Another boring anti rust job...

[BongoBongo123]

just did the fin/wing things that hold the front wheels on Not sure what they are called. You know those
kind of inch thick plate things that are parallel to the ground.

Wire brushed them down and dumped a load of Hammerite all over them nice and thick.

They would probably be the last thing to rust through given their thickness but nonetheless
they look better for it and I feel better. The leading edge of them has a welded/compressed seam so made
sure this got a liberal dousing of hammerite. I guess they get a lot of road spray on them so thought it best
to just do it. I started brushing them down a few months ago and just did them again and again every now and then
to get the surface rust off.

Today they got painted. Worth a look at them to see their condition.. They also have a welded bracket that holds them
from above that also got painted. Sealed them off.

[teenmal]

Hope you carried out a Sound test before you painted them?

[BongoBongo123]

Lost me there !

[Bonneville]

just did the fin/wing things that hold the front wheels on Not sure what they are called

These areas (not sure what you call 'em either) and the forward sills suffer, I think, from the mudflap having a gap between it and the outer sill. Not sure why Mazda didn't make them full width.

I have a tin of pre-eco high VOC Hammerite in the garage of late '90's vintage. Has a lovely nose and good finish. Having said that, I don't coat rust with anything other than 2K as a solvent based system will always let air in and rust needs oxygen.

[BongoBongo123]

Sure, my coating of choice is POR15 but it costs about 5 times the price of Hammerite. I have plenty of Hammerite and it is reasonable. I find with Hammerite don't mess around with a thin coat.. you want it to have some thickness and flex. Work the first layer in really well so it grips on
then gloop it up in a couple of further layers, that shiny gloss repels water pretty well, the extra layers reduce pin prick size
air bubbles and you need 2-3 coats to nail all of those I find. I did the axle 3-4 years back and it is totally fine still, nice and thick layer..

Also once the Hammerite is weeks dry I paint a thin layer of Waxoyl just to add an extra layer of water repellency. The actual Waxoyl not the rubberised underseal stuff.

In fact annoying I found some more rust on the rear arch under the typical old dried out undercoat.
That stuff is a blessing and curse.. it does initally stop water as a guard but when it breaks down over years it
leaves bits missing as it cracks away and those small gaps let water and air in and well... the rest is history.

So long story short I just wire brushed a 6inch by 6inch square of surface rust off and put 1 layer of Hammerite over it
thick and gloopy and worked it in to the surface. It will get 2 x further coats in due course (glad I have another 1 litre can here) So for now
and the next couple of outings it will shield it off should there be any rain.

People.. you really must be on top of this 365 days a year if you want to hold this back in a worthwhile manner. May-to end of Aug is when to sort it before the Autumn showers head our way. This way you can seal it off when it is dry.

You have to be fearless and look where you would rather not, scrape and bash with a screwdriver and take your tools and attack that rust like a warrior, never delay and act as soon as you possibly can. Yeah.. it is bloomin' annoying finding it but if I did not find that next spring it would have been a big hole I suspect !

You just have to keep on it all the time with the Bongos. (actually any 20 year old vehicle to be fair)

I dunno, rust stories eh..