very slight rust on sills

[Paul Alexander]

hi everyone.

i picked up my car yesterday from unit4vehicles at burton on trent, on what must have been the rainiest day of the year so far. driving back, i noticed water coming in, in the passenger footwell.

so, this morning, i've removed the seat and carpet and foam underlay and found this:

rust 1.jpg

rust 2.jpg

rust 3.jpg

it's only surface rust, but i would rather treat this right, the first time. i've been looking at this product:

http://www.frost.co.uk/por15-stop-rust- ... ilver.html

has anyone used this stuff before, and is it any good? or are there other products that people have used and could recommend?

once the correct treatment has been done, i will do the drivers side as well, and fit the closed cell foam underlay that's been recommended on here in the past.

oh, and once the interior treatment is done, what should i use for the exterior, around the front of the sill etc?

[Elanlover]

Por15 is reportedly one of the best coatings for rusty surfaces. I'd still do a thorough prep before applying but it seems to produce outstanding results.

[epipete]

Everything you ever wanted to know I'd start at the beginning and speed read your way through.

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=17298&p=306417&hilit=Outriggers#p306417

Yours looks quite benign, and so don't let this alarm you overly - forewarned is forearmed

[Tuga2112]

I never done this thing of takig out the carpets to check undernearth, not sure if what keeps me from doing it is the fear or not being able to put the carpets back right, or the fear of finding out what lies beneath....

any tips on that subject ?

[petezipp]

doesn't look too bad at the moment but yes be wise.
This must be the worst part of our cars in the long term.
I put a camera through the large holes to get pictures of the condition of the strengtheners .
They were ok so I sprayed with rust preventive, & delt with the surface rust on the frame.
The ideal is to prevent water ingress but that has proved very difficult to achieve.
Good luck
peter

[cliff]

I never done this thing of taking out the carpets to check underneath, not sure if what keeps me from doing it is the fear or not being able to put the carpets back right, or the fear of finding out what lies beneath....

any tips on that subject ?

As Epipete says, read through the thread. Once the seats are out (you might as well fit better ones ) , it is not hard to remove the carpets. remove the seat belt bolt and you are pretty much there.

What you do with what you find is up to you, for Pete, they don't look bad. Clean treat and use the product of your choice and you should be ok. I know my outriggers are not in the best shape.

viewtopic.php?f=79&t=19040

However, I know my jacking points are good and this will be the winter project, pretty much the last step in getting my car how I want it. Having owned a couple of Scimitars, I am not worried about having to to replace metal reinforcement structure.

[epipete]

What's interesting here is that in Paul's photos the outrigger is sprayed a Gray colour and this, with what appears to be a seam, suggests that this has been subject to an earlier attempt at repair.

Nevertheless, it's not bad but need to be sorted soonest, Lightly rub it down, apply POR15 where you can see and Dimitrol where you can't. Stick a camera in the hole and have a look at the bracket. Then get rid of the old foam and replace with closed cell. Bingo, job done.

Tuga, the front is a known process and nothing to fear, it is the rears that worry me more!

[Artaban]

Tuga,
Easy enough to take the carpets out but only if the seat mounting bolts come undone. Two of mine were an absolute pig and one in particular took PNM 3 hours to get out. I replaced with high tensile stainless steel from Westfield Fasteners and lots of copperslip.....never again. However checking the outriggers and replacing with closed cell foam is one of those must do's if you are going to keep the car for any length of time.
Andy

[Paul Alexander]

thanks for the comments guys. i've rubbed it all down today, and hoovered out all the mess (god, i hope my wife doesn't read this ). then i used a degreaser to start preparing the areas.

What's interesting here is that in Paul's photos the outrigger is sprayed a Gray colour and this, with what appears to be a seam, suggests that this has been subject to an earlier attempt at repair.

Nevertheless, it's not bad but need to be sorted soonest, Lightly rub it down, apply POR15 where you can see and Dimitrol where you can't. Stick a camera in the hole and have a look at the bracket. Then get rid of the old foam and replace with closed cell. Bingo, job done.

