Pedro'74

Hey Guys,

I bought me a metal car for daily commute, and I notice that some rust has already found its way to the bottom of one of the doors. Is there anything I can do to stop/inhibit rust? I'd hate to see my little econobox becoming a rust bucket, like a big percentage of the cars I see around here.... Please tell me what you've done, and what has worked for you.

Thanks in advance!

-Pedro

Paul L

Pedro,
Must cars in Canada are "rust-proofed" which is a misnomer as they are actually given rust "protection." That is for winter salt conditions. Check that warranty certificate carefully. GM will not warranty external rust from stone chips and the like as that is a "wear" item. But that is beside the point in terms of your question.

If you are concerned about rust perforation coming from the inside out, just hit the doors through access plastic plugs with WD40. It repels moisture off the steel surface and is not oily or waxy as many protectants tend to be. Put enough in that it runs through the door drain holes unto newspaper or whatever you choose to catch it. It will smell for a day or so but once the carrier fluid has evaporated the silicone base remains inside the door. It works!

VettePower

Move to Arizona !!!! :lol:

BB wowbagger

..Or just not use it :cheers: :lol:

vettfixr

Hi Pedro
Usually rust forming at the bottom of a door indicates that moisture is making it's way past the window seals and dripping into the inside bottom of the door. If the drain holes are clogged it will sit in there and you know the rest. First make sure that any drain holes are clear and that the rubber weatherstripping that seals the glass against the door is good. If not replace the weatherstripping. If you take off the door panel you can check to see how much damage is done inside the door. If it's not too bad I would recommend cleaning the inside panel out with a good cleaner like lacquer thinner or alcohol and then painting the inside of the door with POR 15. This will stop any more rust from forming inside the door and if it's not too bad you might be able to get away with just sanding and repainting the outside with Duplicolor. If it's just a daily driver this should make it presentable and the damage should be arrested. Good luck.

Pedro'74

Paul & Vettfixr:

Thanks for the tips! I'll remove the door panel and see how it looks on the inside. There's no visible rust outside the door; only some rust on the bottom, and only on the passenger side.

This may be a stupid question, but is the inside of the door painted? If it's not, than POR-15 is probably the way to go. (I have a can of clear POR-15, that should work great.) But if it is painted, then I'm afraid it wouldn't work... Well, if it's not too bad, I guess I'll just spray some Oxisolve and WD-40...

If you guys have any other tips to keep rust from appearing elsewhere, please let me know! My first metal car, ya know?! Need some pointers....

Arizona Guys:

Funny you mentioned AZ, since I turned down a job offer in Tucson, to stay here in Rustland. I got a better job here, but my cars will never forgive me.... :D

-Pedro


[Modified by Pedro'74, 9:10 PM 8/27/2002]

NHvette

Often, the door skin seam that wraps around the bottom is sealed with
a bead of seam sealer (or not). The sealer can lift, and the edge of the
skin starts to rust where you can't see it. Crawl under and see if this
edge is the start of your rust. If so, you can stop it by cleaning it all up -
and hitting it with a rust converter and some paint.

I'm in the middle of welding panels to the bottom of 2 of my doors in
the steel land yacht. Don't let this happen to you ! Find the problem and fix
it now. After the salt trucks start running, it will get much worse in a hurry.

:seeya


[Modified by Daves_rusty_75, 11:38 PM 8/27/2002]

Pedro'74

Dave,

I think you got it. I think that's exactly what's happening. I'll definitely have this fixed before the white stuff starts falling from the sky!

Thanks!
-Pedro

ZD75blue

i'd probably hit it with a wire brush, then por 15... at least on the places you cant see.

:flag

Pedro'74

Zach,

I think that's what I'll do on the inside of the door. If it's easy to reach, clean and paint, at least....

Thanks,
-Pedro

Kingt

I agree, move to Texas or Arizona. But first make damn sure your AC works!

Pedro'74

AC? What's that? :D

-Pedro

Desertvette

Lots of good suggestions made. I would definitely make curtain the drain holes are open and weather stripping is up to snuff. You could also see if you can find a product called LPS 3 , Zip D 5082 or Fluid Film in spray cans. These are used in the Aircraft industry on a regullar basis to control corrosion everywhere from painted wing spars to the bottom of the fuselage in the bilge area. They lay down a tough petroleum base film that does'nt wash off from water and can be used on painted or unpainted surfaces. LOL
Bob

Pedro'74

Bob,

Thanks for the tips! Do you know of any sources for those products (on the internet, or otherwise)?

Thanks,
-Pedro

Pedro'74

OK, I've found some info on those products, and in particular "Fluid Film" seems to be sold at John Deere dealers. Well, I'll have to stop at a dealer to get some Blitz Black paint anyway, so I think I may as well get some cans of Fluid Film and try it. Now I wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea to spray some of that stuff inside the frames of our C3's... :confused:
http://www.eurekafluidfilm.com/home.htm

-Pedro