Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

It's a shame that relatively few old cars see road use during winter in the UK, due to all the road grit/salt that's spread everywhere. Are there any viable alternatives out there to keeping roads ice-free, without forcing us to drive through such a corrosive soup?

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[Bitumen Boy]

The short answer is no, Rick. Other chemicals that will melt ice are either more dangerous than ordinary salt or prohibitively expensive. The only alternative left then is to spread abrasive materials which tend to block the drains and won't really work very well when it's just a bit frosty.

Salt is used for deicing roads in much the same way that bitumen is used as a binder - not because it's particularly good for the job but because there's not really anything better. As so often the least worst option becomes the default...

[lowdrag]

Not something I would necessarily recommend but used when I had several old saloons, such as the MK VIII, was to take it to a car wash every spring. I do it every year with the moderns. One that had the high pressure underside jets, to get the salt out. It worked a treat. If you have access to a hoist and a hot water pressure wash, you're home and dry, but not many of us have sadly.

[ukdave2002]

I used to visit various coal mines when I was a field engineer; as the sites were naturally dirty, some of them had a free to use vehicle wash, part of which would jet wash the entire underside of the vehicle

Dave

[peter scott]

I used to get my modern steam cleaned each spring at a place that provided that service for lorry MOTs but that was a few decades ago before corrosion ceased to be the death knell of moderns.

Peter
_________________
http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[alastairq]

Moderns [anything made after the turn of the century?]...do, however, have a plethora of plastic panels that cover essential steel parts.....and which effectively hide the evidence of corrosion.....to the extent that an MoT tester cannot detect it until it has become severe enough to be visible at the extremities.

For example, jaguar X-types? WHich have plastic sill covers....and frequently end up having entire sills replaced due to corrosion, under the covers?

Or my suzuki grand vitara[mk1]...which has similar sill covers....bought with a nearly fresh MoT in place, I decided to investigate the inner sills as they were obviously visible, and close to the body mounts [30 cm rule]....on removing the outer sill covers, I was confronted with non-existent [for the most part] outer sills.......My choice was to either patch the outer sills [having sorted the inners, which were now visible and accessible].....with what I had...heavier gauge steel.....or spend a fortune on factory [or pattern] sill replacement panels.....I did the former...I should really have got hold of some heavy gauge box section instead...after all, they would be covered by the plastic covers,for appearance sake]....since the vehicle has a stout[and solid] chassis, I think that by patching, the strength that was needed to hold the doors apart was re-instated.

Hence my aversion to anything on wheels made this century!!!

Why is it so hard to find a pressure washer gun with an end nozzle bent up through 90 degrees?

At my last 'owned' abode, I rigged up a ground spray bar which could be driven over....when the tap was opened, reasonable jets of fresh water squirted upwards, and a vehicle could be slowly driven over, and any salts washed off....when washing off salt, it is not a good idea to use a pressure washer..which can force salts further into cavities, instead of diluting and flooding it out.
Of course, nowadays one has to have proper drainages and concrete areas, so the salts don't get into the groundwater.....but I ignored all that!

An alternative is to find a rod which habitually has a deep depp puddle...and periodically drive through it slowly?

The biggest enemy I think, isn't so much the salt, as the accompanying grit.

On the other hand......gritting and salting in wintertime is a fine source of income for a pensioner!

Our local authority is often crying out for gritter drivers...since it is a 24 hour job at times...or even, an on-call, part-time job, younger LGV drivers don't find it appealing...but for an oldie, who happens to have [or can re-claim] their Cat C+E lgv licence category....it is a good source of income, to support ones limited pension.
I suspect a good percentage of our LA gritter drivers also receive State pension??
_________________
Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
----------------------------------------------
Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[Rick]

I wish driving around in the salt didn't bug me so much. But I know, even if I bought a shabby and dishevelled - but reliable - oldie to bomb around in, I'd still be worrying about the extra rust that I'd be inflicting upon it

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[Ray White]

I believe in Paris they don't use grit but spray brine onto the road surface. I don't suppose it is any kinder to vehicles but at least they don't get grit in everywhere.

[mikeC]

[alastairq]

[Clactonguy]

Japan has almost same size and amount of traffic as Uk but never uses salt despite ice on roads! maybe we ought to find out why? I don't use my historic car in winter as no fun on ice or snow plus cant see point of getting something I want to keep corrosion free wet and muddy when I have a perfectly good modern car with anti skid etc . bit like having right tools for the job. a 45 year old car is not generally up to standards a modern car has as often basic level. I don't even use water when washing my car but use waterless cleaners and wax . thus hopefully keeping it for generations to come to enjoy in summers on country roads ( yes it can handle motorways but no real joy driving on them). Bigger worry at moment is clamp down on emissions starting and ethanol fuels . day may well come when we have to buy in special containers of purpose made fuel to run them! limited use allowed and essentially like steam traction engines will become mostly impractical.

[alastairq]

It's all about expectations.
I have no issues whatsoever driving my oldies around whatever the weather.....
Moderns don't have the monopoly when it comes to dealing with bad weather [all the technology does, is alleviate the driver from having to exercise good old fashioned driving skills]

The two downsides I find when driving in adverse weather is, the fact that progress becomes delayed due to the inabilities of moderns to make progress [or their drivers, as well?]....and the risks of sustaining damage....because of the inabilities of moderns & their drivers.

At one time I used to drive buses. At that time, the bus drivers did their best to maintain the services..regardless. We actually ignored [or were unaware of?] the 'bigger picture''..............These days[past 20 years or more since I worked on buses]....at the fist sign of snow or ice, teh buses are pulled off the roads. Not because of any inabilities on the part of the drivers [although that may well be a factor these days?]...but because..if a car hits a bus because of the snow or ice..then that bus may well be off the road for several days or more, being repaired.
Downtime has to be kept to a minimum these days....something auldfahrt bus drivers didn't really think about, perhaps?
_________________
Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
----------------------------------------------
Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[Ray White]

[alastairq]

[Ray White]