Rear sill rusty
 

On close inspection of the sill yesterday I noticed the rubberised coating bulging slightly on a newly acquired ZTT. I tapped it with the handle of my wire brush as I was cleaning the rear wheel arch at the time and it went through and perforated the paper thin metal to my horror. By the time I had pulled it all away, there was a hole big enough to put a fist through.
My own fault for buying it unseen as I couldn't travel after a recent stroke.
Can someone please remind me where the water comes from to rust the inside rear of the sill and how to stop it?
Thanks,
Adrian.

Rear sill rusty
 

You need a trip to derby to see tom Hobbs .


http://www.tjhobbs.com

Hi Adrian.
You will not be alone with this problem, all owners should be checking around the jacking pads/points for any bubbling which is the first sign of rust occurring under the protective seal in that area.

For some reason there are no drain hole before & aft of these jacking points, I am also convinced because of this fact the jacking pads do not help :shrug: I could be wrong.

Only last week I decided to do my usual yearly under body check, ie check the rear upper arms brake pipes etc, I noticed that around the rear jacking points a slight bubbling & tiny rust line.

I then poked the area with a blunt tool and to my big surprise around the jacking point it gave way, the same test last year I did and that sill area was solid so it shows just how quick the rust can eat through the metal, now due to the up coming nano meet I have crudely repaired the area with some new metal after cleaning back to bare metal and treating it.

This will give me time to decide before the next MOT January as to do I have the sills repaired properly or do I call it a day on the car.

It's a dirt trap in behind the liner. Mine was full of dirt & after cleaning it out, I found this :o https://i.imgur.com/aE4vhjRl.jpg
Cleaned it back to metal, undersealed & repainted. What I do every year is wash behind all the liners, remove jacking pads & spray Dinitrol inside all the cavities, including the drain holes.

I am convinced that the large cupped jack tops, as used by most garages, when used at the jacking points, actually lift around the reinforced section, distorting the metal and break the paint seal. Once the metal is exposed (either internally or externally) rusting is inevitable. I have had all four jacking points repaired with a larger and thicker sill section, supported by the inner reinforcing section. The inside of the sill is now coated (annually) with Bilt Hamner with added Waxoyl, applied using the 360 degree flexible lance which is supplied with the tin, via the drain holes and the holes in the ends of the sills (which have a rubber bung in them), accessible by removing the bottom of the arch liners. I use clear protectant for the doors, bonnet and boot cavities using the same principal.
https://i.imgur.com/GH4ni5J.jpg

Nottingham!

That's where I'm going tomorrow :bowdown:

You will be impressed!

I know, I've seen the repairs done Dawns white one, and it looks as good as new. I'm not worried about having black sills like Cowley cars, more interested in having good solid metal instead of crumbly rusty metal :D

Look forward to seeing the results at the nano Martyn 😀

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