Au Rust Thread., Warning, Dont Look If U Cant Handle Sight Of Rust

[IronFalcon]

Got an AUII XR8 ute - had to pull the driver's headlight cluster out to clean one of the lamps - found that the battery tray and surrounds were rusted as ****.

I welcome myself to the AU rust club :(

[Spurious]

Thanks Dezza. My rear window seal has been a bit loose there for a while, guess I should look closer.

Question: can I get the seal off & back on with glass in place?

I did it with the front one before but the rear appears to be rather brittle.

I think the rear windows are more prone to being left down accidentally as opposed to the fronts & therefore more likely to get rained on/through. Which would explain the rusted tops we're finding. Mine included, left rear door & I know it's had young kids in it in the past.

[zdenko]

I'll start off by saying my AU3 is an outside car and the clear is starting to show it.

I should take some pictures of my rust as it is just rubbish for a "modern" car.
We have other cars in the family with no issues with the same treatment.
I believe half the issue is design related. The rubbers around the doors and Windows rub the body work and trap water plus other metal areas pool water.
The other half is just pour rust treatment and paint coverage from the factory.

So my issues I have found since 2010 on my 2002 XR6.

Under my tails lights the plates were half gone 6 years ago when I got the car.
I did buy new plates but never fitted them.
I just treated and primed the old ones to slow it down which has worked.

My rear struts for the boot were rusted, one side completely at the joints on the car edge when I bought the car at 8 years old.
They dad to be retaped into new holes, which by the way has not rusted in the 6 years they have been there.
Makes you wonder how a panel shop can get it right but a factory cannot.
There was also rust inside where the hinges slide into which was stopped from rusting further.
I also have the usual rust in the boot lid at the bottom edge, but it hasn't gone through yet and I have sprayed lots of zinc coating in there over time.

The 2 longs rubber around the sills on the left and right of the door entry rub the paint, trap water and cause rust underneath them.
Touch those up every now and then.

I have removed the rear wing once as I was getting lots of Water in the boot and was sure it coming though the wing bolts holes.
Sure enough there was rust under the wing posts which I treated and primed before putting lots of Silicone and the spoiler back on.

My clear on the roof and boot lid are starting to peel which has led to a major job which I'm still progressing through.
Water is getting trapped between the clear and colour base coat and of course it is rusting on the surface.
I have had clear go on other cars but have never had rust happen because of it.
Naturally I wanted to fix this and decided wrapping the roof in Vinyl would be the solution after finding it was relatively easy on a Land cruiser bonnet if you have the patience for it.
A bit of research taught me that you can wrap primer and experience has taught me that you do not want peeling clear under vinyl as you can see it.
In other words I was planning on sanding the roof down and re-priming before wrapping.

So first things first I though I should remove the rubbers along the roof including the rear window seal so I can clean the built up dirt and be able to tuck the wrap underneath them. (Can't remove the front one as it got glued in when the window was replaced.)
Of course I found small amounts of rust and small holes under the rear Window seal and roof corner rubber mainly at the top 2 corners of the window.

I dug out these holes and filled them in.
I then noticed that water was getting in the rear left up near where the roof interior panel meets the side plastic panel whilst washing the corner before final sanding and priming.
I removed the interior plastic panel and there is heaps of rust behind it at the point where it meets the roof interior panel and along the glass edge.
The water is getting in under the window glue as the steel underneath the window has corroded.
Fixing that is beyond me, as the Window would have to be removed which is not happening as the car is essentially worthless. It gets me from A to B.

So I'm thinking after finishing the roof which will include sanding, priming and wrapping I will be going along the whole rear window edge with silicone before putting the rubber back in to seal it up and stop further water getting in.

And of course the biggest problem.
I have no idea what colour the car is.
The car is Silver and has a Paint code of W which as far as I can tell does not exist???
I need to paint down the rear quarter panel along the window after the rust repairs as it is just primer now.

[Spurious]

Your problems are common ones zdenko.

