought from a farmer who kept sheep. The areas that the sheep used as a scratching post ALSO didn't rust.

So I found some Fluid Film locally at an Advance Auto Parts. They didn't even believe me when I told them they had it in stock. I made them check anyway, and they were surprised to find that they had it. Brought it home, threw some in an old spray gun I had, and the fun began. It's pretty smelly. Hard to describe, kind of like the "better" barnyard smell. Also not entirely unlike Palmolive, or other various products containing lanolin. The interesting thing, which corresponds with their literature, is that it pretty much halts existent rust. It turns black, and takes on a sheen. It's not eternal, like undercoating or Cosmoline, but it's apparently pretty durable, and doesn't have a tendency to go away. It repels salt and moisture, and at a minimum, keeps them away from the metal, sort of like oils, but possibly better. You have to recoat on a regular basis, but this recoat is drama-free. Just get under the vehicle, spray it on, and you're done. Much easier than my previous rust-removal and encapsulation attempts.

So I finished the first stage. Everything external and visible/accessible is done. Next step is to get everything internal. Frame rails, body cavities, door bottoms, etc. We'll see how it goes. They say it attracts dirt and dust. This is a non-issue for me, I don't care about dirt, I care about rust. It requires those future reapplications, but I also don't care about that. It's just about the easiest process in the world. Just spray it on/in pretty much everything. But there's no prepping, no degreasing, no scrubbing, sanding, scraping. Just spray and forget. It even makes the whole undercarriage LOOK pretty good. Not as "good" as a clean undercoating on a pristine car, but that pristine car doesn't stay that way, and even if you keep the undercoating looking that way, what's UNDERNEATH it sure doesn't look that way. The Fluid Film, while slightly greasy, is an HONEST undercoating as far as I can tell.

Any thoughts, questions, experiences?
 

Olds 307 and 403

Well-known member
Oct 4, 2018
996
265
63
Melville, Saskatchewan
I believe I tried it one winter, it seemed to work fairly well. I also used Amsoil coating. Rust is tough to stop, don't know if anything helps.
 

Olds 307 and 403

Well-known member
Oct 4, 2018
996
265
63
Melville, Saskatchewan
One place it is definitely effective is battery terminals. My daughter pointed out how the battery looked on her car, I told her it is to stop corrosion. It does keep them from getting green better than white grease.
 

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