should I use my car in the rain?

[Alpine]

just spent nearly all day giving my car a good clean, having used it every day for the last 2 weeks.

I noticed that there was some spots of rust which weren't there 2 weeks ago, mainly round the bottom of each wheel arch. Nothin that bad just surface rust which i managed to polish away but if it were left it would probably get pretty bad.

the guy that had the car before me (i've only been running the car for 3-4 weeks) never ran it in the rain, and maybe thats why its in such good condition.

what i'm thinking is, do i get the bus to work when its raining and leave it in the garage (but public transport is so painful and i can park for free), or drive it regardless of the weather??

What do you think?

 

[Yoda]

Have a guess []

 

[jr2015]

I`ve run a 1983 model as daily tranport for the last 12 years in all weathers and never seen any rust, but I did waxoyl the nether regions soon after I bought it. Has your car had an adventure that its previous owner hasn`t told you about? Porsches don`t generally rust.I would recommend painting Waxoyl on the offending areas if they are not in view as it works.
jr.

 

[Fen]

I suspect it was in such good condition because the previous owner cleaned the rust staining off with T-Cut or similar...

Use it every day, keep the moisture traps in the bottom of the wings clean, paint in behind with Hammerite and get the arch bottoms properly stripped and painted as soon as you can - many many '44's are like this now and it isn't going to disintegrate any time soon but being white you notice it really quickly. You should get it fixed before it gets too bad though or you'll need to replace the wings. I doubt leaving it in the garage would help to be honest, unless you have a temperature and humidity controlled one of course.

 

[Diver944]

Yes use it every day [8D]

The galvanising is good but after 15 years wont stop it forever in those areas that get peppered with road grit and moisture. I needed a new wing last year and all the breakers said ALL their second hand wings were going in that area. A new galvanised wing from Porsche was £380, a pattern one from other suppliers was £200.

The cills and arches are a haven for mud and damp material so its best to hose them out once in a while.

 

[Helen Goff]

as above..


seal it best you can the get it out and enjoy it. these cars are made to be driven.[8D]

 

[John Sims]

Years ago, when I had a company car, one of the car holders used to look after his car with an enthusiasm to the point of obsession. You would think that this was a good thing but the company mechanic used to feel that he loved his cars to death, in so far as too much washing, cleaning and polishing can be detrimental.

Should you use your car in the rain? Well obviously it would be nice if you could avoid it but it is perhaps better to use the car than let it deteriorate in the garage through lack of use. I don't see rain as being too much of an issue it's salty goo you need to avoid. If anything a run out in the rain in the summer, when the roads are clean and the salt has long been washed away, may help to clean out the wheel arches etc.

 

[sawood12]

When getting paintwork done obviously anything abrasive enought to take off the paint will also take off the zinc galvanising layer. Is there any way of locally galvanising areas that get re-sprayed e.g. stone chips?

I've seen plenty of 911's that are a good 5yrs or so older than my 1987 944 which are used practically everyday and they have no noticable rust or corrosion so galvanised body shells should be good for at least 20yrs providing you avoid any prangs.

 

[Guest]

I had this problem on my '88 951S for a few years. As noted it is the sand blasting off the wheels that is a major problem. Especially if you are running fat rubber.

Here in the States we have a product by Naval Jelly that chemically converts the rust to some sort of black oxide. Used on ships so you must have a similar product in the UK. Apply that and then paint.

Finally, to stop the sand blasting, I applied silicone caulk along the rear leading edge of the fender wells. You can tell where you need to apply from the previous damage. Try and get 100% pure silicone and match color as best you can. My car is black so that was easy but if you have a hard to match color go with clear. You can't tell the silicone is there unless you get down on your hands and knees. This stopped the problem dead in its tracks.

