More paranoia for you here

I stripped out the interior today for it's pre winter clean out and to sort out an annoying squeek from the rear quater panel.
As usual a 1 hour job on the coupe turned into a 5 hour job. I removed the rear quater cards and got the torch out for a good look around to find that squeek. What I found at the bottom of the B pillar was the dreaded tin worm had made a nest and had started eating away at the metal behind the seat belt housing.

Lucky it was only surface rust but another year and it would be a major problem.

So out came the wire brush, wet & dry paper and the rust converting paste. A few hours later and it was all back to metal again and painted over.

My coupe is 10 years old, just turned 90K miles and I would say it's well looked after. Maybe they built the B pilar on a Friday and forgot to treat it or maybe it's another point of concern for our ageing cars ?

It won't be easily spotted on an MOT but structurally it will massively weaken the body having that area corroded

Next time your in that area of the car it might be worth a quick look around with a good torch or even poke your fingers down there to feel if it's starting to go.

Cheers, will be on the case with that one in morning!

thanks for that, i've been all over my car over the last few weeks but didn't check that area.
will now though

Look a bit like this one Jimbo?




That was caused by the numpty previous owner ignoring the Pininfarina badge hanging loose, allowing any water to enter easily.

The area was thoroughly wire brushed, difficult given the tight access, and, like yourself, rust convertor, primer, then Dinitrol.

It will be checked again next year to ensure the rot has been stopped though.....

my last 16vt one didn't have any signs of rust on the car even in that place, N63 XTF if anyone has seen it about.
the car looked brand new when i sold it about 5/6 years ago

Yup that's the same as what I found behind my side badges recently when fitting my LE trim . I'm planning on doing some major rust converting/proofing before the winter sets in .

Baz

Not to that extent Stan, there was a little under the pinin badge, the majority was round the corner (far right of your picture) so even worse for access

In your picture there is a hole central in the picture, mine has a rubber bung in it ! That could be where quite a bit of water is getting in ?

I now dread to look behind there, needs must I suppose , another night of no sleep.

Baz the statement on your signature the first part of recovery is admitting the problem

I looked behind there on my 14year old car when I removed all the trim in August.

Both sides were OK but everything was sprayed with Dinitrol anyway.

The smell lingers somewhat!

Maybe the older coupe shells have better build quality, I'm sure I recall reading the production line moved later on in production, they probably didn't take the rust preventing spray machine with them ?

Lol@Sparky .

When I checked my floorpan too I found that the areas around the little half circle drain vents on the ridges had started to rust and were a bit crumbly . I think the underseal had been blocking them and preventing any water from draining away. Needless to say I went around all the drain channels and opened them up slightly and also blew out all the drain holes on the sills with an airline to make sure they were clear.

Baz

Planning on washing the coupe tomorrow and cleaning & feeding the leather. I'll have a look down there while I'm at it, though I'm almost afraid to look in case all is not well!

Hmm had better check this out.

deffo something i'll be checking out when i install my speakers in the back!

where's the ostrich smiley?

I'll set aside a day for rust checking/ curing/ treating/ preventing soon.

I can see my Coop gaining a few kilos with all the waxoyl that's gonna be hitting it soon.

Would the Dinitrol 900 RC rust converter and their cavity waxoyl stuff be good enough as they seem reasonably priced and easy enough to get hold of?

Baz

I use Dinitrol Baz, have done for years on many cars and can thoroughly recommend it. Far superior to Waxoyl.

Cheers Stan ,I better stock up with some now .

Baz

Rust like this can also be down in a similar section below the seat belt housing mechanism section where you can see into the sills........ gulp!

I think anyone who wants to make a true time wrapped car would need to inspect(dismantle) a lot of coops to find one that was rust free in these problem spots to be worth considering......outside condition is not a clear indicator.....

On the Eper you can see the different level of galvanisation the coop recieved and true to the diagram the spots that recieved less do rot...

Join the 124 coupe club

Checked today, i too will be needing to do some work:

Why's there an old teabag in the first picture?

I think you mean why isnt there and old teabag in the SECOND picture

Isn't that the backing of the sound deadening sheet with the black thing being the bitumin bit thats collapsed. Most would be hard like biscuit now.

Truffle.. although yours shows sign of water coming in before, it actually doesn't look too bad!

Tis indeed.

The backing sheet from the other side just fell out and was completely rock solid. I have a nice roll of flashing tape here though and plan to make good use of it.

My to-do list for tomorrow:

Wire brush the rust until clear.
Apply sealant to the two pininfarina badge clip points.
Liberal use of galvanising spray inside the (previously rusty) panels.

Day after:

Flashtaping, and reassembly.

If using a silicon sealant, ensure that it is a "neutral cure" and not an "acid cure".

Saw a VW Kombi in a panel shop where a windscreen had been sealed with an "acid cure" one. Had lots of holes to be repaired around the screen due to this oversight.

While i wait for some rust beater to arrive i've been getting ready to soundproof other areas of the car (i have the carpet out at the moment).

The flashing tape i have comes with a pot of 'primer' which absolutely stinks. My car is going to smell of a mixture of fish and shit (and no the censored word there isnt 'chips') for a little while i fear.

Wel now there's quite an interesting set of aromas working in the car at the moment, what with the flashing tape primer and now the rust remover.

There we go. From this:



To this:



Much better, and tomorrow i'll be able to carry on with what i was supposed to be doing!