Hi everyone, thanks for being here. It's been a while since I've had a car that needs care. I had a mechanic do a doublle pre purchase check for me. He's of the same mind the wheel arches need attention but hasn't gone too far. He stated that getting this sorted and kept up, the chassis should give at least 10+ years. I am wondering should I do all of it or just these areas? I've attached the photos he took of the underside. But also does anyone have any recommendations for the watford area. There's an ultimate waxoyl place that will do it all for £425+VAT. I noticed elsewhere online someone mentioned Kings Langley. The lady I bought her from has largely kept her under cover and the underside looks almost like it did when new. I will be driving her in Winter as it's my only vehicle now. It's been a good 15 years since i've had to consider this sort of thing, I was a VW Caddy driver back then. I donlt think these days I'm up for under vehicles, ingrained dirt, blood, tears and sweat....lol
Hi Jess, A couple of years ago, I had my Copen undercoated at Underseal | Detailing and Valeting | Auto Rust Prevention (ARP) LTD | England, and they did a fantastic job. I paid £750 for the premium option, which was a bit more expensive than the standard one (£550), but I felt it was worth it for the higher quality. I'm really pleased with the results!
Hi ya, thanks for the recommendation, it was a little too far out for me, but as you show, it looks amazing job. Had a bunch of other's recommend places too. However, by chance I came across Classic Dreamworks run by a lovely guy Phil. He's charging half the normal cost of undersealing due to her size. He's going to do the wheel arches and a few other cosmetic things for me too. Plus the alloys are being redone in the process, about £1200 all in with the VAT. I think it's come in at a really reasonable price. He's got some fantastic classic examples there at present. I am so looking forward to her return https://www.classicdreamworks.co.uk/ Google has some great reviews.
I checked out their website, and they really do have some amazing classic examples. It looks like your Copen is in great hands! I've done quite a bit of reading about rust proofing, and it seems there’s no perfect "set it and forget it" solution that lasts for 5 years or more. Every year, I take my car to Auto Rust Prevention for a thorough cleaning underneath and to top up any areas that need it. It costs about $120, which I think is reasonable to keep the car rust-free. I also watched a video from a restoration company in Japan showing their process. They remove the exhaust, fuel tank, metal brackets, suspension parts, and cover all the cables. Then, they strip all the paint down to bare metal and repaint it with special under-chassis paint. After letting the paint dry for a week, they reassemble everything and apply a thick protective coating. I couldn’t figure out what products they were using, but I couldn’t help thinking it must be super expensive!
