Driving Coupes in the Real World

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chapa

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We all know e9s rust. It's our thing. I'd like to know what those of us who actually drive their cars in weather that contains moisture do about it.

Is there a "rust avoidance" thread in the archives? What's the best way to drive our coupes, guilt free, in the real world, where water exists?
 
None that I know of. Unless it's been rotisseried and modern day rust proofed I don't see how it could be. If I get caught in a shower I won't put it away until I've had a chance to run it on the highway to air it out then dry everything else off as much as possible.

Every couple of months I blow out the fender cavities with compressed air to get all the moisture-holding dirt and dust out of there. Pretty amazing what flies out of the innnards.


chapa said:
We all know e9s rust. It's our thing. I'd like to know what those of us who actually drive their cars in weather that contains moisture do about it.

Is there a "rust avoidance" thread in the archives? What's the best way to drive our coupes, guilt free, in the real world, where water exists?
Click to expand...
 
Stevehose said:
None that I know of. Unless it's been rotisseried and modern day rust proofed I don't see how it could be. If I get caught in a shower I won't put it away until I've had a chance to run it on the highway to air it out then dry everything else off as much as possible.

Every couple of months I blow out the fender cavities with compressed air to get all the moisture-holding dirt and dust out of there. Pretty amazing what flies out of the innnards.
Click to expand...
but Steve, where you live the air never dries out ... there's as much moisture in the air whether it is raining or its not.
 
Guilt free? No, I always cringe when driving in rainy weather. On a long trip it can't be helped. There are some steps to mitigate damage from rain, road spray and dirt.

Coating the undercarriage and fender wells with Fluid Film which is a sprayable waxoil type rust preventer is a good idea. There are several retailers and kits available, also several youtube videos about it.

Lokari fender liners are a Swedish product. They are a metal liner, with rubber edges. Thay are usually sprayed with undercoating, and fit inside the front fenders. They help prevent water and dirt from collecting in the shelves and ledges.
 
That's where the waxoil comes into play...I hope

I haven't seen evidence on my car that humidity is a significant rust producer. I think salt and trapped water are much bigger concerns.


rsporsche said:
but Steve, where you live the air never dries out ... there's as much moisture in the air whether it is raining or its not.
Click to expand...
 
Drive mine in the rain if I have to (matter of having to here in NZ, rains quite a bit at times), also wash it with water and use a pressure washer to do so, but with a soft spray nossle from a goodly distance from the car.
As for rust protection, when i rebuilt it I spent a lot of time squirting Rust protection spray everywhere I could, sills, strut tops, doors, pillars etc etc
The most important part as far as I'm concerned is the strut tops, I have completely closed of the openings in the inner guards at the back of the front wheels and the open part of the guard above the wheels, for each side I made 3 separate 3 mm thick plastic filler pieces, I put rubber lip mouldings around the edges of these to help with sealing to the body work, any small gaps I had after this i filled with a flexible body sealer, and lastly a nice layer of under sealer over the top of everything.
I left a couple of small drain holes in the lower points to allow any stray water that does get in to get out, these I shaped in such a way that water and dirt can not be driven up into them, these filler panels are screwed in place, so after a year or so I can remove them, re treat with cavity wax etc, and refit them.

Quite a bit of extra work, but I didn't want to own a garage queen that only came out a few weeks a year when it's fine. Now that it's finished I'm going drive it rain or shine and enjoy it. :)
 
Stevehose said:
...

Every couple of months I blow out the fender cavities with compressed air to get all the moisture-holding dirt and dust out of there. Pretty amazing what flies out of the innnards.
Click to expand...

Maybe my odometer reset knob fell there...
 
Back in the day, using Volvo(?) fender liners was a thing. Anybody here have that setup? I have a parts car that the original owner Ziebart-ed and drove for decades here in Chicago. It looks pretty damn good, but I haven't seriously scraped the gunk off any of the important bits.
 
adawil2002 said:
Guilt free? No, I always cringe when driving in rainy weather. On a long trip it can't be helped. There are some steps to mitigate damage from rain, road spray and dirt.

Coating the undercarriage and fender wells with Fluid Film which is a sprayable waxoil type rust preventer is a good idea. There are several retailers and kits available, also several youtube videos about it.

Lokari fender liners are a Swedish product. They are a metal liner, with rubber edges. Thay are usually sprayed with undercoating, and fit inside the front fenders. They help prevent water and dirt from collecting in the shelves and ledges.
Click to expand...

+1
i am using lokaris and once a year spraying fluid film
water is in the air unless you live in the sahara or mojave desterts ;-)
 
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