Views on this corrosion please

[alone wolf]

Recently acquired vehicle, shots of the inner OS front strut tower:












The car is 17 years old. Not inspected any other parts of it or removed the plastic arch liner. I was aiming to get 10 years out it

[v8notbrave]

Crusty, what is it? I bought an auction car and was surprisingly rustier than expected. I did quite a bit of prep and remediation it it's a true cancer once it gets hold there are surprises everywhere. I persevered for a year then needed welding and new brake lines as when mechanic touched bolt holding on brake line bracket it snapped off. So got expensive 12 month MOT and moved it on

Looking at photo with no further knowledge you will get max 1 or 2 years and then it's a few hundred here for new shocks, few hundred there etc

Move it on is my tuppence

[E-bmw]

Unfortunately (as above) not the easiest to say definitively, but I would say you have a large job on your hands getting it through another MOT if that is anything like indicative of the vehicle as a whole.

Although if you got it for the right price & have the right tools in the garage it could be worth persevering with.

If this is you, then I would say start early.

[Dave.]

350z?

[TwinKam]

It's a VAG product, judging by the ABS wiring, the drop-link angle, and the T25 arch-liner screws.

[_Rodders_]

That brake disc looks below minimum thickness.

That wet looking seam would be my biggest concern.

[RustyNissanPrairie]

alone wolf said:

The car is 17 years old. I was aiming to get 10 years out it

No chance as it stands. For reference I run the following.

2004 Berlingo - older French stuff is well galvanized, even so I've 'done' the underside.
2004 Cayenne - fully galvanized bodyshells. Have 'done' the subframes
2011 XC90 - fully galvanized bodyshells, I've rebuilt it because of surface rust catching hold underneath
2011 Cayenne - clean underneath but is ACF50 before winter.

By 'done', my method is mechanically remove any rust using the following;
3m scotchbrite 'strip-it' products
Dremel with small flap disc wheels
Cheap Amazon wood rasp files

Then apply Fertan to kill any pitted rust

I've done a few cars with Bilt Hamber / Dinitrol wax products but I'm not 100% convinced long term. Nowadays I use Jotun products made for oil rigs/offshore. Namely Jotamastic and ACR topcoats.




If any components can be removed then I have them shotblasted then I apply Zinga (zinc rich coating) before then overcoating with ACR

ACR

Zinga


My Berlingo with Dinitrol (needs doing again now)

Edited by RustyNissanPrairie on Sunday 5th April 20:42

Edited by RustyNissanPrairie on Sunday 5th April 20:43

[cliffords]

I have a 20 year old Jag. I did some wire brushing and then used Dinatrol RC900.
I was under the car on Friday, two years after doing it and it looks in excellent shape still.
It's quite expensive.

[Belle427]

Looks quite crusty but you don`t know how bad until you start cleaning it up and that`s a nightmare in itself.
Bilt Hamber and Dinitrol make some of the best rust proofing products and do specify they can be sprayed over existing rust but in an ideal world you want to clean it all up and treat it first.
Messy horrible work.

[Huzzah]

What are people's views of ACF 50?

[E-bmw]

_Rodders_ said:

That wet looking seam would be my biggest concern.

^^^^ Wot 'e said, with the rest of the panels dry that should NOT be holding water.

[darreni]

Huzzah said:

What are people's views of ACF 50?

I've used it on our cars for the last 10 years or so, has worked well. Just remember to re apply every 12 months or so.

I've also refurbished anti roll bars and other underside bits with por15, which has also worked well.

[Huzzah]

darreni said:

I've used it on our cars for the last 10 years or so, has worked well. Just remember to re apply every 12 months or so.

I've also refurbished anti roll bars and other underside bits with por15, which has also worked well.

Thx, I'll use it on the subframes and wheel arches after cleaning.

[alone wolf]

_Rodders_ said:

That wet looking seam would be my biggest concern.

E-bmw said:

^^^^ Wot 'e said, with the rest of the panels dry that should NOT be holding water.

I agree. I'm not sure where I'd even start with that and it looks gnarly. The rot has to be completely removed which (i imagine) involves separating panels in this case. The obvious thing to part ways with the vehicle. Irritating thing is the car has had a recent MOT which mentioned nothing about corrosion, if it did I wouldn't have considered it