 

[usermjg]

use it or lose it [] this is a general rule of thumb for me and it seems to work, polish it lots use it lots love it lots and all will be well with the world. I guessing if you leave the car even in a garage it will still go rusty over time and just think of all the fun you could be having, it's strange to me, if you buy a big metal box which is expensive in the first place and expensive to run in the second and has been designed to be quite tough,and then not to use it []

Marc

 

[John Sims]

polish it lots

[] NO! Don't polish it lots or you will go through the paint. Wax it lots, and lots, and lots but only polish it once a year or less.

 

[carlmthompson]

There's stuff you can buy called "jenolite" (might have spelled that wrong!) It doesn't cost very much.

Basically chemically reacts with the rust to make it inert. You just lop it straight ontop of the rust (you sand off the lose surface rust first), then leave it a couple of hours and paint straight ontop.

Did this on the bottom of my front wings (stone chips had worn away the paint), and then coated them in a few coats of Smoothrite. Will probably last longer than the rest of the car now [].

 

[John Sims]

There are others from memory such as tRustan and Curerust which send the rust black or bluey black - they are great on a black car [] but can stain the paint on other colours ("colors" for IceShark []). If I remember correctly you need to wipe off any chemical that goes over the paint with meths to avoid staining. It's great on black cars for places like the battery tray when you can generaly flood the area with fluid and not worry too much about and residue.

 

[chrisr]

Cars are meant to be driven thats why they have wheels and an engine and the thought of not driving it in the rain IMO makes little sense. As above certain parts of any car need more maintenance over the poor weather conditions but the smile on your face is far better than sitting on public transport with your car in a garage surely .

 

[Alpine]

ORIGINAL: Fen

I suspect it was in such good condition because the previous owner cleaned the rust staining off with T-Cut or similar...

....................You should get it fixed before it gets too bad though or you'll need to replace the wings. ...........

thanks for all you guidance - i think using it must be the way forward ! []

Fen - i think you are right in that the previous owner has poorly painted them up (on the rear arches) and now i'm using it its rusting.

on one of the front arches the paint has split and it must be holding moisture in there

if i decide to get them professionally sprayed up should i use a porsche specialist (as with servicing) or can any decent body shop do this sort of work ?

 

[Fen]

Just a decent bodyshop. Ask around locally and find one with a good reputation. At the end of the day paint is paint whether it's on a Lada or a Roller and with bodyshops you don't necessarily get what you pay for - some cheaper shops are also the better ones.

If you take it to a Porsche Approved one then (I think you still) get a lifetime guarantee but I expect they will insist you replace the wings

 

[uktrucks]

Fen
Sorry to hijack this thread, I notice the 944 Cab has dissapeared from your signature ? Is it gone to a new owner for it's next 200,000 miles ?

Allan

 

[Fen]

It has indeed Allan, it's gone to live near Manchester in fact, although I only got it to just under 192,000. The new owner said that its mileage accrual would drop drastically from now on, so I guess it's a well-earned retirement for an elderly lady who has worked hard all her life. I hope she can cope with an easy life.

You'll also note it's been replaced by a 306 GTI. The reasoning behind that being that I'm hoping to get a car allowance from work at some point this year so I decided to buy something cheap to keep me going until that sorts itself out and concentrate any spending on the Turbo. Also the 306 is an absolute scream to drive, plenty quick enough for everyday and from the few I drove a lot better built than people give credit for. If I do get a car allowance it's pretty generous but it has a prerequisite that the car must be under 4 years old and (I think) have 4 doors and 4 seats (boo). Maybe an RS4 will fit the bill when the time comes.

 

[TTM]

I hate driving the S2 in the rain, not only because it has no LSD but also because it ALWAYS starts raining when I leave the car wash.

 

[sawood12]

Don't know if i'm breaking a cardinal rule by suggesting this, but what are peoples opinions about fitting 968 sill covers to protect the 944 sills against the worst of the manky water and debri thrown up by the front wheels?

I've seen a few on eBay recently that went for about the £150 mark (non original parts).