Having looked at various posts on here, I finally had a good poke round on my Z. I'm no mechanic, so help from my local body shop was needed! The pictures tell the story.
Looking good - from a distance!
Close up & there were signs of surface rust on all 4 corners of the sills, surface marks on the rear arches & an unsightly chip on the drivers door that was also threatening tin rot.
I was dreading the rear arches & front wings being rotten, but they were virtually perfect, apart from the aforementioned stone chip marks. The sills, on the other hand were terrible! They could be bent by hand & the rust had progressed nearly a foot from front & rear edges on both sides.
Fortunately, the inner sills had only very slight rust spots on the drivers side, with no signs of any problems on the passenger side.
The recommended solution was to remove all visible rust, then spray with rust resistant zinc (I'm not sure of the proprietary name). This was done to all of the surfaces on the inner panels, sills, the inside of the rear arches & front wings, and the inside of the doors. Afterwards, a generous layer of waxoil was applied to all of the areas. New outer sills were obtained from a breakers yard (in perfect condition) & given the same treatment.
Finally, all the affected panels were re-sprayed & lacquered. I'm delighted with the results. All I need now is for my shoulder to get better so I can drive her (I'm off driving due to a rotator cuff repair until the end of June
), and some sunshine to show her off!
Pictures of the full car as soon as the sun shines & I can get her out!
Looking good - from a distance!
Close up & there were signs of surface rust on all 4 corners of the sills, surface marks on the rear arches & an unsightly chip on the drivers door that was also threatening tin rot.
I was dreading the rear arches & front wings being rotten, but they were virtually perfect, apart from the aforementioned stone chip marks. The sills, on the other hand were terrible! They could be bent by hand & the rust had progressed nearly a foot from front & rear edges on both sides.
Fortunately, the inner sills had only very slight rust spots on the drivers side, with no signs of any problems on the passenger side.
The recommended solution was to remove all visible rust, then spray with rust resistant zinc (I'm not sure of the proprietary name). This was done to all of the surfaces on the inner panels, sills, the inside of the rear arches & front wings, and the inside of the doors. Afterwards, a generous layer of waxoil was applied to all of the areas. New outer sills were obtained from a breakers yard (in perfect condition) & given the same treatment.
Finally, all the affected panels were re-sprayed & lacquered. I'm delighted with the results. All I need now is for my shoulder to get better so I can drive her (I'm off driving due to a rotator cuff repair until the end of June
), and some sunshine to show her off!Pictures of the full car as soon as the sun shines & I can get her out!
. Good luck in rectifying your problem.
