Steel properties and rust choices?

[Guest Anonymous]

Looking at Senna27's car (message below) and his statement that his car is a daily driver makes me wonder about the reasons why these cars are so prone to rusting.

What was "missing" from the manufacturing process that makes our 02's rust at double the speed of light?

If you strip the car, give it an acid bath and do the primer "etching", does that make it as rustproof as a modern car?

[Mike Self]

construction, and the materials used to seal exposed body seams.

2002 Body Design Flaws 101...

Our 2002s had some egregious examples:

Dumb design, like blind pockets (rear spring supports are a prime example, as are the front frame rails) that were poorly finished inside and allowed water and dirt to get in, thus causing rust that was invisible until it erupted thru the metal. Another dumb design was sunroof rear drains that emptied into the rocker panels.

Some seam sealing wasn't too good either--best example was the spot-welded seam that joined the quarter panels to the inner wheel arches--the VERY rust prone rear wheel opening lips. Little or no seam sealer was used on this joint, allowing water to penetrate between the welds, causing inside-out rust.

Ironically, the sealer BMW used on the underside is very good stuff; that's why you don't see rusted out floors too often (except 76s) unless they've rusted from the inside due to water leaks around the windshield, rockers etc. On 2002s, it's the welded seams and the blind boxes.

cheers

mike

[Guest Anonymous]

So, there is no way to make them as rustproofed as modern cars, is there?

[Paul7002]

(nt)

[Mike Self]

2000:

Hi. I'm Mike, and I'm iophobic.

AFter I repaired the ravages of winter, I got into all the cavities I could

find and did some serious rustproofing with all sorts of stuff: Rustoleum primer, the waxy stuff (Waxoyl, RusFree, etc) like Ziebart etc.

Everywhere I rustproofed including all the classic places like rear wheel arches, rear spring mounts, door bottoms, rockersm front fender trailing edges, etc have stayed rust free or nearly so--and some of the spots I did back in 1983/4. So yes, with patience, knowledge of the car's body structure and periodic inspections, it is possible to (nearly) stop the tinworm.

cheers

Mike the iophobe