The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Hi, on restoring my 1300fwd I am faced with a lot of rust inside box sections and sills. I have cut the sills off and the inner centre section is rusted through at the bottom and will need strengthening before re-fitting outer sill. My question is what can I do to the rust inside the sill section to help prevent or slow down further rust damage? I could repair centre section and weld outer sill in place and then spray waxoyl or similar into the assembly. Problem is that you can never get into every nook and cranny. There will be several weeks before I need to weld the sills, so could I brush on waxoyl or similar onto the rust and leave to soak before welding outer sill into place? Would the inflammable side of the waxoyl have evaporated over a period of weeks or is there a substance I can paint onto exposed rust before welding over it?
Appreciate your comments.
Pete

Cut out any proper rust. Knotted wire wheel anything you can get access to. Kurust *everything* - even if it looks ok. Zinc primer the lot. Weld in new metal everywhere you can. Paint anything you can. Waxoil everything. Cross your fingers.

The only way to remove rust is to remove the rust - anything else just puts it off for a while.

That re-enforcer looks shot.. I bet the rest is paper thin. That'd be on my 'cut out' list.

Steve

Agree. Cut out all that reinforcer.
You can try the various rust encapsulators. Bilt hamber is good but not perfect.

Bondaprimer seems pretty good at keeping rust out on new clean steel.

Jonners

there is a dinitrol product (3125 IIRC)that is designed specifically for rusted box sections. It is thin enough to soak into the rust and offer protection. Not great for areas which are subject to abrasion, but ideal inside those sills etc.
I agree about getting as much of the rust off as possible, but I would avoid paints as they will just sit on the surface of the rust,and IME that is not good, a product that soaks in is much better.....

cliftyhanger wrote:there is a dinitrol product (3125 IIRC)that is designed specifically for rusted box sections. It is thin enough to soak into the rust and offer protection. Not great for areas which are subject to abrasion, but ideal inside those sills etc.
I agree about getting as much of the rust off as possible, but I would avoid paints as they will just sit on the surface of the rust,and IME that is not good, a product that soaks in is much better.....

The Dinitrol product is brilliant. If you put the container into really hot water and spray it into box sections using a compressor powered gun with a lance, it gets in everywhere. I have used Waxoyl in the past but this is way better.

Dinitrol also do a really good black under-body wax which can applied over a coat of 3125.

Thanks for all advice, I'm off to buy some Dinitrol!
Is it me or is it getting cold for working under the car?

epcot_pete wrote:Thanks for all advice, I'm off to buy some Dinitrol!
Is it me or is it getting cold for working under the car?

try :- www.rust.co.uk

Seriously chaps, there is only one treatment for rust and that is to remove it. If you have it exposed as your photo shows, deal with it; anything else makes your efforts in vain

xvivalve wrote:Seriously chaps, there is only one treatment for rust and that is to remove it. If you have it exposed as your photo shows, deal with it; anything else makes your efforts in vain

Quite right. I wasn't advocating using the Dinitrol products to remove rust, just to prevent it when all the rust has been cut out and new metal welded in.

I appreciate and understand what you are saying, all rust should be removed as much as possible. I was wondering what I could do with rusted metal that was still strong and that I could access easily with outer sill out and you have give me some good suggestions.
Many Thanks
Pete

I was wondering what I could do with rusted metal that was still strong

Blast it then treat it with converter ,I prefer Kurust to Dinitrol but then I use Hammerite for top coating unseen areas which will more than likely shock a few people

I blasted some post covers and then plated them 4 years ago. Still no sign of rust.

My Toledo sills were in a similar condition, obviously i cut out the rotten stuff but there are going to be pitted areas that you cant get to etc left over.
Best thing in my experince is to attack it with a wire wheel brush to get out as much as possible and then treat it with Jenolite (i dont trust Kurust from past experience)... this stuff works very well if the instructions are followed properly (if you immerse small parts in it they get stripped back to bare clean steel!).. you can choose to paint it afterwards if you prefer, it doesnt matter so long as you follow the next step or something similar

Once youve welded your sills back together, to stop any rust starting or coming back id recommend squirting WD40 (or similar as long as it an oil) in through any available access holes (i drilled a few of my own). Id say its better than cavity wax as being oil it creeps across surfaces and into every crevice, stopping any air getting to the metal to corrode it. top this up every once in a while (i do it every time i wash the car only because im obsessive about rust!). To be honest though, even if you didnt treat the rust and coated it in oil it would never get any worse than its current state but belt and braces is always best.

I have to say, I think WD40 is pretty poor as an oil/penetrating fluid. It seems to disappear in no time, probably due to evaporation. Plus gas and duck oil are far better but you won't beat a good cavity wax in a box section if it is sprayed in properly. Old engine oil would be better in box sections than WD40.

That is true, a lot of it evaporates off but it does to leave a fine film coating the metal, ok in box sections away from the elements but useless in most other places. I have to agree though, engine oil would be ideal, id use that myself if i had a means of spraying it in.

the dinitrol product I mentioned earlier in the thread does just what you say the WD40 does, but will last and be so much better. Seems to stop rust in its tracks.

And please, no engine oil. I was nearly killed because of oil on a road, OK that more than a few drops but oil will drip out. Bikers in particular get twitchy about it, for good reason