seeker333

You may want to consider rustproofing your XC frameset before you build it. There are aerosol products like Boeshield and Weigle Framesaver you just spray in thru whatever hole you can find. These are easy to use, but it's hard to know if you're coating all the inside surfaces because most folks buy only one can, then have to scrimp through the whole job so they don't run out.

I always go the difficult-but-sure-way and use boiled linseed oil (BLO, available in the paint section of your local hardware store), a pistol oiler, tubing and a needle grease fitting and pump an excess into one tube at a time, plug hole, swirl around excessively, then repeat with next tube. The advantage of this method is that BLO is relatively cheap, so you can use an abundance of the material without worrying about wasting it or running out before you finish. Plenty of BLO added to a tube, then swirled around excessively assures complete coating/coverage. Applying liquid to frameset is relatively messy, you should do it outside in a weedy section of the yard, then set frameset aside for about a week for the linseed oil to dry. You can pour it some holes with an extremely small funnel, but a pistol oiler with tubing and needle fitting is much less of a chore/mess. BLO stinks until dry so a garage or shed for drying time is ideal.

BLO has some propensity to spontaneously combust when drying, so don't leave linseed-coated paper lying around afterwards inside your dwelling. I've performed this BLO rustproofing procedure on five steel framesets so far and burnt down only two houses...