Anybody have any experience with Cosmoline?

[Markus]

my ‘05 is damn near rust free (amazing condition for Pa), and I’d like to keep her that way. I always check out what everybody is sayin about rust prevention, and I have yet to see anybody talking about cosmoline. Is anybody using it, and if so how how is it working for you? I have a few cans of Eastwood internal frame coat, and a few cans of Fluid Film. I was planning to use the Eastwood’s, then top it off with Fluid Film, but......... haven’t done it yet, and always open to suggestions.

 

[jeepins]

Cosmoline seems more of a fluid for preservation and not prevention because of it's make-up in my opinion.

 

[ohiopatriot]

I know it will ooze out of a hot surplus rifle for a loooooong time.

 

[techster82]

I know it will ooze out of a hot surplus rifle for a loooooong time.

When I saw this thread title my mind immediately went to crates full of Mosins.......

 

[Liberated]

Same here. Only experience I have with the stuff is on mosins, and after that, I wouldn't try it on my Jeep. Stinky, sticky, and very hard to clean off.

 

[LJJames]

When I saw this thread title my mind immediately went to crates full of Mosins.......

And M1 Garands!!

 

[Flivver250]

An old Vermont trick is to cut bar and chain oil with a little bit of kerosene and spray it on with a suction sand blaster. Something about bar and chain oil that sticks and inhibits rust. They salt the roads there horrendously. Vermont mechanics know more about using a torch, easy-outs and tap and die tricks than 49 other states.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

About 40 years ago my dad took me somewhere with him to get some old car parts. There were some cars from the 1930's sitting in a barn. I remember seeing what I thought was vaseline, kind of dried and cracked at the surface but still "oily" on the metal. I also remember Dad saying, "Don't pick at that Cosmoline, it's keeping the rust away." It was probably there to keep the moisture (and bird poop) away to prevent the rust from forming but that's what he said.

Weird how I didn't even think about the two Mosins my son and I have until I read this. Cosmoline all over them when we got them but they weren't in a barn for a couple of decades like those cars were. IIRC they were also wrapped in gauze.

Either way, I don't think it would withstand getting blasted with the salty slush on a regular basis.

 

[WDE]

Cosmoline, aka the red menace, is good for preserving old rifles in static storage conditions. It would not be suitable for a vehicle or frame coating because it has a pretty low melting point (@120*F), so it would melt and drip under a jeep until it finally gets washed away. I've put old surplus rifles (wrapped in rags and a plastic bag) on the dash of an enclosed car parked in the sun on a hot summer day to melt and leach the cosmo out, and it works pretty well..

 

[BretStep]

my ‘05 is damn near rust free (amazing condition for Pa), and I’d like to keep her that way. I always check out what everybody is sayin about rust prevention, and I have yet to see anybody talking about cosmoline. Is anybody using it, and if so how how is it working for you? I have a few cans of Eastwood internal frame coat, and a few cans of Fluid Film. I was planning to use the Eastwood’s, then top it off with Fluid Film, but......... haven’t done it yet, and always open to suggestions.

Back in December of 94. I bought a new 95 ford ranger. After watching my previous 91 ranger literally rot away in 3 years of salty ohio winters, I embarked on a mission to find the best way to prevent corrosion on my new vehicke. After talking with several friends in the body business and just about everyone I could find in the rustproofing field, I settled on using cosmoline for several reasons. It has an 80 year history as a mil-spec corrosion inhibitor that' been used on marine equipment and anything metal that' was intended for long term storage. Cosmoline is a generic term for a parrifine wax suspended in an oil based type of grease. It' self healing for years because it' doesn't harden for a long time. Even after 23 years, it still creeps out of the drain holes in the body. The downside of it, is that' it's just plain messy when you go to work on the vehicle. After a period if time, the film does start to harden when the solvents completely evaporate. It' best used on surfaces that are new and free of any rust to begin with. After about 8 years the frame section near the wheel arches were getting bare as it dried and was bombarded with the wash from the tires. Last year I noticed a section of metal on the bed was bubbling. Cosmoline is a product that you don't have to apply or retreat annuall and it' good pretty much forever in areas such as door panels that aren' exposed to road rash.