waxoiling inside my sills

[Alpine]

now that the weather is improving i am intending to get this job out of the way.

I have already waxed the area inside the black vent, in the door jam, and hopefully slowed down some rust that I did not previously know about.

However, I want to wax inside the sills and I understand that if i pull the carpet back inside the car that there are some holes into which I can inject wax. Is this correct?

Am I best removing the front seats to do this job. Is that difficult?

Also, my carpet is very tightly jammed under the black strip that runs the length of the door opening, by the crome kick plates. Can i remove this strip or am i best just pulling the carpet from under it.

Finally, will i be able to see inside these holes into the sill? I want to see if my sills are corroded or not.

Sorry for so many questions but I'd like to know exactly what i need to do before i start doing it !!

cheers

 

[PRJ]

Good post - I'd be very interested in any advice on this subject too. The sills/cills (which is correct?) and bottoms of the doors had some restoration carried out a couple of years back and there are now signs of some superficial rust beginning to reappear. This is going to be sorted in a couple of weeks, but I'd then like to waxoil these areas after the work has been done as a preventative measure.

 

[Fen]

For sure you can carefully remove the black plastic strips to get the carpet out. It will be glued to the inner sill as well as trapped under the trim. Do not break the trim as they are expensive. It pulls off straight up and is held on by clips over a seam where the inner and outer sills are spot-welded together. I believe I have seen the holes you're talking about, but I didn't pay them much attention so I don't know what you can see through them.

 

[sawood12]

I've waxoiled the area you can get to through the black vents and also intent to waxoil the rest this year. I was going to get a long hose with a spray attachment at one end and thread it through the vent hole back to the front of the sill then retract the hose while spraying the waxoil. Apparently these hoses with the spray nozzle are easily available and pretty cheap. I think I prefer this option over removing carpet and bungs. I'll probably give it a good couple of passes per side to make sure I get a good covering.

I was also thinking about doing a similar thing to the wings by acessing through the hole for the wing indicator. Are there any drain holes at the bottom of the wing that I would block up with waxoil if I were to do this?

 

[pauljmcnulty]

It's critical to get all the moisture out before waxoyling. Needs a really dry day, and preferably a gentle hairdryer down the hole to get rid of lingering condensation.

 

[Hilux]

It's critical to get all the moisture out before waxoyling

Never ever heard that before and I was into classic cars for 11 years and knew people that waxoyled for a living. It displaces water IIRC but needs to be applied under pressure (not brushed)

FWIW

 

[A5DSR]

There's a gromit in the rear arch on my 2.7, if you remove the wheel you can feed the spray pipe along the sill.
Takes some doing as the pipe is very flexible. Needs doing from the front, but I don't know if there's any access under the front wheel arch covers. haven't tried removing carpets yet, they seem to be glued on as Fen suggests.

Alpine, I have a Waxoil spray attachment you're welcome to borrow.

 

[Diver944]

This is probably something that we all should be looking into now that our cars are getting to 'that age'. I too want to do this later in the year and would appreciate the benefit of anyones experience when they've done it.

Maybe the first of us to do it should take lots of detailed pics and we can write a bit of a 'how to' guide for the forum and Porsche Post

 

[944turboS]

Excellent idea Paul.

I had been thinking we should try & get a profesional allong to the Dyno Day as there is plenty of time available & lots of cars to prompt a group buy.

 

[carlmthompson]

How about a picture of how they should look - this is the passenger side, taken from the back with the end being at the front.

I took the carpets out of mine recently to clean them. Including removing both seats and the centre console, it's an hour 30 job for the lot.

 

[sawood12]

Just sat here racking my brains for the right word but it escapes me at the moment, but Waxoil is one of those substances that drives out water and moisture so you can apply it any time - a bit like WD40. Can't think of the right word for it but I think you all know what I mean.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

quote:

It's critical to get all the moisture out before waxoyling



Never ever heard that before and I was into classic cars for 11 years and knew people that waxoyled for a living. It displaces water IIRC but needs to be applied under pressure (not brushed)

FWIW

ORIGINAL: Hilux

It's critical to get all the moisture out before waxoyling

Never ever heard that before and I was into classic cars for 11 years and knew people that waxoyled for a living. It displaces water IIRC but needs to be applied under pressure (not brushed)

FWIW

Just what I was advised - by a mechanic who reckoned that you seal the moisture in with waxoyl - just as effectively as you seal it out.