Tuga, the front is a known process and nothing to fear, it is the rears that worry me more!

hi pete, received my closed cell foam today - i've seen it recommended many a time on here. tomorrow i will wash off the degreaser, dry out and apply POR15 metal prep. once thats done, it's on with the POR15 paint, then the fitting of the new insulation. oh, and not forgetting plenty of dinitrol.

and then, it's the drivers side to check out.

Tuga, don't be afraid of this particular job. this is the first time i've worked on a car since my old mark two escort back in '85. i was lucky though, the seat bolts came out very easily (no rust or seizing). then removed the seat belt anchor bolt, rear speaker box and carpet. took less than an hour.

[epipete]

thanks for the comments guys. i've rubbed it all down today, and hoovered out all the mess (god, i hope my wife doesn't read this ). then i used a degreaser to start preparing the areas.

Your wife need not fear the use of the Vacumn cleaner, it's when you use the dishwasher to prep all the greasy engine bits she'll need to be concerned! There are folks on here who have used their oven to cure painted items . Oh, and occasionally I think discretion with the monthly bank statements is called for


Tuga, don't be afraid of this particular job. this is the first time i've worked on a car since my old mark two escort back in '85. i was lucky though, the seat bolts came out very easily (no rust or seizing). then removed the seat belt anchor bolt, rear speaker box and carpet. took less than an hour.

Aye, only an hour cus yours isn't too rusty, Tuga's could take all day .

[Paul Alexander]

well, i've rubbed all the rust down to bare metal, de-greased and metal prepped it, then 2 coats of POR15. also used dinitrol in the cavities etc, and cut closed cell foam to size for floor and sill side. will fit in place tomorrow, fit carpet and seat, and use copperslip on seat bolts.

haven't worked on a car this much for 30 years, but i can't believe how satisfying it feels.

[petezipp]

Looks a good job . nice
Just a thought have you checked the drain holes under sill ( its in the manual )
Unless you have a fully watertight ( He He ) car or live in california I'm sure wet will get in the floor area.
Has anyone looked at holes in the floor to let water out?
would be doggy not to make matters worse,,
but old cars had bungs to drain out
peter The ex Triumph boy

[dapinky]

Has anyone looked at holes in the floor to let water out?

I've drilled a few 6mm holes in stategic locations to allow any water to drain out - i'm fairly sure that more will get out from the holes than will get in from road splatter.

[Paul Alexander]

Looks a good job . nice
Just a thought have you checked the drain holes under sill ( its in the manual )
Unless you have a fully watertight ( He He ) car or live in california I'm sure wet will get in the floor area.
Has anyone looked at holes in the floor to let water out?
would be doggy not to make matters worse,,
but old cars had bungs to drain out
peter The ex Triumph boy

hi pete,

once i'd put it all back together, i tested it to see if that side was now watertight. i poured a cup of water down the side of the car (with door open) so the water ran down the inner bodywork, over the door hinges and so on. good news - no water came through.

so i then poured another cup of water down from the bottom edge of the windscreen on the same side. i looked and had a few drops of water coming in behind the fusebox in the footwell, and in front of the carpet. bugger, but after inspection, i noticed a very small hole in the sealant on the bulkhead below the windscreen.
i sealed it with a black sealant from ebay and this cured it. YAY, no more water ingress in the passenger side. i didn't take a photo of the hole but will add a picture tonight to show where the hole was - this may help others out when seeking where the chuff water gets in, when it's not obvious.

dave, the holes you drilled in yours, was it according to the bulletin, or did you just use your own judgement. i've seen the bulletin and may also do this.

[dapinky]

Paul,

I just guessed (probably more accurate a statement than claiming to have used judgement!)....

.... basically, because my driveway is on a slope & I park uphill on it, any water collects at the lowest point in the recessed parts of the floorpan (and boot floor)....

As such, I just drilled a 6mm hole through the floor area at the lowest points so any collected water can escape.

Because I have closed-cell foam in place of the original underfelt, water runs through to the lowest area without soaking into the underfelt and carpet, and can now escape.