I haven't done anything I said I was going to, but have still been busy today.
Another weekend, another opportunity to lift up the back end of the car and take bits off, before laying on some wet tarmac in the rain.
So, this morning I jacked it up as high as the trolley jack would allow, popped in some stands, whipped off the back wheels, removed the spare and carrier, then set to removing both of the rear wheel arch liners;
This meant I could get a good look at the hidden rust;
Drivers side
and the arch that has just been repaired;
Passengers side
Both sides were suffering along the bottom of the inside edge, I couldn't get the access to this that I wanted on the drivers side because of the rear box and heat shield. I will attend to this area when I can get the car to the garage, at which point I will do the rest of the underside.
Boot floor
Wasn't so bad, but was a bit tatty on the chassis rail, I think the other side won't be quite as bad, I expect it will have had some protection due to the exhaust and heat shield. Could be wrong though.
Spare wheel carrier was also very tatty.
So, using a drill with a wire brush attachment, I cleaned up the rusty bits, then washed / degreased with Auto Glym Engine & Machine Cleaner, before rinsing and drying with paper towel. While that was drying a bit more, I washed off the wheel arch liners, using the same stuff. What really surprised me was how quickly they dried - granted, it was quite breezy, but within 2 hrs they were pretty much dry.
Next step was to treat the arches and boot floor with some Hydrate 80, this stuff is pretty thin, my daughter thought the car needed some milk!
The fuel filler pipe makes things a touch awkward on the near side, but I am pretty sure I got reasonable coverage. Also tried to get up to the filler neck as much as possible.
When applying it was a very light blue colour, which was initially concerning, but it soon dried to a translucent grey colour.
I applied two coats of the Hydrate 80, left it for a while, sprayed some Dynax S-80 in the cavities that were accessible, then had a crack at the spare wheel carrier. No pics of this yet, but I gave it a quick buzz over with the drill & wire brush, and have since given both sides a single coat of Hydrate.
All being well, I won't need the car until later this week, currently, and subject to weather, the plan is to give the boot floor / arches a coat of Dynax UB tomorrow evening, followed by a second on Tuesday evening. Spare wheel tray should get a second coat of Hydrate tomorrow evening, then maybe just one coat of Dynax.
Comments welcome, as always.