As I work my way round the welding it seems obvious that the van is doomed to rust again unless I can modify it to avoid water going straight down the inner wheelarches.
Has anyone ever devised a way to do this?
Hi Peter
There was no evidence of any sufrace rust let alone anything serious on the rear wheel arches for Connie. All of the insides around the wheel arches and louvres (and engine bay in general) have a good coating of sealer (from new by the look of it).
Even being over zealous with the hose pipe when cleaning Connie produced very little water on the inside of the engine bay/rear arches.
From what I remember there weren't any drain holes either - could be blocked by the sealer of course.
As part of Connie's restoration I'm simply going to make sure that all the sealer/underseal is in good order. The Ziebart rustproofing appears to show that if you use good quality it lasts and I intend to follow the same principles.
Thanks for that Gary; perhaps I am barking up the wrong tree. I think the water might have seeped down from the corner of the roof on this really bad side.
I move on to the passenger side next week so I'll see how it compares.
There is no doubt that I will be using lots of polyurethane sealant and and litres of wax in the hollow sections.
Good point, but when you look at how that inner arch meets with the outer it seems very unlikely that the flange can ever be completely dry once wet.
I will be using lots of PU sealant and seeing if there's any way to make drainage holes.
I have been restoring my 1945 Austin. It has to live outside due to garage limitations. The rain gets in the doors etc so precautions..
Take door cards off. Thoroughly wash and dry doors. The dust and dirt hold water like a sponge. Spraying fisholene or similar will help as it gets into the seams. The thicker body sealer goes on flat surfaces and where you need stone protection. In the hidden parts I use a grease like rustproofing from Caltex. Mix with turpentine and use a cleaning sprayer to blast down chassis box sections etc. Forms a waxy film that doesn't harden or crack.
So different products for different areas. Just be careful sealant doesn't trap water or it will do more harm than good.
