Rust Prevention

[PJS917]

As erosion of our cars seems to becoming more prevalent, and having previously spent a copious amount of money putting new sills on a previous 44S2 I was wondering has anyone any tips on rust prevention. I am considering wax oiling the inner sills on my current car, but am a little concerned about ensuring the drain holes are kept free flowing. Any help or advice will be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Judging by the results of the corrosion survey, I'd treat the cills. Soon....[8|]

Also, check and treat if necessary the underseal around the rear suspension, as there are a lot of mot failures here. Strangely among later cars. The bottoms of all four wings are also prone to damage so take the liners out and treat any areas of damaged underseal. As always with corrosion it's a simple, economical repair when starting but a real nightmare if ignored.

One recommendation is to run a hairdryer, on low setting, down the hole in the door pillar. This drives out any moisture before the waxoyl goes in. Please tell me if this is wrong......[&:]

 

[jr2015]

Like the hairdryer idea!, I dilute the Waxoyl with white spirit and squirt it inside the sills after removing the plastic vents with the sort of atomizer they sell in garden centres,It`s kept the rust away on mine.
jr.

 

[PJS917]

Paul,

I thought about the hairdrier idea, but I have decided to be lazy and let the car dry over the next couple of weeks
in the garage, then I shall waxoil away.

Thanks

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Even better, take the car for a drive. The black vents flow air through the cills whilst moving, one of the reasons a 944 doesn't enjoy being sat in the rain for long periods without use.....like mine []

I would hazard a guess that the moisture in the cills, and in the air in the garage, would keep condensing where it is, and not evaporate away totally? No doubt a scientologist will put me right!

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

No doubt a scientologist will put me right!

Why would Tom Cruise or John Travolta bother with our little 944 forum? [&:]

 

[sawood12]

There should be no need to have to wait for the sills to dry out before applying Waxoil, you should be able to apply to a wet surface and it will drive out the moisture - it's the whole point with the stuff, other than that you may as well just spray zinc oxide pain or some similar product in there. It is designed to be sprayed into nooks and crannies where moisture gathers.

Given that the number one theory about the increased risk of corrosion with turbo's and S2's i've recently been considering removing the daft under sill/wing trims to ensure the drain holes are completely clear of any obstruction and there is nothing trapping moisture. Anyone done this? What would the car look like asthetically?

 

[PJS917]

I looked at an S2 that had all the plastic trims removed and it did not look right. I checked the drain
holes are all free flowing which they are, I will fill the holes, waxoil then unblock the vents and ensure
the car can breath.

As it stands in the garage the door vents are out and the doors ajar ensuring maximum airflow until
it drys out.

 

[sawood12]

I have a theory about rust prevention which is you should drive as much as possible, car even in wet weather. This is based on the fact the sills act as part of the car's ventilation system and when the car is moving it has air flowing through it, so if you drive the car regularly then the moving air will assist in drying out any moisture. Even a car that is left in a garage can develop moisture in the sills through condensation so if you don't drive the car regularly then this moisture never gets a chance to dry out. There is a guy at work with an S2 cab. He drives it day in, day out, all weathers and all seasons - and he's not exactly a fan of the bucket, sponge and car shampoo, I don't think i've ever seen it clean. On the face of it it's one of the tattiest examples of an S2 cab i've ever seen, but it has no signs of rust on the bottom of his wings and sills at all. I'm convinced this is because he drives it so much it keeps his knooks and crannies dry.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I have a theory about rust prevention which is you should drive as much as possible, car even in wet weather.

Sorry, my neighbour's Lux has more rust than most and it's a 200K miles daily driver.

I suppose that there is a possible reason to challenge a speeding fine if you were genuinely trying to increase the airflow through the car's structure to prevent dangerous corrosion setting in......[8|]

 

[Neil Haughey]

I agree in that my car developed some rust whilst sat in a garage over winter. Since then it has got only very slightly worse BTA I either painted external exposed areas with a touch up pen or sprayed Waxoyl in the car.

 

[Pastry]

someone should really sticky a sill guide as its asked about twice a month. []

dynax s50 comes with a flexible lance and a diffuser tip. you can spray from the panel in the door frame or the bungs under the carpet (inner sill) or feed it through drain holes. you can remove the diffuser tip with pliers for a more direct spray and to get into the tight bits in front of the rear arch.

Make sure the drain holes dont get blocked in the process. an LED torch helps or you can use the LED flash off a mobile phone. mobile is also handy for taking photos.

in my experience other rust spots are around the rear number plate lights, underneath the rear hatch seal, around the windscren seal and under the main rear lights. I had some rust spots from a poorly fitted number plate. ive also heard the rear arch wells in the boot can rust. my present concern is under the front wings but haven't got round to taking them off for a proper look.

edit; s2/turbo owners seem to get the bottoms of the front wings rotting.

 

[Copperman05]

If I were you and spot rust areas that you can access like the rear of the wheel arches you might want to nip the rust in the bud if its not too bad (before bodyshop work is needed) . To do this you need to take the rusted area back to bare metal with a dremmel tool or similar, paint with a rust eater like Bilt Hambers Hydrate 80 then top with a hard paint and finish with a underseal or stoneguard depending on the location of the rust patch. Your probably never going to stop rust 100% but the idea is to slow it down considerably and not let it go on unchecked. Then you should avoid nasty surprises when you find you've left it too late. But it looks like your doing the right thing by dealing with it now.

If you cant access the rusty area (like inside the inner sills) then application of a good wax like Dynax S50 should again slow the rust process down...

Edd

 

[Super_Marv]

I bought a can of Dynax Underbody wax protection and sprayed underneath the sills too. There was some surface corrosion around the jacking points and towards the back, near the wheel arches. I cleaned it all up really well then applied the underbody wax.

I too used the Tectyl ML in my sill cavities - it's very good stuff. Make sure when you spray it into your sills, you have a few layers of newspaper on the floor to catch any that runs out of the drain holes, if you're doing the job in your garage. It's rather runny, so you should find that it doesn't block drain holes.

I'm starting to wonder if it is worth taking the vent covers off the doors and spraying some in the cavity there. I haven't heard that is an area vulnerable to rusting though? I'm also thinking of spraying some into the windscreen frame, underneath the rubbers.

Have a look to see if there's any corrosion around the fuse box or the area on the opposite side, as rainwater filtered down through this area and if one of the drains is blocked, it can create a bit of a lake!