RustBusters Spalding

Hi Guys

I just had my whole underbody done by RustBusters and anyone with a lot of rust under there, you need to go to this outfit. Not to sound like an advert but they have done a STUNNING job. It took a week and has gone from heavy rust everywhere to everything but the exhaust looking like the side of Darth Vaders helmet. Oo-er. But seriously, I went for the full enchilada package and they've treated and epoxyed the lot, took all suspension parts off, de rusted, reconstructed and it is now showroom under there. It was dear at £1618 and needed some welding which led to that price but my goodness what a result. Now I just need the BPU to get rid of that shameful standard rusty exhaust! If anyone is struggling with their underbody and wants to ask anything, feel free.

Hi Guys

 

I just had my whole underbody done by RustBusters and anyone with a lot of rust under there, you need to go to this outfit. Not to sound like an advert but they have done a STUNNING job. It took a week and has gone from heavy rust everywhere to everything but the exhaust looking like the side of Darth Vaders helmet. Oo-er. But seriously, I went for the full enchilada package and they've treated and epoxyed the lot, took all suspension parts off, de rusted, reconstructed and it is now showroom under there. It was dear at £1618 and needed some welding which led to that price but my goodness what a result. Now I just need the BPU to get rid of that shameful standard rusty exhaust! If anyone is struggling with their underbody and wants to ask anything, feel free.

^ This. Unless without pictures

They removed the sub frames fuel tank, fuel and brake lines etc ?

Interested in seeing some pics!

Interested in seeing some pics!

Me too

Thats fantastic value for money when you think of all the work that is required to strip down, prepare, treat, finish and rebuild and then the VAT man takes a big slug of the cash. As others say though, unless its a frame off it isn't a proper rust bust. I haven't found any rust behind the tank guard but plenty of established rust hidden from sight above the frame. £1300+VAT for a full monty rust treatment is such great value, it has me wondering why I'm doing it myself.

What's interesting is how the rust convertors and then coatings work in the long run. If they do seal the metal from air, moisture or both then the iron can't rust (further).

So if the rust above the frame etc, is cleaned of flaky rust, then rust converted and then a coating is applied after it may well stop further rust?

The encouraging part of the story is that they found stuff that needed welding, when I suspect it would have been easy to just apply coatings and make it look as it does now?

For Rider, diy'ing allows you to fully assess the car for the long haul, take your time and get things as you'd like them before applying anything. Also you can be selective, remove more parts replace some etc etc.

I don't think we should overly knock one way or the other, Burna did a body and non subframe refurb etc on a chunk as part of a long term plan, and let's face it these things take time and effort and will often be done in stages due to time, money or need. I like seeing and hearing about peoples paths, I'd hope we can not stray too much into, my way is better than your way etc or at least keep it constructive and point out the pro's and con's to the methods taken.

Anyone doing this is at least having a good poke around underneath or holding their hands up saying it's needs looking at professionally, for years I never even considered the underside and let's face it 99% of car owners never do! Best to have a look now as regardless of your treatment path what's certain is that the earlier you look and then treat the better!

Burna did a body and non subframe refurb etc on a chunk as part of a long term plan

Yeah, subframe was completely removed though and put to one side. I personally don't believe a proper rust treatment/prevention can be done properly without fully removing the subframe from the car, too many hidden areas with it in place.

Considering the labour involved, that sounds like a fairly reasonable price.

I'm spending time dismantling my spare front and rear sub frames shortly as these beasts are getting to that stage in their lifecycle.

Looking forward to the pics Falcrum

As an update I will post some pics. My underbody was legendarily bad in some areas which did need welds, mainly around the jacking points which I assume is a weak area although my previous two Supes had already been restored underneath when I bought them so not sure. When you see the pics bear in mind a couple of things, yes they did COMPLETELY strip the car - I vaguely know one of the people who work there and he kept me up to date. They basically took the car completely to pieces underneath and treated everything. i've since been under it and apart form the odd bolt its flawless. If I did this myself it would be 10% as good as they did because I am admittedly rubbish at all things DIY so I was really pleased and feel its bullet proof now for a good few years. I certainly need a new BPU exhaust though as that's letting the underside down pretty royally but thats on the list anyway. They even treated the inside of the doors apparently. The other thing to remember is my rear crash bar was totally beyond redemption and they just left it on my instructions, I have another coming to change for new but it seems these are also a big problems for Supes, they're pretty open to the elements and if untreated just crumble to dust. It was actually this that mainly spurred me on to have the underbody done before going BPU, when I put the private plate on the back I could literally see it turning into a big pile of rusty dandruff under there.... Any questions just let me know anyway, it actually seems to drive much better now too, almost like its happier. I know, cuckoo, cuckoo....

