Application of new technologies

[sawood12]

Now i'm driving my 944 every day i've been thinking about the feasibility of using new readily available products to help preserve the car over the years of exposure to rain and road salt and would like to know if anyone here has any experience or thoughts on their application. The first is the use of these new expanding foams. Can they be used to fill the cavity in the sills to keep out moisture? Of course you would have to double check that there is no rust starting to form before you applied it but once applied it would keep the moisture out and might even deaden some noise. Maybe you can get foam that has active ingredients, like waxoil, to stave off corrosion?

The other is a vynyl sticky back plastic I saw on Wheeler Dealers last night. Instead of re-spraying a VW van they were converting into a camper van they used large sheets of sticky backed plastic. Certainly looked pretty effective, and was pretty cost effective, but i'm thinking specifically of the application to the front of the car to resists stone chips. I'm sure you could get it to match body colour (might be difficult with metalic colours) so would be invisible but would provide a better barrier to stone chips.

 

[944Turbo]

I wouldn't fill the sills with foam, I think they need the air movement to avoid condensation. Dinitrol (available from Frosts www.frost.co.uk came out top in a group test of protective coatings I read a while back.
With paint protection there are a range of films manufactured by 3m and available through various companies armourfend etc. However whenever I have seen them fitted I always think they look a bit poor and would rather save the money towards a respray of the affected areas myself.
Tony

 

[Paul Holroyd]

Hello Scott,
Hope this helps you you can buy a liquid rubber product from Yorkshire Rubber Linings that you can paint or spray on if you have the equipment. To protect your paint work you can buy a special film off the shelf from a company in the US called Lamin-x

Paul Holroyd
www.porschesport.com

 

[Diver944]

The trouble with the clear plastic protection sheets (like Armourfend) is you really need to have perfect paint work to start with. Any pitting or lumpy imperfection, no matter how minor makes it very difficult to apply the film and can lead to air bubbles or small protuberences in the film.

Our 'ancient' cars [] will have all manner of tiny imperfections unless recently resprayed

 

[sawood12]

The stuff I saw on Wheeler Dealers (not a cornerstone in motoring TV I know but I find it entertaining) was not clear. It was a thin vinyl sheet that is coloured so you can specify a colour to match your car (or you could have Leopard skin print if you prefer) then it is stretched over the body. I realise that any stone chips would need to be filled so you have a smooth even surface but at a fraction of the cost of a front end respray i'm wondering if it would make an effective sacrificial cover on the basis it is not 100% stone chip proof itself.

Regarding the sills I thought the venting in the sills was to dry out any moisture that entered into the sills to prevent corrosion and are not part of the cabin ventilation system(?). So filling with foam would prevent moisture from getting in there in the first place.

It's only a thought at the end of the day. I'm planning to give the inside of my sills a good coating of Waxoil anyway which i.m sure will provide more than enough protection.

 

[Fen]

I would imagine foam would trap moisture if anything. I saw Wheeler Dealers too and I think you'd struggle to get the stuff to match your car. Far better to stick with clear film like Armourfend if you want to go down that route but as Paul says you need perfect paint underneath first.

 

[Hilux]

a good coating of Waxoil

I used to be into classic cars (near concours Rover P5B Coupe sadly missed) and without doubt the industry recommended a rust proofer/converter followed by Waxoyl.

I have waxoyled all my cars from the rover to 3 hiluxes and a landcruiser and I wont say I had no rust but what I had was minimal (lack of re-application I believe)

My little 1985 Suzuki SJ410 offroader has some rust but was waxoyled from new and still has all the original paint panels sills etc etc and they normally dissolved so quick in the English winters you would have thought that they were made of sugar []

 

[944Turbo]

I did actually try filling a section of a mini with that expanding foam, it came out very sodden (despite not absorbing water itself) and there being no obvious water ingress point.
The grills in the rear of the door and the plastic bit into the rear quarter and the holes around the rear window are all part of the "keep the metalwork dry" ventilation and as far as I am aware are not connected to the cabin ventillation system. Cold metal in damp air causes condensation, and moisture will find its way around the foam. However its your car if you fancy it give it a go []
Tony