[opeldean]

I just bought my first gt.It is a california car w/o rust.
I live in misouri and plan to drive it daily.How do I rust proof it?

 

[ravn99]

rust

Well,,,thare has been an ongoing debate(do a search) but i think the paintable undercoating is the way to go,,,just a couple light coats,,,(I stay away from the rubberized undercoating)and if you really don't want it to rust park it in the winter when thare is salt on the roads,,,i think buying a little $400.00 truck to drive in the winter is a great investment in keeping these cool little cars on the road for many years to come,,, or you could go the a rustproffing place and have them drill abunch of holes in your car

 

[opeldean]

I heard there was an onana newsletter that addressed rust .
Drain holes?I was unable to open back issues from their
website.

To paint rustproofing..can that be bought as a spray can in an auto store?Iassume I would jack the car up and just start spaying
exposed but cleaned surfaces.

I also saw online that there an electronic rustproofing
system that is tied in to your battery.does that work?I think the
cost was $180 and would be worth it if it worked..thanks

 

[jordan]

i have one, it came with my opel im not sure if it works (i dont know if you can tell!) if you want it, its yours for $20

 

[opelgt73]

The main thing to do is keep it off the road while they are salting the roads.
To rustproof first clean the underside of the car totally, getting off all the grime, oil, and factory undercoating, then go to a company like Eastwood and get some of thier High Quality undercoating.

Make sure that the factory drain holes are not clogged up, also drilling a few holes in the rocker pannels from the door jam isnt a bad idea, you have to do that in order to protect them.

 

[Dan0myte]

Cover the bottom of your car in POR-15. Then you can forget about rust forming... ever.

 

[opeldean]

cleaning and rustproofing

1- I have a junk car to drive in the winter.,,but I want to do more to preserve the car

2- the problem is I am discovering wads of dirt in the back lower corners of the front wheel wells, i can tell the dirt is preventing drainage, no rust yet..
but it would not flush out at the car wash...I dug it out last night with a screw driver...small gravel and dirt ..packed like concrete....now it will drain better...there are gaps in the wheel weels too..at junctions..should theses be sealed?
question1 is: does anyone have a photo of where the drain holes are?

question 2: where to drill in rocker panels...I want to inspect for moisture or vent/drain them.

 

[Old Hippie]

bucky, are you talking about the "junk car" or do you have another GT that's a junk car? If it's a standard US car, I'd take it to a bodyshop and let them look it over. I'd have to look at my GT but cars usually have inner fender wells to keep mud and guck from sitting and rusting things up.
Barry

 

[baz]

the rear of the front fender is a rust trap as it has nothing to stop mud collecting you have to nose it out on a regular basis
for long term check your yellow pages for a local rust proofer and have them treat the car or get a diy kit and do it yourself it is just a case of drilling a few holes in the side of the door near the bottom and the sill/ rocker panel and use the squirt gun with the kit to apply
i have used "waxoil" for many years with very good results

 

[opeldean]

dirt pocket

BAz..you were right on again.mine would not flush out at a car wash..it is packed tight...screwdriver -chip it out.

I found the dirt pocket...dirt filters in and blockets the drainage out the bottom..no amount of rustproofing would of helped this Potential problem.

I plan to flush,rustproof,paint and leave it open as pictured...so i can keep an eye on it.

oldhippie: this is my only car..do think I am a two timer?

 

[opeldean]

discovered pocket

found the dirt pocket when I painted my calipers..

(i am waiting for the proper washers for my new ET unilug wheels)..

cant wait to drive her again!

 

[GoinManta]

I heard there was an onana newsletter that addressed rust .
Drain holes?I was unable to open back issues from their
website.

I am pretty sure that article wasn't a OANA one but an OMC one.

To read the back issues I have online for the OANA download adobe acrobat reader http://www.adobe.com

I tried and didn't have any problems.

 

[opeldean]

drainage

goin manta- oops ..I had no problem with onana downloads.

what I meant was" I cant find anything in print on drainage"..maybe its in OMC somewhere.

I think this is good now, water can now drain and I can flush it.

soybean: here is the paint for the caliper

 

[jordan]

well this is a real "ugh" I havent looked over my opel really since carlisle and there are alot of bubbling paint around the bottom of the fenders..any ideas? I assume that I will have to repaint that area, and I think i will go with something black would por 15 be the thing to use?

 

[bear]

Depending on the area you are thinking of painting, you can get a "starter set" of POR-15, for $14.95, in any of their basic colors, Gloss Black, Chassis Black, Gray, Silver and Clear. But, and they state this in all their catalogs and brochures, it is sensitive to UV or sun rays and will need a topcoat of some kind. You will need to follow the directions explicitly for outstanding results. What I've used and done so far have been great, I now have a shelf full of their products and will probably get more as I need them. What can I say, for me, it works as advertised. To thin their paint you need to get some of their solvent, if you are going to use a spray gun, but for general clean-up you can use xylene, which is fairly inexpensive at Home Depot. HTH.


Ron

 

[jordan]

does that go on bare metal, or can i just paint it on over existing paint?

 

[bear]

First off, if you have rust, you've got to neutralize it. That means getting the paint off of it however you want. The starter set from POR-15 has a cleaner, that is awesome and water soluble, that's the first step, second is a product called "Metal Ready" it's a neutralizer for rust and a metal prep solution, and it too is water soluble, that's the second step. Third is the paint itself, what I have done on badly rusted parts is wire wheel the living daylights out of it to remove as much rust as possible, the other parts that only had light rust, I did the 3-step process over the old paint, but I painted the whole part so it was totally sealed with the POR-15 paint. Do I like this stuff, well, my whole car and all the parts will be painted, to quote an old commercial, over, under, around, and through, with the RestoMotive products, they're the maker of POR-15. HTH.

Ron

 

[Old Hippie]

bucky, SORRY! Didn't mean to say you where 2-timeing Miss. C., only thought you picked up a "Junker" to do the grunt work , giving her the bee-u-tee runs only. Gotta keep our ladies happy, you know. That's why I got my pickup, it's gonna get to pick up everything I wouldn't put in my lady (when I get her finished, that is).