Check your rocker panel drain holes!

bmwsydney

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This is a fascinating post. Have to say I wish it could just stay in the forum rather than Tapatalk which I find clunky. Also I know this post is very old but still very worthwhile.


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Stevehose

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It's not that old a thread, my car is still on blocks with all the side projects this has launched :D Easy to take things apart, VERY time consuming getting things back on correctly. Hats off to those who have reassembled their cars after paint etc.

This is a fascinating post. Have to say I wish it could just stay in the forum rather than Tapatalk which I find clunky. Also I know this post is very old but still very worthwhile.


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Markos

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This is a fascinating post. Have to say I wish it could just stay in the forum rather than Tapatalk which I find clunky. Also I know this post is very old but still very worthwhile.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You can uninstall Tapatalk. I'm not a fan and I use the forum on my phone 90% of the time.
 

bmwsydney

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It's not that old a thread, my car is still on blocks with all the side projects this has launched :D Easy to take things apart, VERY time consuming getting things back on correctly. Hats off to those who have reassembled their cars after paint etc.
I misread the dates......
 

Stevehose

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After a month on blocks the water intrusion remidiation project is finished and the car hit the streets, a drain cleaning project turned into a slippery slope of additional ones:

Removed old tar insulation on floors, etched any bare metal, treated with por-15, cavity waxed, installed new dynamat.
Etched and cavity waxed inside the rockers, rocker drains, and frame rails.
Sent Europa stereo to Becker Autosound for cleanup/rebuild.
Relocated Becker amp box to better location in passenger footwell.
Repaired passenger footwell foam.
Touched up seats with Leatherique dye.
Shampooed all carpets.
Cleaned, greased, and aligned front window tracks, repacked gear boxes, new stop buffers.
Disassembled and regreased both rear window tracks, new stop buffers.
Cut and installed new front and rear window vapor barriers.
Removed the 3 front grilles and cleaned them and area behind.
Tidied up interior wiring running from engine compartment and stereo to rear seat amp and window relays.
Trimmed drive shaft to fit flush to tranny flange (needed washers before), new nose bushing and realigned center bearing.
Sealed all exhaust joints with paste and fabricated new hangers.
Cleaned up fuel pump wiring.
Cleaned and repainted rocker covers.
Cleaned under carriage.
Detailed inside and out.

Finally good to go!

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jefflit

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I'm interested to know how you etched and cavity waxed inside the rockers. I have some extra access at the moment due to typical rust hole in front of rear wheels. Not super bad but I'd love to stop any further corrosion before I repair. I've got Phosphoric acid for etching but for best results you should remove any loose scaling and it is supposed to be sprayed on and then rinsed off. Both those steps seem impractical inside a rocker. Also, I've never attempted to wax in a cavity. Special tools or garden sprayer or ??? with what wax?
 

bavbob

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I have a flex magnet, about 2 feet long. Before doing the above with Eastwood, I ran the magnet through the frame rails and rockers, pulled out lots of rust debris. Rather protect the rails and rockers than the dust.
 

Stevehose

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My rockers were free of rust so I just blasted the KBS in there. I did convert the inner frame rails just in case, then waxed them.
 

Stevehose

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Yep, come back for another cool food venue. The drink signs are original, they were discovered behind a facade when they renovated to renovate the place.

Steve,
Is this the place we went for dinner the last time I was in NOLA? It was great driving your car!!
 
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Drew Gregg

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Hear me now and believe me later, if you haven't physically cleaned out the 5 drain holes on each rocker, do yourself a favor and pull off the covers asap and run a zip tie or metal wire up each one to verify they are clean.

I confirmed the reason why my driver side carpets got soaked on the way home from the Vintage, rain came in the rear side window, filled up the rocker because the drains were plugged, and spilled into the floors.

Here's the body count: the driver side had 4 of the 5 holes plugged, and the front and rear ones were also bent closed! Probably from improper jacking or who knows, I had to bend them open then clean them out. I also noticed that the rear most drain doesn't seem to empty out the rocker like the others, it drains the area between the rear wheel arch and the body panel. Confirmed by spraying rust converter in that area vs down into the rear most point of the rocker which drains out the second to back hole. Fun stuff.

The passenger side, although dry, had the front and rear drains clogged and bent. Nasty and I feel like an idiot for not checking these even though I take the covers off annually to clean underneath.

Check yours! Here are some ugly pics to show you why.

Each drain has a little opening bent into the inside rocker, this one needed a wire to break through the crap, then a zip tie to further break up the sludge:

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On the end of the wire is a mixture of water and silt turned into a paste:

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This one was bent closed and full of crap:

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Surprise, last week's water came out!

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Sh!t from the front driver side drain:

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I've flushed the rockers with POR-15 metal prep rust converter then tomorrow will cavity wax. Then I will treat any outer surface rust and repaint. Luckily the rockers are in good shape because when I got the car I cavity waxed in there, but that was 7 years ago.

Also check your frame rail drains, there are 3 each side, at the bottom of the first downward bend from the engine compartment, at the bottom of the slope where it ends at the floors, and in the inboard vertical side near the tranny bracket.

You've been warned :D
Steve--I had water get into my driver-side floor after the long drive home from Highlands last June. I drove through extremely hard rain for several hours. My new carpet and jute under the heavy rubber backed cocomat was wet. The inside of the sill carpet was dry,so I doubt the water came through the 3 holes in the sill.
The drain holes in the bottom of my rocker panel are a mess. It looks like the car was lifted on almost all of them and only one of the 5 nubs in the metal along the bottom seam was open enough to poke a piece of coat hanger into it. The others are bent shut. You said that you flushed the rockers with POR-15. Did you
spray that in from the open front in the wheel well? I bought the W&N part that seals up that entire opening,and I used a SEM seam sealer all around it since the rubber gasket was not watertight. It looks like my rockers are sealed up and the only way to get anything in there would be through the drain holes. How did you open up your drains? The pics above don't show the holes open. Thanks for your help---Drew
 

DWMBMW

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