Where to look for rust

You don't have to look very far if your in the snow belt, if you have made a trip to the scrap yard and you happen to find one of these old butes chances are you found what I did, not much, except some descent plastic parts and rubber bits. If you are really lucky you might find some nice preserved engine and transmission parts preserved in a thick black coat of grease and oil.

The most likely areas to check for rust would be in and around the wheel wells and on the windshield pillars, front floor below the fuse box and stock speaker location. Under the rear points where the front fenders bolt on and in the front locations just behind the headlights to the sides. Inner and outer rockers panels. These are the major war zones where to look for the rust fungus. If you happen to own a pre 78 I believe you will be in worse shape cause Honda did not put inner liners for the front fenders and chances are there are going to be some rot under there too. Can be nasty, just ask Vulcan, he knows and he is fighting back.

If you are looking at purchase one of these gems use a flashlight to look underneath the car behind the front and rear tires on both sides, you may want to poke at the undercoating for crispiness as it can be deceiving to the eye Of course, before you do this make sure the of the car says it's ok to go poking around & the car is parked on a level surface in park/gear and the emergency brake engaged! Shine your light on the inside of the fenders and wheel wells.

Check for excess body filler, which from this side will look like hardened putty all globbed up. In areas where you don't have a clear view, use your fingers as your eyes and feel around. Do you feel globs of hardened putty under there? If so you're looking at a likely rust repair job.
Now you can use the sound test to decipher how far up body the filler goes. Above the suspected area, tap lightly on the car's body with your knuckles. You should hear a tinny metal sound. Continue tapping and move slowly down to the area in question. Does the sound change from tinny to solid and dense? Where the sound changes is where the filler starts.
Once you have detected a major rust repair job you may want to stop your inspection and find a rust--free car from our friends in the south or west coast because eventually the rust will come bubbling back up through the paint. The car may look great now, but if it looks like Swiss cheese in a year, you'll be the crying loser in the end.

Another quick word to a buyer: Avoid cars with fresh paint. Think about it. No one paints a car just because the color has faded a little. It was painted because it was either in an accident or it had a rust problem or worse yet - both! A body man can hide a lot of sin with paint and body filler. Be wary. However keep in mind that these classics may have been paint up to 4 times in its life span.

Other rust--prone places to check when buying, would be the exterior flooring under the driver's and passenger's seats, the interior flooring underneath the carpeting/matting, under the matting in the trunk, and around the engine compartment. Use your flashlight, your eyes and your fingers! Be Careful Of Jagged Metal.
 

What to believe!

The way rust usually begins is through the chips and nicks you receive from the pebbles and stones that pepper your car through daily driving. With a small nick exposing bare metal in an unnoticeable location, it's just a matter of time until rust forms. Left unchecked long enough it will eat its way through to the other side. When this happens you have problems because once a rust hole starts it cannot be stopped. It can only be slowed down or cut out. Cut it out only when it becomes a cancer! 

RUST IS CAUSED BY ROAD SALT!
"Top Ten" causes of rust in the snow belt, road salt would barely make it to the middle of the list. (Road salt causes what is known as "poultice rust", where salt traps and retains water in a fixed spot for extended periods.)

In fact, the #1 cause of rust is condensation, the invisible moisture that forms inside the car's panels due to temperature changes.
If you leave your car parked outdoors, you will notice condensation on the windshield first thing in the morning, even in July. This daily "condensation cycle" creates water which gravity then pulls to the lowest points inside your car's sheet metal -bottoms of doors, lower trunk lid, boxed--in fender areas, etc. Some experts call this the "bathtub effect" -since the moisture has no place to escape to, it stays in contact with the metal. In winter, the daily temperature changes are much more extreme -especially if you park inside a warm garage -so the effect is greatly enhanced.

Additional rust problems arise in extreme cold when the already--present water pockets expand (the same way ice expands in your freezer) thereby rupturing the existing factory sealants. "Electrolysis" is also an important issue, because areas on the body with extra metals (as, for example, where a door handle, trim piece, or mirror are attached) generate more current, which in turn, accelerates the rust process in that particular area.

NEW CARS DON'T RUST!
Put this in the "wishful thinking" category. Great strides in corrosion resistance have been achieved at the factory level, but new cars will start to rust from approximately their third or fourth year onwards. The process is complicated by the fact that rust works from the inside out -the so--called "iceberg phenomenon,"-which suggests that, by the time you actually see bubbling on the outer sheet metal, it's really much too late.

MAKERS WARRANT CARS AGAINST RUST!
?Dream on? They warrant against rust "perforation" which is really only the last stage of the entire rust process. By the time rust perforates, the damage is fairly severe.

IF A CAR RUSTS, IT CAN BE EASILY REPAIRED:
More wishful thinking. Rust repair is like tooth decay -all the bad metal must be excised and new metal inserted and shaped. Not only is this very labor intensive, but the heat used to weld the new metal makes the repair more vulnerable to future rusting. Talk about a Catch--22! Most body shops in these areas will give no warranty on rust work, while some will offer a 1--year warranty if the owner insists.

The situation is made worse by the fact that many owners decide to paint their older vehicles just prior to sale to "mask" existing rust. Logic tells us that the quality of the body job they select in this case would likely be the cheapest and the fastest. And logic would be right!

HOW TO KEEP RUST FROM STARTING

The key to keeping a rust--free car is by stopping rust before it can start. Or at at least address it before it eats its way through to the other side. Because bare metal will oxidize and painted surfaces won't, you only need to protect your car from the elements to keep rust at bay. You should maintain your car's body just like everything else. This means a periodic checking of the most common areas where rust might rear its ugly head.

Keep some touch--up paint on hand and periodically go over your entire cars painted exterior with fine toothcomb. Look for chips and nicks in the paint. If you find a chip where surface rust has already weaseled its way in, use sand paper (220 grade or finer) and carefully sand it down to bare metal. Tiny nicks will be a challenge. Wrap the sand paper around the tip of a small screwdriver and try not to mar the surrounding painted surface.

Clean the dirt from the chips with a rag dampened with mineral spirits and let dry. Using a touch--up brush, dab a little paint on the nick, just enough to fill in the gap. There's no need to coat the surrounding painted surface. Otherwise it will just make your touch up more noticeable. Do it right and your nick practically becomes invisible. If you botch up your first try just wiping it off with your dampened rag, let dry, and start over.

Periodical washing of your car's undercarriage is also a good way to protect your car from corrosion. Spray the underside of your car and inside the wheel wells too. A build up of dirt @ sand can hold moisture against your car's undercarriage and promote rust. Keeping it clean under there will allow surfaces to dry quicker making it less susceptible to oxidation.

It's also a good idea to inspect the underbody as well for loose undercoating as the factory stuff has been on there for over thirty years. Touch up any broken of bits and touch up chipped floor boards with anti rust paint and the re--touch the affected area with undercoating.

Rust Removal Methods 

Lets see now, we have a few unheard of options from the garage to Granny's Kitchen and a few trips to the laundry room to boot.

Electrolysis, vinegar, Coke, molasses, muriatic acid, sanding, wire brushing, grinding, sand blasting etc...

So we are into an all out war against rust, it is the eternal enemy and finding effective ways to eradicate the evil annoyance is the Holy Grail of this crusade.

So read on as I continue this confrontation head on into the battle lines with rusty.

Most of the methods require some common sense and caution.

Electrolysis

Molasses

Coke

Ultra One