As he made a pretty good living from welding up waxoyled classics, he may have had a point....

It can only be good practice to ensure that any residual moisture is removed before any treatment, much as any contamination should be removed before painting. I reckon that a blast down the hloes with a hairdryer can't do any harm!

 

[sawood12]

Waxoil sells itself on driving out moisture since it give the car ongoing protection. Maybe in some cases careless application of the stuff has meant that there are small pin-prick areas that are not covered where moisture can get trapped therefore causing a starting point for corrosion which can then spread under the treated areas.

 

[Guest]

I was using Waxoyl 20+ years ago - is it still really the best you can get ? Also IIRC it goes on a lot better if you stand the tin in a bucket of hot water for 30 mins before you use it. But don't seal the tin up too tight while doing it.

 

[Justin85]

I've not used Waxoyl but have had good results (so to speak) with Mini's and Alfa's over the years with Dinitrol products. I've used CorroMax 3125 (www.frost.co.uk) for a number of years and have just bought some more to treat the 944 with. It's largely similar to Waxoyl in terms of application method - best sprayed on at 4-6 Bar.

Justin.

 

[Alpine]

Thanks for all the advice

I think this is an important issue . My concern is that i do not want to have to pay for the cost of replacing the sills as I understand it is very expensive. My car has costs me enough as it is in mechanical mainenence, never mind more body work maintenence as well. I would like to see whether my sills are rusty inside, and my thinking was to look though these holes from behind the carpet and treat with waxoil accordingly. It is a shame i cannot get a small video camera down the hole to inspect ! (although maybe my mobile on video camera mode would work..........)

I thought my car was completely rust free (it certainly looks it from outside), but there was some rust inside the black vents in the door jam, and if anyone has not yet had a look in there then they should do. The black vents are very easy to remove.

A5DSR - were you behind me on Sunday evening down the A64 into Leeds - there can't be that many G reg red 2.7s in Leeds ? Thanks for the offer of the waxoil spray attachment - i have one already but thanks anyway

 

[sawood12]

ORIGINAL: Alpine

It is a shame i cannot get a small video camera down the hole to inspect !

We use boroscope cameras at work which are cracking pieces of kit. I've been trying to borrow one to take a look at all the various nooks and crannies like the inside of my sills and even poking the scope down the spark plug hole to see the condition of the cylinder bores. However you're talking about £15k for the kit!! I have seen some more basic pieces of kit for use on cars but they are still pretty pricey. Would be a nice piece of kit though.

 

[Diver944]

I have a couple of tiny bullet cameras that I use to take trackday footage. I wonder if they are small enough to fit down there? The only problem I see is getting good illumination - I'll give it a try at the weekend.

 

[NeilW]

I managed to feed a bog standard digital camera through the vent hole in the b-pillar, lower it to the bottom and operate it with my spare hand. The standard flash gave results very similar to Carl's post above, though err..my sills aren't quite so pristine[] even though they look it externally.

I would imagine that after using waxoyl/dinitrol it would be worth repeating so that you can check coverage.

 

[John Sims]

Waxoil is great stuff but be prepared to get it everywhere.

I'd be inclined to run the car onto an old tarp' or dust sheet which can be thrown away afterwards as it goes all over the drive otherwise.

It is far far easier on a nice hot day, when all the panels are nice a warm. The waxoil runs better and flows across the panels better as well. This also reduces the inevitable waxoil dripping out of drain holes weeks after when you park the car in the sunshine.

I agree with Paul that the area of attack should be warm and dry.

As a note of caution, don't get too carried away. Manufacturers put drain holes in sections for a reason and they are sod all use if you choke them up with waxoil. "Ah but the water won't get in" you say. Wrong! Cars are nice metal things and have nice cold outer surfaces. Cold surfaces produce condensation.

Being of an age where many of my original cars weren't as well made as cars today I am well versed in the art of chasing the rust worm, so take heed young man.