[drbino]

I'll be moving to Melbourne, FL soon, and for those who don't know, it's a beach city on the east coast. I'm worried about the salt and what it will do to my car. Any recommendations on upkeep, or is it not really a concern for vehicles nowadays? I thought about putting some kind of sacrificial anode on the frame of the car, the way you put zincs on the propeller shaft of a boat or something, but then it occured to me that the salt corrosion was a direct chemical corrosion and not an electrochemical type of corrosion, so I don't think an anode would help. I'm just worried about the car rusting up- can't have that.

 

[Guest]

Used to live just south of where you're moving to (vero beach for a bit, worked in ft pierce & also lived in stuart for a bit). Corrosion is just going to happen to some degree. Where I live now is also a costal city (auke bay, alaska)... in fact, the ocean is about ohhh... goin to guess 200 ft away right now. I don't know of any special products to use on the car. I usually have mine undercoated, but not going to on the stang as I dont intend to drive it in the winter (when they put all them chemicals on the roads that really make em rust). The shop manager at the dealership was telling me about some new wax product they spray in the frame that's supposed to help. Outside of that, I've always tried to "rinse out" the underside of my vehicles whenever I wash them. Keep em dry, preferably in a garage & it'll probably help. Lots of TLC goes a long ways.

 

[Guest]

I'll be moving to Melbourne, FL soon, and for those who don't know, it's a beach city on the east coast. I'm worried about the salt and what it will do to my car. Any recommendations on upkeep, or is it not really a concern for vehicles nowadays? I thought about putting some kind of sacrificial anode on the frame of the car, the way you put zincs on the propeller shaft of a boat or something, but then it occured to me that the salt corrosion was a direct chemical corrosion and not an electrochemical type of corrosion, so I don't think an anode would help. I'm just worried about the car rusting up- can't have that.

Actually Zincs on boats are used as sacrificial anode metal to any transient electrical "bad grounding" issues in port or natural electrolysis in water of dissimilar metals, worse in salt water.

The "salt spray" of saturated oceanic air is going to attack any metals it can contact. I live in a Seattle suberb, right on the water. The air is toned down through the Sound passage and nothing like the hostile coastal environments.
When I go to Laguna Beach for business, the rental cars are literally covered in salt spray in hours. I would hate to be in that as daily Pony owner.
I would get a serious undercoat ( not the cheezy one in a can), and stay on top of my wax jobs.
Rinse car alot and keep it garaged.

 

[alfman9]

Just wash it once a week and dont drive it on the beach and you will be fine. I have never had a problem. Due keep it in the garage though and watch out for things falling off of the space shuttle.

 

[drbino]

Hey, I'm a big fan of the space program and NASA. I'm going to get the specialized Challenger/Columbia tag when I move down there.