Ziebart Treatment, a poll.

[Carledo]

I haven't owned enough Dolomites for a statistical universe, but 6 out of 8 that i've owned have been Ziebart treated which seems too many to be a coincidence! (this is not counting 3 rotted out examples I bought as spares donors which weren't Ziebarted)

So I thought i'd conduct a poll here and see what everyone elses experiences are. it's a simple Yes/No/don't know poll.

If you aren't sure if the car WAS Ziebarted the giveaway is a number of black or yellow plastic plugs all round the door shuts that are visible with the doors open. Close inspection of these will reveal a square logo and sometimes the word Ziebart on the plugs themselves. there were also different levels of coverage, sometimes the entire underbonnet and complete boot area were coated along with the underside, sometimes not. From what I understand, this was a customer decision. The job was ALWAYS done at the point of sale, ie between delivery to the selling dealer and their delivery to the customer. Ziebart wouldn't treat a car that was already on the road.

Thanks, Steve

[new to this]

My car is a 74 M reg it was Ziebart but still rusty, as I've replaced the rear sill steps both sides , and bottom of door pillars, i drilled holes to put rubber grommets in its a good way of getting wax oil in

Dave

[Macleesh]

Mine was Ziebarted

Can't say it made a huge difference but I may be being harsh as it was in pretty good nick when I got it at 6 years old, it had certainly never been welded. It did have sills and front door skins a few years later and still rotted in most of the usual places.

I never understood why the whole engine bay and boot were treated though, it just means you get covered in a black sticky mess when doing anything under the bonnet and in my experience cars don't tend to rust from the engine bay out? Can sort of understand the boot floor at least being treated which is what they did to mine, stopping about the level of the tank top. The bowl under the tank still rotted out thought.

Sean

[RSi]

Mine was Ziebarted prior to collection from the selling garage - the garage owner told me it was a request by the buyer so was done before he got it.

The areas Ziebarted on RNK:
The whole underside (heavy coating), under front outer and inner wings and round the rear of the headlamp bowls (heavy coating), inside bottom of front panel (heavy coating), inside the rear wings double skin panels, inside all doors, inside all door pillars, inside and outside sills, outside bottom of the rear wings and back panel, under both boot and bonnet, strut tops, and both internal front floor pans.

Murdo

[RSi]

Mine was Ziebarted

I never understood why the whole engine bay and boot were treated though, it just means you get covered in a black sticky mess when doing anything under the bonnet and in my experience cars don't tend to rust from the engine bay out?

Sean

Fords were horrendous for completely rotting out under the bonnet - probably the worst area.

[Carledo]

I can't say that, 50 years on, The Ziebart treatment has kept the cars spotless. Truthfully, I wouldn't expect it to. But, of all the treatments available at the time, it seems to have had the best success rate and even now, Ziebarted cars are in generally better nick than untreated ones.

What I do know is that all 3 of my current Dolomites were treated and all 3 were still on their original sills when I bought them. 2 still are, the Carledo had it's sills replaced in 2012 and not re-treated, they now need doing again. My bad, When I did the mini resto that included the sills and a cheap respray, I didn't think i'd still have the car 12 years later! Most mechanics have a very high turnover rate!

There is little doubt in my mind that the average lifespan of an untreated Dolomite was around 10 years. I once failed a 1980 1500HL on it's FIRST MOT (just 3 years old) for corrosion in all 4 front subframe mounting points! So anything over that is pretty much bonus! Obviously there are a number of cars that were loved and cared for from new, that's true of any make or model and those cars are the core of the original condition survivors. It's also true that the first owners of many of these vehicles elected to protect them as much as possible and spent that bit extra money on Ziebart. Like Murdo's lovely Sprint.

Steve

[GlenM]

Wasn't there another rust treatment called Cadulac?

[Macleesh]

Wasn't there another rust treatment called Cadulac?

