I just got this 2005 Civic. It only has 87,000 miles but it lived in the north. It's in excellent condition except for the undercarriage areas. It looks like the steering components have pretty severe rust. I'd like to save this car and keep it till 300,000 miles. Given this amount of rust, what should I change out? What can I do to stop all the existing rust?













Here's the front and rear wheel well. I was going to clean out the rear drum brakes since they whistle when you release the brake. I just wonder if I ought to change out more things instead of just cleaning them out.

 

You don't really have any structural or cosmetic rust worth worrying about. You've got surface rust on some components, but that's entirely normal since they come as raw steel or at best a primer coat. Brakes (drums especially) will always showcase rust in stock form, as they go through extreme heat cycles and the stock coatings are never meant to last longer then the assembly line. You can coat the drums with something designed for brakes, but its not a necessity. Southern cars also have rusty drums.

The only thing in these pictures that I'd truly be worried about, is the compliance bushing in the front lower control arm. Its showing some serious wear, and should be replaced soon. If you want to seal the existing surface rust in the exhaust tunnel and support bracket for the front subframe, you can use a product like POR15 or Chassis Saver after thoroughly cleaning the surface. That'll make the problem go away for as long as you're alive. But, as for the knuckles, lower control arms, crankshaft pulley, oil pan, etc... that's normal for those to have some minor surface rust. It won't be an issue for a VERY long time.