Ziebart question

[lvmy240z]

My Z was Ziebarted when I bought it. Don't know how old it is or who would even have done it. (Dealer at sale or Mom and Pop garage later on) I've heard the Ziebart is not as good at protecting the body from rust as you might be led to believe. Any experience/ideas on what to look/look out for?

Thanks in advance.

[ChrisA]

I had a 1979 310 that was Ziebarted. They did a good job and the car never showed any outward signs of rust. It was a daily driver that lived in the Rust Belt. Lots of salt on the roads in winter.

If the shop sprays it on correctly and its good metal to start with, you shouldnt have any problems.

Much luck,

Chris

[WalterMondale]

I own a "77" that had Ziebart application by original owner when the car was new. After taking the car apart, I only found rust around the windshield flanges where the gaskets would trap water. A place where the Ziebart could not have been applied.

I did find rust in the right front rocker box , but that was not becuase of a failed Ziebart application. I beleived the rust was formed here due to the inside of the fender rubbing the outside of the rocker box, wearing a hole, permiting the water drain from the cowl to leak into it. - But I could be wrong.

Overall, the application has proven to be a real good investment. The car is from Virginia.

[daveinc]

I recently got my first Z car, a 1978 280. It has fairly serious rust now. (photos in my gallery) I am the third owner, the first owner kept all the service records in a binder. (I'd like to thank him, as it gives a pretty good history of the car. The most dificult thing is reading the mechanics handwriting!)

Anyway the car was bought in Aug 1978 and after showing some signs of rust, was repaired and Ziebart applied in 1981. It didn't work, however I suspect that the rust eating my car had already started and perhaps the treatment slowed it down somewhat.

I get the impression from all the threads regarding rust on this site that Datsun must have been using some crap for steel!

[EScanlon]

IF:

Ziebart gets applied AT the time of first sale from the manufacturer's dealer and

IF:

Any damage to the vehicle gets repaired and then inspected afterwards by a Ziebart shop for compliance with their warranty and

IF:

Proper care of the vehicle such as under-carriage spray / slush damage is attended to at least periodically

THEN

You will find that Ziebart works great.

However, any one of the above items can / may / will be the cause of the problems that a Ziebart job fails from.

I've seen vehicles 15+ years after being Ziebarted that have been in great condition, and I've seen them fail at less than 12.

Too much regarding rust protection involves where and how the car is driven to assign it all to one item.

So, answering your original question.

Ziebart is a good preventative agent, it is not a total protection agent, nor is it an absolute protection agent. A car that has been treated with it, has less vulnerability to the rust monster than other vehicles without any type of protection.

That the car has been treated works in your favor.

Now as far as clues that you have rust? They're the same with or without the Ziebart. Look at Front Fender Rear Doglegs, Battery Area, Floor Pans, Rear Fender Front Doglegs and Lips. Check for mysterious paint bubbling or lifting. Overlapping metal areas are very prone to wearing through to the metal.

Follow my drift?

Enrique

[ZIII]

I bought my Z new 32 years ago and the second day I owned it I had it Ziebarted. It has been back and forth to Europe four times, a good ten years in New Hampshire, driven in the snow, rain and salty roads as only the Germans know how to do and I can tell you that it would have never survived had it not been for Ziebart. IMHO Ziebarting is the single best thing you can have (or had) done to your Z…. (The other two on a 73 is, trash the carbs, smog pump all the related paraphernalia.

Now, it was a must to get it Ziebart-inspected and re-sprayed if necessary every three years or so. I did this as I could and I know that helped a lot. Do I have rust? Sure and one has to constantly stay on top of it. However, it is small stuff, nothing major or even remotely serious. Driving in the conditions that I have subjected my car too, I would never had made it this far and have my car in the condition it is in without Ziebart.

[gogriz91]

The car has been sitting for about 2 years and I am due to be re-united with it this summer. It's in New Mexico so I'm thinking the paint took a beating but it shouldn't have rusted at all.

I'm planning on sanding under the battery tray to try to clean up what I hope is, surface rust. Would applying Ziebart to that help prevent battery acid from eating through it or would it just eat through the Ziebart?

[ZIII]

The car has been sitting for about 2 years and I am due to be re-united with it this summer. It's in New Mexico so I'm thinking the paint took a beating but it shouldn't have rusted at all.

I'm planning on sanding under the battery tray to try to clean up what I hope is, surface rust. Would applying Ziebart to that help prevent battery acid from eating through it or would it just eat through the Ziebart?

Battery acid will eat through most things with or without Ziebart…. Best thing to do is get your self an Optima Battery (Red) and that will go a LONG way in calming your fears of any battery leakage. They are more expensive than regular batteries but trust me, there isn’t a better commercial battery made and sold here. I got one on sale at car-quest for $89.00 but I would have been happy to pay retail. They are that good.

Regarding Ziebarting your car… where are you taking it and where can you get it done? I am only concerned that if you Z-bart a car that is thirty years old and not relatively clean you are only going to mask your rust problems and perhaps create even bigger problems in the long run. Z-bart is not going to kill any rust that you have... it will only protect what is clean. I am not sure if Ziebart will even do the job on a thirty year old, unrestored car. As EScanlon suggests you need to look at the traditional rust trouble-spots, get them perfectly clean and of course all your inner seams, panels, doors, etc will also have to be cleaned.

[chickenwafer]

I heard if you get a car Ziebarted when rust is present already, it will seal in the rust, effectively allowing the rust already there to spread even faster than it already does.

My 260Z was Ziebarted by the first owner back in 1982-83 or so when he moved out east to Ohio. He said it was great with no rust until he stored in a garage for the winter and the garage leaked and rust insued pretty badly. There is still a baseball-size rust hole in the front left rocker panel along with little miniature rust holes as well. So, Ziebart works to an extent, I guess.

Dave

[gogriz91]

I went online ot the Ziebart homepage where they've got a distributor finder function.

I had also heard Ziebarting on top of existing rust would not stop that rust from spreading so I understand that surface prep of the area to be treated is critical.

I think the Ziebart has prevented rust in some traditional areas and probably did alot just to protect the underside of the car in general from what rock chips or other types of wear and tear would have done to start rust. I also will likely have to replace my floorboards and the rocker panels due to rust so it isn't the total and complete answer to all rust prevention.