Dreaded Rust :(

[S-Express]

amazing cheap rust remedy:

http://www.cookhaus.co.uk/vinegar/index.htm

I wont be buying expensive Bilt Hamber rust removal powder again after seeing this

[Jamo]

Well yeah Vinegar is an acid ( ethanoic if I remember correctly ) it's why I never put it on chips!

To be fair most vinegar is diluted but purer forms **** me clean anything!

[Error404]

amazing cheap rust remedy:

http://www.cookhaus.co.uk/vinegar/index.htm

I wont be buying expensive Bilt Hamber rust removal powder again after seeing this

I'm off to get me a bath of vinegar tomorrow - must ahve spent £100 + on rust reomvers in the past couple of years!

Took off the drivers side rear arch liner this evening - simlar pattern but not as bad





metal is thinner after a go with the wire brush, but not rusted through... some Metal Ready and POR15 will sort that out no probs luckily i think

[gunman]

i've never really known one of these cars to rot myself either with the exeption of the front arches and once a spare wheeln well in an avant with a leaky boot but may I be permitted a small chuckle to myself to see people surprised at finding rust on their car? One of the main things I love about these cars is the fact they dont rust, I cant use my manta in the wet for fear of seeing bubbles again and tbh these pics seem tame to me after what I faced on the manta:

after drilling the spot welds on the front panel:







the manufacturing:







The manufacture of new chassis rails:











beleive me theres loads more but you'll get the idea and I dont want to go off topic ore bore anyone with non Audi pics (sorry), on the grand scale these Audi's are a dream

[Error404]

Well, found more rust yesterday

Rear corner of the boot floor near the drivers side exhaust hanger is almost rusted through, i can push the panel up a few mil with my finger, i know i coould get a screwdriver through it if i tried. Boot floor assembly is over a grand even if its still available, so i'll need to try and cut a replacement piece out of a decent shell... luckily my mate is a pretty expert welder who thinks its pretty do-able if i can find a good shell to act as a donor.
This area of the shell above the back-box heatshield had next to zero underseal on it

So i'm stripping the entire underside of the car back to bare metal, then will use a zinc coating, then POR15, then 3M body sealer, then two Dinitrol products - not for the faint hearted. I've so far done the boot floor as far as the rear subframe mounts and killed 2 wire brushes.... going to need a trade account with Frosts before long i think

Determined that the rot won't claim this car, i've invested too much time, effort and money to not do the job properly.
Looks like the cars off the road for some time now, while I get this done... then i still need the arches replaced.

Bit of a wake-up call I think, these cars WILL rot, just a bit more slowly than others, and it spreads UNDER the sealer where you can't see it

I'll post some pics later for those who have a strong stomach. Its pretty nasty.

Oh and so far I can't see any evidence the car has been repaired at the rear, i think its just older than most and had a hard life before I rescued it

[Acidburn]

Sounds like its been parked up on grass or gravel, that eats away at the underneath of a car quickly.

The spare shell is in the lockup with my s2 so i'll speak to the guy about you cutting out sections, think puglife might be coming down for some at the same time, the stig will also be there on the 21st so should be a good day.

Shame that its got to be off the road but will be a good time to do some stuff on it, especially with the engine when its removed.

btw I will have a spare 3b loom if your interested

[Error404]

Cool - should be a good day then mate - i'm bringing my mate Si to help with the engine removal too
I'll chat to you about the other bits then too

Keep telling myself i'll have a practically brand new car once this under body treatment is done and I've rebuilt the engine and fitted that - one day!!

[Error404]

Welcome to my nightmate











It all eminates from mounting points on the chassis. Where the heat shields were mounted, there were steel washers between the heatshield and the body - these corroded and then spread to the body itself, where the evil stuff continued to rape my poor car.
going to need to cut out the bit thats rusted through, i'm hoping i can save a lot of it with a good sticky rust remover like Deox Gel.

I wonder what other treats are in store for me as i progress down the car
I hope to hell this is the worst of it.

Want my advice? Whip off your back box and heat shield and check yours, hoepfully it'll just need a coat of decent sealer.

[Acidburn]

I've got to remove my heatshield soon, exhaust system is already off, mine did not look too bad when I saw it tho there was a patch inside the boot in the pocket at the back

[AndyP]

amazing cheap rust remedy:

http://www.cookhaus.co.uk/vinegar/index.htm

I wont be buying expensive Bilt Hamber rust removal powder again after seeing this

That's awsome, I'm off to Costco tomorrow to see if they do 25ltr drums of vinegar

[Jamo]

Do you think it would be safe to do hubs in vinegar? would it attack the wheel bearing?

[lind4hl]

do you people call that rust??? rust is when you need to replace 70% of the car, these stuff is easy to do

[Error404]

easy enough but a painstaking pain in the *** that takes ****ing ages and cost a fortune unless you do it yourself!

[AndyP]

Do you think it would be safe to do hubs in vinegar? would it attack the wheel bearing?

The vinegar bath works brilliantly, but it wont shift the sort of heavy rust that you find on hubs, trust me I've tried it. I had the bearings pressed out and had them blasted, then put them in vinegar to finish off any remaining rust before treating them with POR 15 Metal ready and POR15 black paint. They now look like new!