How fast does salt dissolve non galvanised cars?

[HillmanImp]

I washed down the GT6 today after driving it on salted roads for the last 2 weeks and there is rust EVERYWHERE.There were bits of rust here and there but this is mental. Swear it was not there before. Do cars dissolve this quickly with the amount of salt they have to cover the roads with these days, so that they dont get sued by a bunch of Daily Mail readers.'I was driving my car at 65mph and i crashed into a tree your honour, and its the councils fault'Nearly finished the Imp and think i might have another weldathon coming up.

[Station]

Water and oxygen cause this, salt accelerates it!

[Rusty Pelican]

If the water and oxygen and therefore the salt cant get at the steel it wont rust , simple really , trouble is your little bits of rust are exposed , tiny stone chips , little cracks in underseal any not covered steel desolves in this , even worst is when it rains , salt is carried by the water and is rammed into every orifice at 100 gallons a minute per wheel on rain sodden roads , any internal leaks make this 100 times worst as it never drys out , could be worst though , could be an Alfa .remember cars rot from the inside out

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Just lash loads of thinned-down waxoyl everywhere and cross your fingers, thats what I do. I'm not sure it works all that well but I havent got any better ideas which require simlarly small amounts of energy.

[HillmanImp]

Going to order a mountain of Bilt Hammer products this morning. There were bits and bobs of rust before but it looks awful in places now. Nowt to worry about but was totally shocked when i was washing it.

[dollywobbler]

Bilt Hamber's good stuff. The salt really accelerates things. Any scratches will very quickly give rust a foothold. I find chromework really suffers during the winter too.

[seth]

Use your car all year round and expect a weldathon at some point. Should get a few years of fun out of it first though.

[Guest]

I regularly lash WD40 over any little bits of surface rust when winter comes in and that seems to stop it doing anything.I also go to the jet wash very often (about twice a week if it's this bad!) and give it a good blasting.

[AnthonyG]

In this weather I would wash it more regularly than every 2 weeks if your using it every day. Hirst, Bollox and particularly Seths words are of definite wisdom. TBH, I would use the VW instead if its on the road.

[Lankytim]

I had this problem with the Allegro. When I bought it it was pretty much rust free, but had loads of flaky underseal and surface rust underneath. I used it during last winter and it basically fell to bits, leaving me holding a steering wheel. Its currenty in a bodyshop having both inner wings, sills and rear arches replaced. When I get it back its getting waxoyled to death.The Audi is suffering from the elements and salt too. Its going to need welding for its next MOT and when thats done its getting thouroughly waxed aswell.In the meantime I find that regular washing over the winter period including a damn good underbody jetting and scrubbing session helps to keep serious rot at bay. I think many older cars are "finished off" by owners who drive them though a salty winter and never bother to clean the salt laden slush and mud from the underbody. Im toying with the idea of using a garden pump-spray thing filled with thinned down used engine oil. It may be messy but I bet it would do the trick if re-applied on a regular basis!

[Lukas]

In Austria (salt from october until april), almost nobody drives old cars during winter, most cars are on winter-brake now. I don´t drive my 1988 Camry now too, because I saw in the last years what happens to 80s-cars now. They almost disintegrated. I can watch this when looking at my Galloper. I painted the front bumper black in september and now it´s half-orange because of rust. Ok, I did not sandblast if before, I just sanded it down, but it´s amazing to see how fast rust starts to eat my cars when winter set´s in. Everyone here would call you a maniac because you drive a GT6 in winter.

[Lukas]

A good waxoyl-rustprotection is everything, just look at some pictures of a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Estate with 34.000km and a 2005 Suzuki Liana DDiS with 78.000km on the clock:

 

 

This was the left rear-arch of the Liana:

 

 

And that´s the Lancer:

 

Left rear-arch

 

 

left frontfender, the right one looks exactly like that

 

 

So you see, not only old cars are affected, a good waxoyl-treatment is everything!

[Guest]

Oh no, someone mentioned rust in front of Lukas! We'll be here all night now.Although I must add that when my dad was getting rid of his 407SW (3 years old at the time), it was rotting away nicely underneath the plastic strip on the tailgate. Bit poor really. Wonder if his Avensis replacement will go the same way, seems to be holding up well at the moment.

[Lukas]

Don´t worry, I´ll try to behave myself!

[trigger]

My 3 year old (At the time) Focus Ghia was rusting away on the tailgate around the chrome bit in the centre of the boot, It had a nasty scab that ran rust down the chrome part, looked well naff.

