Time to get down and dirty …….
Like so many other NAs and NBs, the suspension components on my Roadster appeared seriously corroded. Everything is structurally sound, but aesthetically, I thought it could be much better.
I’d bought Bilt Hamber rust converter to deal with this and any other significant rust on the Roadster:
I also bought some Corroless chassis paint:
My intention was not to achieve a showroom-type finish, just to improve the look (perhaps also avoiding what appears to be a stock MoT tester’s advisory note) and, hopefully, delay the onset of more corrosion.
Armed with a selection of wire brushes and working one corner at a time, I removed as much of the loose surface rust as I could, but I didn’t bother cutting back to bare, shiny metal – this wasn’t going to be a restoration. This was followed by a liberal coating of Hydrate 80. I left it to do its work and came back to black(ish) suspension components.
My Roadster is garaged and, wherever possible it’s not used in poor weather - we have another car for everyday use – so I decided on an experiment. I would apply the Corroless paint only to one of the 4 corners, leave it until the spring and then assess whether Hydrate 80, on its own is capable of suppressing further (atmospheric) corrosion. After 6 months, it looks like this:
As for the bodywork, everything seems in good condition and there’s no evidence of paint bubbling at the wheel arches, with all original spot welds present:
I bought a borescope to inspect the cavities:
In case anyone’s thinking of getting one of these, here are some examples from mine, showing inside the sills:
and inside the front chassis rails:
Along with the Hydrate 80 I also bought some Bilt Hamber Dynax S50 for inside the sills and the chassis rails.
This will be a job for the spring/summer. Again, this will be to delay further corrosion rather than eliminate it.