Here's the after pics now I had the mechanic take them whose just fitted my Teins ready to fit active suspension in the spring:

My mechanic said they'd done a really good job, and he's spent more time around it than I have in the last week (and tons before it was done for comparision) so you dont need to take the word of an oaf like me with fists of ham and peanut class brain.

And just for a finisher I took this pic of my Supe in a car park next to a Smart car, showing two very different methods of getting from A to Z! I know whos laughing when it comes to the petrol stations.....

What was their process of actual rust removal? were all parts removed then sandblasted/sanded down, cleaned up then coated with underseal? In the pictures, from what i can see anyway they seem to have sprayed over some bits of rust, the CV Gaitors and front springs, and im pretty sure they've used a can. I know how tedious it is to do this job, i have done it on other cars, and all i can say is, if you dont have the patience - dont do it lol. A lot of people start the job thoroughly and towards the end rush to finish.

To be fair, the last few pictures make the underside look nice and smooth, which is extremely difficult if theres a lot of rust in the first place. Im not knocking this at all, because from what i can see, they seem to have done alrite with it, but i think i agree with scooter in terms of the DIY'ing. When you have seen the conditions of the metal up close, have physically taken away all elements of rust and then coated it - you yourself know its been done to the standard you are happy with. Comes down to time and money as Scooter said though, and for the price, i can see a lot of people opting for this option, especially if they truly remove every part!

They do indeed as I say its been up on ramps and had a mechanic inspect it away from them too and there's no oversprayed rust anywhere I can see or he did. They removed everything I went for the full top end package they offer, the full details of what they do and what they use are online if you need tech specs. There was a Supra there the week before me too!

It does look good to me, I'm a mixture of being tight and actually enjoying get up close and personal, which suits a high labour (relatively) low skilled job. I dare say an outfit like this can do things better (cavity protection) etc than I might just as in some ways they might not be quite as thorough as a dedicated diy'er. What's for sure is it has definitely helped preserve the car and is a massive before/after improvement.

How's it all running now, if I remember this was one with a few funny boost pipes when you first got it?

Any photos of it stripped out ?

Good comments Scooter I agree and if I was handy I would have had a go myself but my Supe is my pride and joy and according to the DVLA there's only 140 turbos left running on the road now with about twice that many SORN, which is a sobering thought. Its all running fine since I took the boost blocks off the turbo lines thanks for asking. I've had so much work done on it with the brakes, brake lines, suspension, starter motor and tons more done, now the underbody is complete. Only thing left is it has the classic Supe Smoke first thing in the morning so it needs valve seals in the future and BPU is the next step (finally!). I'm glad I wasnt a plank and did BPU first as its just a different car to drive now. Even spigot rings make a huge difference. I guess next after that is sort out modernizing the interior as they are a bit dated in some areas. Hows yours running?

Sorry Dunk I just did before and after pics mate but as I say it was all stripped out as I know one of the people who works there a bit and he helped with it.

Good comments Scooter I agree and if I was handy I would have had a go myself but my Supe is my pride and joy and according to the DVLA there's only 140 turbos left running on the road now with about twice that many SORN, which is a sobering thought. Its all running fine since I took the boost blocks off the turbo lines thanks for asking. I've had so much work done on it with the brakes, brake lines, suspension, starter motor and tons more done, now the underbody is complete. Only thing left is it has the classic Supe Smoke first thing in the morning so it needs valve seals in the future and BPU is the next step (finally!). I'm glad I wasnt a plank and did BPU first as its just a different car to drive now. Even spigot rings make a huge difference. I guess next after that is sort out modernizing the interior as they are a bit dated in some areas. Hows yours running?

Both are fine to a point thanks! time is an issue to sort any niggles. They are both good to get me anywhere and are taxed and insured but a fair amount of stuff to do on both! Mainly little stuff cosmetic tidying but i'll get there, mine are never show standard just want them to be solid and feel nice from the drivers seat mainly.

You've done well to plough through the general stuff to get it up together, well worth doing.