Hammerite Underseal

So these are 2000/2001 cars? And they're rusting? What rot box make are they? I have a 2001 Fiat with quite a number of dings and scrapes and not one sign of rust. They aren't known for their quality of cosmetic finish.

"gazzafield" wrote in message news:U9OdnSUEue5gIf snipped-for-privacy@pipex.net...

I thought Fiats were all galvanised body these days?

According to my Haynes manual they are. Well, it says it is "heavily galvanised". Surprised the hell out of me. Shows that having a galvanised shell doesn't mean the car has to be expensive.

"gazzafield" wrote in message news:9radna454Zo4QP snipped-for-privacy@pipex.net...

No, they're not actually rusting visually, but I'm sure technically your cars do have rust somewhere, it'll be on the cards.

There's not a rust 'problem', but I guess you could say rust is always a problen, and always happening. I remember some old cars the family I mentioned had, and they did seem to have pretty bad issues around the wheel arches after a few years, and in Scotland, the weather is particularly bad through most of the year, so not a dry day in winter can be a bit of a pain.

I can't see why attempting to slow the process in this case would be such a bad idea, unless the hammerite stuff would have an adverse affect on any coating the manufacturer puts on.

I live in Scotland too. I know what the weather is like only too well, especially right now. Yes, my car will begin to rust but only if through to the steel and only when the sacrificial corrosion of the zinc stops. And that will be a while. I always remember my chemistry teacher explaining how sacrificial corrosion worked and mentioning the old galvanised dustbins that usually had more bangs and knocks than any car will ever have and how they had little or no rust on them after twenty years abuse.

Seriously, what cars are these? Any modern car should have arch liners, be at least well rust proofed and preferably galvanised.

Anyway, yes, hammerite or any other type of paint will help. 2K etch and paint with underseal, then paint again, then some Dinitrol and schutz would probably bring it back to something like manufacturer spec, but isn't really practical at home. You can buy rattle can 1k etch though.

The arch liners rubbed through the paint and started rust on mine - id remove them if i could without it looking a mess.

Blimey. What car's this? VW managed to get arch liners right on the MK2 Golf

'91 Toyota Celica. They just trap mud and it wears through. Got to make sure you jet-wash the area out every wash but then im nervous of washing it in case its rubbed through the paint already lol.

using underseal at this time of year could be a bad idea, any moisture present will get trapped. perhaps removing arch liners and squirting some waxoyl around is all thats required.

anyway, most modern cars have decent rust-protection (well except maybe, fords.).I've seen plenty of W, X reg fords with rust starting on the seams.....

That's not really how it works. Most rust traps are where mud can get to and stay there. The best thing you can do is to hose it off regularly, rather than letting it sit there, and stay consistently damp.

TBH i wasnt aware of the fact that anything was trapped there - the liner is a full-arch in one liner and seems to cover every conceivable angle of entry. Clearly it doesnt lol, so i cleaned it all out, repaired/ground out the rust and re-painted and now i just blast under the edge with a hose as best i can when i wash it.