[mk1_4dr]

Theres a reason I refer to mine as escRot. They do take some keeping up to, I've just had some fresh metal laid into mine for the annual test - Strut top repair, both sills patched, couple of bits on the inner sills and theres still a little hole in the boot floor to do.While getting it tested, I did notice that I've done 11.5K in this last year....As I've said, this will hopefully be the last year I have to run it throughout the winter meaning I can start getting jobs done to safeguard it for the future

[Rusty Pelican]

Waxoil is everything but the quality of steel in the first place plays a major part , heres the inner arch of my 44 year old Singer after a quick spray job , never been undersealed and stayed solid even though it was stoned chipped all over , all four now look like this

 

The NS before the paint job

 

 

 

The OS after the paint job

 

 

Steel quality is everything

[Station]

Seems it varies, my gf's MGF was sparsely waxoyled from factory and has never been treated since, and has minimal rust (which totally surprises me being from the Rover camp). My Astra has had it's rear arches replaced, but apart from that, it's like it resists rust. A lot of the Italian rust problems were because the extremely cheap steel was sourced from Russia for a long time, so I hear.

[HillmanImp]

Have found some Hydrate-80 in the garage so will whack that on the affected areas this week and repaint them. My old GT6 was my only car, driven 50m a day and i never had anything come up like this. Literally just appeared in a matter of days. Upon looking again, i am beginning to think that it had maybe been covered up before and is now reappearing. Need to get my paint code for some touch up spray.At least i have now found a garage that has a working jetwash (the 2 near me are closed, not sure if its ice or snow) i can tootle down when i have been out. Know what you mean about modern cars though. From what i understand, the manufacturers stopped galvanizing them as they were making them last too long. Would not surprise me. Try finding rust on a mid 90's Pug or Citroen. There would not be much.

[Lukas]

You are absolutely right when it comes too rust-protection on new cars, but that´s another topic. I could talk and show examples about this topic all night long, Hirst knows, but thankfully that´s not the topic here so I´ll behave.

[Polystratus]

At least i have now found a garage that has a working jetwash (the 2 near me are closed, not sure if its ice or snow) i can tootle down when i have been out. Know what you mean about modern cars though. From what i understand, the manufacturers stopped galvanizing them as they were making them last too long. Would not surprise me. Try finding rust on a mid 90's Pug or Citroen. There would not be much.

Think they usually close them due to H&S reasons (icy surfaces etc), I used the Asda one today not brill but at least the underside got it's weekly clean, but quite a few garages that a had a jet wash bay have now gone over to those hand car wash things. Might be a good idea to invest in a small jet wash.A 90's car can rust just as much if the owner hasn't been bothered to wash it much in winter, I've seen some mid 90's VW Polo's with a lot of rusty wheels, doors and wheel arches.

[brammy777]

Ive seen a fair few late nineties Mercs with rusty front wings and headlight surrounds, and polos. Obviously the MKIV Ford Fiesta is one of the more rusty modern cars, and seeing as theyre now falling into that 'worth not much thus not cared for' category, they will dissappear fast one day.

[Lankytim]

This thread prompted me to give the Audi a damn good scrub and hose off. Much salty filth was hosed away from the underside but ive found that the rusty areas I mentioned previously have got much worse over the last month or so.... Roll on MOT time so I can get a load of annoying bodywork issues sorted and go crazy with the rust proofer!On the plus side it did look all shiny and clean for a change.

[Hudsonpie]

We had a MKIV Fiesta for a while until I looked underneath.....every welded seam had burst around the back half of the car.....soon flogged it ....now have a Polo which is peppered with heavy surface rust underneath, but shes still solid. The bleed nipples on the front calipers are rustier than an ugly birds chastity belt.......oh joyThe jet wash in our village is brilliant, although I get some funny looks if Im down there blowing crud off a gear box

[AnthonyG]

Hey Rusty Pelican - I bet that Singer is a Series Minx (Audax) or Super Minx type - Rootes cars were really well built until Chrysler bought into the company and started cost cutting in the mid 1960s. (Edit:Just noticed its a two door - so must be a Rapier - great cars )My dad had four Rootes group cars in the 1960s in all, but never had one after the Arrow Minx (Hunter) came out in 1967 - reckoned the metal was a lot thinner and the paint quality not as good as the earlier cars.

[Rusty Pelican]

Hey Rusty Pelican - I bet that Singer is a Series Minx (Audax) or Super Minx type - Rootes cars were really well built until Chrysler bought into the company and started cost cutting in the mid 1960s.

 

My dad had four Rootes group cars in the 1960s in all, but never had one after the Arrow Minx (Hunter) came out in 1967 - reckoned the metal was a lot thinner and the paint quality not as good as the earlier cars.

Nope , youve lost the bet im afraid , please send forfit prize to me , its this

 

[pogweasel]

Surely the suspension arrangement should have given that away Anthony_G

[AnthonyG]

There you go - they must have used much better quality steel than Minis then .

[retro80sboy]

took the escort van to the local garage and got the power wash on it today to try and wash all the salt off it.for the sake of a couple of quid every couple of weeks in the winter its well worth it.

[greengartside]

My 3 year old (At the time) Focus Ghia was rusting away on the tailgate around the chrome bit in the centre of the boot, It had a nasty scab that ran rust down the chrome part, looked well naff.

That's actually a design fault! A lot of the Ghia's with the chrome tailgate finisher bit have rust issues around there. I have seen quite a few in the scrapyards with this issue....