CAT 3: Rust and Paint Protection Install
 

BACKGROUND

Thought this may be of interest for owners where they salt roads in winter.

I was keen to keep my BRZ looking good for as long as possible, so in addition to Opticoat I wanted to install a CAT 3.

Family members have had earlier versions of the CAT system installed and have noted it's effect on slowing down oxidation of the paint.

The CAT 3 is designed to greatly slow down oxidation of the metal components, (rust) paint oxidation is an extra.

I have had a cheaper alternative installed on a Toyota 4WD and it has rusted away. Lesson learnt!

Link http://www.roemarketing.com.au/

INSTALL

The instructions are very simple and easy to follow. I chose to install the unit up behind the battery as it would be both cooler and out of the way. Also this was close to the main wiring loom going through the firewall. LHD setup may be different.

So, pulled the battery out and the plastic battery tray :(

RUST!

Ok, nothing serious, although glad I found it

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1367305600

Seems small bits of grit get trapped between the tray and the body. I am speculating that these get ground into the paint by the ever so slight movement of the battery.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1367305645

Sanded it back a bit, applied rust converter, primed and painted with a white paint I had left over from an old Holden.

Then "modded" the underside of the tray to minimise the risk of it happening again.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1367306345

Mounted the CAT3 unit which needs to be screwed into the body so as to ground.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1367306606

Then comes the task of routing the wires to the 2 pads. This was a bit of a pain and I did it over a couple of weeks when I had an hour to spare.

Thanks to the excellent posts on trim removal, I won't duplicate it here.

The most difficult part was threading one of the pad wires through the firewall grommet. The connector was cut off and the wire was eventually pushed through taped to a wooden skewer. Be careful not to skewer any cabling!

Some additional cable was purchased so I could locate one of the pads in the boot.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1367307324

This location wasn't ideal as I had to crush the underside of the foam packing located on top. Once a pad is on you don't want to remove it.

The other pad I located on the strut tower furthest from the battery and ran the cable attached to the main wiring loom running behind the brake booster.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1367307686

Power cable was connected directly to the battery and the earth to the earth on the near strut tower.

Cables were then shortened, soldered, heat shrink'ed and taped to the nearest wiring loom.

CAT3 connector was cable tied to the wiring below the unit.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1367307718

All done.

Light flashes green to say it's working.

Won't drain the battery as unit will switch off if required.

These things are amazing, I have seen a CAT turn a rusty wheel well from brown and powdery to a hard black surface in a few months.

I purchased 2 delivered for $660 AUD (1 for another car)

Hope this helps

I'm a bit green when it comes to posting photos!

If one of the mods could fix the photos it would be appreciated.