Rust

[fergusminto]

Thanks Stuc. Hope someone can check. Can't think of any reason for there to be an open pathway for water/salt to get to the sills - although Bongos are not known for bad sills in my experience. I'll block them up with something until someone points out otherwise!

Ta.

[wonkanoby]

well i thought my cills were not to bad

had a mot note last year for a tiny hole at front

but after i started cleaning and poking a while back i was amazed just what a state they were in

lucky a mates a very good welder

or the day he spent on it would have been very expensive

[Velocette]

If it's any help the blind grommets for the wheel arch are 19mm, I bought a couple of assorted packets to take pot luck and now need to get a packet of 19mm ones. I think they were originally scrivets. There are rows of them along the inside face of the cill too, below the floor. A couple of those are missing on mine too.

[mikeonb4c]

I would advise you do not drive this vehicle until it is fixed, it looks rather unsightly and will upset the airflow around the vehicle body, causing extra load on the engine, which will increase engine temperature and possible overheating.

Just kidding, it looks to me as if they have already been done at some point, so i would advise rubbing down, dig the filler out and refill and shape ready to prime and paint, without replacement rust will always come back through. Shouldnt be too expensive at a bodyshop. Check it has been sealed and waxoyled correctly, but i suspect the rust is between the seams.

Thanks for reply Stuc ~it was waxoiled when i bought as a fresh import~~i've also done it from back to front including wheel arches,but not between the seams (from inside) so will have a look from inside when time allows~~would it be better to leave it through winter,then sort it out Springtime???
PS glad you enjoyed your first meet this weekend.

I've recently tackled a bit of this on mine Ray, on both arches. I masked off a line that followed the 'flare line' of the wheel arch, and used one of them paint removing wheels to get down to bare metal. Where the 'metal' remained black looking, I poked (through!) with a pointed bradawl and did what I could to loosend rust flake on the inside, using the hole for access. I then took advtange of the hole to spray WD40 copiously into the interior, so it could run/wick down the inner/outer wing seam line. You could use something else (engine oil thinned with white spirit and sprayed? etc) as long as it's thinned enough to 'wick' into the seam (thats how I reasoned it anyway - I could also have Kurust'd it first and then, later, applied WD40 etc. but I was rushing to do the job in a day). I then made sure any jagged edges of metal were under-flush, degreased the exterior surface, and used P40 filler. I knew it wouldn't 'stick' to any surface that had WD40 on it so made sure I squeezed it through the rust holes to form a 'rivet head' and lock the filler repair in place. All seemed to work well and you wouldn't really notice the repair except close up (and I could have made even that less visible if I'd had more time and inclination to prep and rub back etc.) I used a cardboard mask, held off the surface, to soften spray edges and move the mask back from primer->topcoat->lacquer, and sprayed lacquer right up to the wheel arch masking line (I could have used a 'soft' mask there too but insufficient time, and it hardly shows anyway due to the arch natural flare-line). I am in any case going to buy Barclays 2nd hand arch trims and experiment with those (but with care, as they are potentially a real rust trap, as he discovered!).

[Triple/R]

Thanks Mike ~~~~sounds like you've pretty well sorted yours with good results.
Like i've said i'm now going to leave mine to let the winter take it's toll~~ then come Spring start to take bubbling off,sand down etc; & see how bad it is,then decide whether to fill or let Ian Taylor put new arches on.

It's strange how one or two people keep saying to prospective owner's "When buying take a magnet & run it around the arches" i can put a magnet anywhere on my arches & it stay's on which suggest's (to me) that theres little or no filler on them,but Stuc seems to think (from my pic) that they've been filled previously,if that's the case a magnet would just drop off.

Anyway Mike thanks for your detailed description, it will come in handy if i decide to take that route next Springtime.

[Velocette]

Thanks Mike ~~~~sounds like you've pretty well sorted yours with good results.
Like i've said i'm now going to leave mine to let the winter take it's toll~~ then come Spring start to take bubbling off,sand down etc; & see how bad it is,then decide whether to fill or let Ian Taylor put new arches on.

It's strange how one or two people keep saying to prospective owner's "When buying take a magnet & run it around the arches" i can put a magnet anywhere on my arches & it stay's on which suggest's (to me) that theres little or no filler on them,but Stuc seems to think (from my pic) that they've been filled previously,if that's the case a magnet would just drop off.

Anyway Mike thanks for your detailed description, it will come in handy if i decide to take that route next Springtime.

Magnet will only reliably detect a filler that is bridging a hole bigger than the magnet. It won't detect a layer over rusted metal with small holes in. I know this from my A Post investigations.

[mikeonb4c]

Thanks Mike ~~~~sounds like you've pretty well sorted yours with good results.
Like i've said i'm now going to leave mine to let the winter take it's toll~~ then come Spring start to take bubbling off,sand down etc; & see how bad it is,then decide whether to fill or let Ian Taylor put new arches on.

It's strange how one or two people keep saying to prospective owner's "When buying take a magnet & run it around the arches" i can put a magnet anywhere on my arches & it stay's on which suggest's (to me) that theres little or no filler on them,but Stuc seems to think (from my pic) that they've been filled previously,if that's the case a magnet would just drop off.

Anyway Mike thanks for your detailed description, it will come in handy if i decide to take that route next Springtime.

Magnet will only reliably detect a filler that is bridging a hole bigger than the magnet. It won't detect a layer over rusted metal with small holes in. I know this from my A Post investigations.

Indeed. My repairs would pass the magnet test no problem, but I don't kid myself I've banished the tinworm, only slowed it up for a bit and made the vehicle look (more or less) like it should. Stuc is referrng to major repairs I suspect.

Ps - a pleasure Ray, and good luck.

[stuc]

Hi I am just looking at the pictures and the reason i suspected repairs was the shape didnt seem quite right, but it is only photos so dont be too concerned, and anyway there is nothing wrong with previous repairs if it had the desired effect. All you can do is when your ready dig out the rust keep it as small as poss until you find whats underneath and then address the problem. Any way I have done mine and they are full of filler but i am happy as the finished results are good. Just a thought on the magnet thing, it must depend on how strong the magnet is i have a tool that measures paint/filler thickness which is a magnet which works upto 700 microns thick i think. I will try it on mine on Monday out of curiosity. And let you know the results. I know previously the bonnet etc. was 40 microns which is thin compared to most factory finishes, about 70-110 microns. A micron is a thousandth of a mm.