Over the years that I have owned the car I have to admit that I have never really gone out of my way to protect the chassis and underbody. Following exposure to the shot blasting effects of desert sands and salt flats it was now in need of a serious dose of TLC.
Each time I worked underneath the car I would coat what I could reach with underseal and spray waxoyl where I couldn't reach but I never got around to doing a complete, thorough job. |
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As you can see the accumulation of sand, road dirt, mud and general grime had left the underside looking a bit sorry for itself. Despite this terrible neglect, on my part, she was still pretty sound. A small amount of welding was needed on one of the outriggers (I had this done a the same time as a load of other work by Jono at Waveney 4x4) but, apart from that, all the other rust was surface and treatable.
I decided that the only option was to treat the car to a full professional clean and waxoyl treatment. I did a great deal of research and found several positive and negative comments on several forums for some companies that advertise widely in the Land Rover magazines. However, there was one company that I could find nothing but praise for, and that was Rustmaster. As they were only 2 1/2 hours away I booked the car in and drove it down to Hatfield.
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Their premises is in a barn on an farm complex along with several other businesses (including a dancing fountains company!). Kevin and Michael made me feel very welcome and offered to drop me off in town if I wanted. However, they also gave me the option to stay and watch (something their competitors don't). Having pointed me at the kettle and a chair Michael put the disco on the ramps while Kevin donned his oilskins.
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With a high pressure jet was, set at 90 degrees Kevin started around the edges.... |
..and then moved on to the underneath. He did a very thorough job and left no nook or cranny unblasted. |
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| The result was amazing, the sand and dirt was gone leaving a clear view of the rust which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. | ||
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Kevin then started injecting the cavities with a lighter wax using a long wand. The coverage was very impressive as you could see the wax escaping from drain holes along each of the cavities. |
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To show how thorough the job was, once Kevin had covered everything, I said "so that it then?" to which he said "NO, that's just the first coat". He then spent another hour before he was happy that everything was covered properly. |
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The finally job looks, dare I say it, so damn sexy! It has since dried off to a nice satin sheen and I am sure that the car is quieter due to the dampening effect on the floor panels. Kevin did ask me if I wanted him to avoid covering the shocks and springs "cause some people like to show them off". In my case I said "that if it stayed still long enough, cover it!" I am very pleased with the end result and the professionalism of Kevin and Michael and would recommend them to anyone considering having this done. It was the best £560 I've spent in a long time. |
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Comments
I also reserched like yourself and visited forums, listened to all the bitching, then made the phone call and spoke with Michael all concerns put to one side i booked in the following week spent the day with the kettle reading a book in the sunshine and just chilling out so nice to be in the country and no work !
Like yourself i was so excited with the end result the friendly and professionalism attitude from Michael I would highly recomend this company.
Andrew
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