I think there were a few brands. My friend's Mum had a 1500HL with Dinitrol stickers all over it but it fared worse than my car which was 3 years older. It had a pretty knackered front valence and rear arches.

[marshman]

My '75 Sprint doesn't look like it was Ziebated - no tell tale plugs anywhere. It has had some welding in the past but not a massive amount. Not sure of it's history but I'm pretty sure it has "gone round the clock" - it now shows 17,000 miles and the dash and dash loom have the correct date showing on the tags so I think it is the original. The body does have rust and I really should take it off the road and sort the bodywork out sooner rather than later but I just enjoy driving it too much!

As an aside my father bought a Fiat 132 in 1973 (M plate), he had that Ziebarted. 6 years later it needed two new front wings and a respray, 2 years later it was in the scrap yard rusted out - but then it was a Fiat !

[Richard the old one]

Ziebart and other rust protection treatments.

When I purchased my first 1500HL Dolomite in May 1977 I had it Ziebarted and when I checked it over I did find a couple of areas where I considered the coverage to be either lacking or poor so I took it back and these areas were treated to my satisfaction. The treatment was only guaranteed for 10 years or 100,000miles and there were conditions such as at 2 years or 20,000 miles the car had to be made available at an authorised Ziebart centre for inspection. I still have this car and it has over 320,000 miles on the clock. It has had quite a bit of welding done to it such as repairs to the jacking points, the engine bulkhead, the off side rear door, the lower sections of the front wings, rear edge of the roof and the rear wheel arches but has lived outside most of its life and the chassis legs are still fine. After the 2 year official inspection I started to regularly, say about every 5 years, to treat the car with Waxoil and I do try to do this on all my dolomites. This is somewhat messy process so more recently I have been converted to using Bilt Hamber DYNAX S50 which comes with a 2 ft long injection lance. I certainly believe that the Ziebart and later waxoil has worked well in slowing up the rust process. I have added some additional injection points to all my cars over the years to get better coverage of the jacking points and around the lower front windscreen. I have covered this in an article that has been published in Dolly Mixtures.

My other 1977 Russet Brown 1500HL was purchased by me in July 2015 and in was treated with Endrust which had a 6 year / 100,000 mile guarantee but when I purchased it, it required some welding.

My 1980 Brooklands Green 1500HL Dolomite which I obtained in 2002 was treated with Protectol Gold Seal from new. This came with a 12 year guarantee but again had to be taken for inspection / treatment every couple of years.

My 1982 Carmine red 1500HL was purchased by me in 2018 was treated with Cadulac rust treatment but I have had to have the off side chassis leg repaired.

[jackharper]

My 1980 Dolly 1300 was - in some areas underneath the ziebart was like new! in others not so much, though probably where it cracked and let mud/water in.

My 1973 Toledo was not.

My dad's marina is as well - again, some areas spotless, others where it cracked and let water in not so much. Though saying that, it's still on the road and MOT'd, so overall the ziebart protection probably saved the car.

[shaunroche]

My original '73 sprint, UUW 410M was Ziebarted from new as was my '75 Race Sprint - Ironically, when we took the cills off during restoration of the later, it had only been Ziebarted on the nearside and the offside internals were bare, unpainted, original, and completely rotted away....

[MarcTozer]

My Sprint has not been Ziebart treated.
I guy who owned it before me had a pit and used brush the old engine oil from an oil change on the underside.
It's never been welded, however its dirty when working underneath! There is only edge rust on the spotweld flanges.
The Dolomite was the first car BL e-coat dipped, but they neglected to put drain holes to pass the e-coat paint into the box sections, some may have got better e-coat penetration than others - If you see a rusty Transit (Sills, W/Arches) similar thing (wax was injected to pass the corrosion warranty).
So, if the metal was starting to rust before it was Ziebarted it will only delay the inevitable, as will adding wax-oil.
The initial pre-treatment of the metal is the most important for corrosion resistance.
At some stage it will catch up with my car and it will need some welding work.
That's my contribution, like it or not.