What Kit cars are prone to rust?

[SpeedyGonzales]

Hello all,

I'm not on this area of the forum often. As i'm thinking about getting my first car in a few years, i was thinking about getting a kit car, you know to be different and individual.

Do Kit cars actually suffer from rust, and if yes what ones?

Thanks for your help.

Big Chris

[Furyblade_Lee]

Old ones left outside.

[LocoBlade]

The majority of kit cars have fibreglass and/or aluminium bodywork over a steel spaceframe chassis, so the only bit thats susceptable to rust is the chassis tubing obviously.

Steel tube is comparatively easy to keep in reasonable condition though as it's thicker than bodywork panels and there's less surface area to start with. Steel tube is unlikely to rust right through unless severely neglected, so an annual going over rubbing down any patches on the chassis then covering with metal paint will suffice, much easier than chasing proper rot in steel bodywork with filler and having to spray etc.

[CorseChris]

80s onward Marcos can be bad. Mine was. Outer front chassis rails can end up in a mud/water trap and rot badly. Fairly easy to sort as long as you don't mind removing the body. And don't believe the bull about powder coating!! Damn stuff is far from ideal as rust protection.

[Melch]

CorseChris said:

80s onward Marcos can be bad. Mine was. Outer front chassis rails can end up in a mud/water trap and rot badly. Fairly easy to sort as long as you don't mind removing the body. And don't believe the bull about powder coating!! Damn stuff is far from ideal as rust protection.

So Hammerite, powder coating or galvanising?

[Mr2Mike]

The early GTM coupe that had a steel floorpan bonded into a fiberglass body are pretty nasty for rust, and a very difficult job to fix.

[Chris71]

SpeedyGonzales said:

Hello all,

I'm not on this area of the forum often. As i'm thinking about getting my first car in a few years, i was thinking about getting a kit car, you know to be different and individual.

Do Kit cars actually suffer from rust, and if yes what ones?

Thanks for your help.

Big Chris

There's another good reason to get a kit - insurance. With the right company you should be able to get something quite fun to drive even at 17, probably for a smaller premium than a standard 1.4 hatch. The cars themselves tend to offer very good value for money as well compared to anything interesting that's been mass produced.

[Ferg]

Chris71 said:

There's another good reason to get a kit....

The owners are all so nice.

[Chris71]

That too