The verdict is in Dezza, I checked my rear window seals & all clear. Blew all the gutters out with compressed air while I was at it. Just peel the rubber back with your finger as you move along.
The outer rear window rubber strip is loose in spots though, kinda bugs me but a non issue really.

Mine too has surface rust showing where boot lid rubs bumper.
I just treated the radiator crossmember to some rust converter recently. It cops all the road debris.
Battery tray was flaking rust at 10 years. ('00 model)

I'm lucky that I've painted my car, so I've had the chance to strip parts off & inspect most areas.
That's how I found that mud spats actually trap dirt against the sills, so they got ditched!
About 2 years ago I bought some RANEX rust converter, what with surface rust showing on the diff I thought I'd give it a dose.

Days prior I Karchered the entire floor pan & allowed it to dry. (car on ramps & me underneath in full wet weather gear!)
Then I used a degreaser gun/air compressor combo, & with the car on a hoist I went nuts & sprayed the stuff in every nook, seam, corner & hole. Did the entire floor pan & wheel arches. Use a charcoal filtered mask if you do this.
Still looks spotless today & rust free.

Also people, get under your car, or if you remove the seats & carpet for any reason, pay attention to the zinc coated, oval shaped hole caps in the floor pan.
In my case, the glue had broken on a few in the rear floor & it allowed the cap to move underneath the sound deadener & let water in.
I scraped out all the deadener, removed the caps, treated for rust (although none visible) & re-sealed the caps to the floor.

Some areas of the interior floor pan were not treated to paint, only the factory zinc coating, undercoat &/or sound deadener. So it's worth a look if you've ever spilled a drink in your car!

[Spurious]

Time to nudge this puppy again.

Look what I found today under the boot hinges...
My guess is that the boot lid is attached to the car before it gets dipped in the zinc treatment. Therefore the rivet welds seen in the images do not get coated?
The left side resembles a zinc coated finish, but it's thin as hell if it is! There's certainly no paint under the hinges anyhow.

[Citroënbender]

(Main topic below the asterisks!)

I realise that (a.) this is a somewhat historic thread and (b.) it's suffered badly from Photobucket blocking, but here goes...

"Foster Ute" the AU II has some rust here and there. It's not so dire as some, but for perspective, I haven't seen rust like this on a Euro since the '70s Renaults or an '80s Sud. That nasty, flaky rust which seems to creep relentlessly and has a habit of aiming straight for triple layered seams which require a maximum of parts removal for access/repair. I note rust in the subframe rails below the floor, concealed in the scuttle, near the strut tops, and in the door closing panels (striker face, just above the sill).

Some of it I can stall, some I can treat, some will be needing repair over coming months. I wouldn't have bothered save for the fact of the utes being history now (and better the devil you know, etc)... My welding abilities are likely on par with Stevie Wonder's drifting skills but I know how to strip, prepare, mock up, cut patches in - just can't lay down a dependably safe and tidy weld - so this part is always someone else's job.

*****

Hence, the questions:
1. How much of the AU cab pressings carried through to the last ute shells? (Or, how much can be made to fit an AU?)
2. Did Ford get the anti-corrosion more right as time went on from the early BA's? Or did they stay a lucky dip?

Thanks in advance, for any hints.

[Citroënbender]

Oh, my... Hiding under the door wind seals!

Might be looking for a donor cab...

[undertow]

That's pretty advanced. Mine has no rust there, but a bit in the seams underneath where the chassis rails and stiffeners etc meet the floor pan. I also found rust on the fuel/brake hardlines underneath, fortunately it was just surface rust and cleaned up fine.

IMO Ford did a poor job with the painting and/or galvanising on the AU. I poke around the self-serve wreckers a bit and see a fair few AUs with at least surface rust underneath, but I'm yet to see a rusty VT-VZ commodore.

I am not sure how much of the BA will fit, I think the doors are the same, but the A pillars (lower and upper) were strengthened on the BA, front rails and floorpan around them are very different (BA rails continue straight into the floorpan area rather than dipping under), trans tunnel area was reinfornced too.