Does anybody know if the current Grand Punto has a Galvanized Body in line with many recemt FIATs?

It does.

What's a galvanized body?

Jason_6780 said:

What's a galvanized body?

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plated or coated with zinc prior to painting zincs a sacrificial metal to protect the steel from rust...

read this if you want more info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanization

Andy Monty said:

plated or coated with zinc prior to painting zincs a sacrificial metal to protect the steel from rust...

read this if you want more info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanization

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Please excuse me for not galvanising your post.

Your GP isn't going to last as long as a garage door! The thin zinc layer could possibly be damaged by a large stone. However, there are plenty of ten-year-old Fiats, which had an 8 year bodywork warranty, looking good.

Mad Mike said:

Please excuse me for not galvanising your post.

Your GP isn't going to last as long as a garage door! The thin zinc layer could possibly be damaged by a large stone. However, there are plenty of ten-year-old Fiats, which had an 8 year bodywork warranty, looking good.

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they are still galvanised just not the same as a garage door or some steel railings the problem with hot dipping is that the coating is often irregular in coverage and "lumpy" IIRC the coating on the car body is sprayed on to give an even covering even hot dipped galv can be chipped but you don't tend to see many garage doors flying at 70mph on the M1

Wasnt it the Tipo that was almost ott with anti corrosion protection?

They will probably last forever.

Mad Mike said:

Your GP isn't going to last as long as a garage door! The thin zinc layer could possibly be damaged by a large stone.

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Even if some of the zinc came off, the metal underneath would still not rust, thats the advantage of galvanizing over painting, only the zinc would still corrode, even if there are little gaps in the coating. (For all those who were still listening in their chemistry lessons.)

A very bad case of failure against rust protection was that of 1980s Alfa GTVs (not Fiat, but still Italian), where their front side panels were only painted on the top, so would still corrode on the underside and be gone in a few years...