Chronic Rust -- Is It Just a Fact of Life?

[Skull-1]

I guess while my car was sitting in storage some rust popped up where the quarter panels meet the trunk opening...basically just outboard of the seals next to that channel that water runs down...

Am I to just expect this to be a constant nuisance or can it be eliminated once and for all?

I am not wanting to go back to the body shop so soon after finally getting the car home, but I don't want the rot to spread very far either....

Maybe I should just run a dehumidifier in the garage. And try to get a few years behind me before I send it back for more....


Thoughts?

[Cooter]

When cars sit, especially in damp areas, this will happen. Do you wash the car with a water hose?
If so, some of that water gets in places you cannot get it out of.
also, did bodyshop address drip rails? Paint them?

[Ghoste]

Hard to avoid unless you have climate controlled storage which few of us do.

[myk]

Yup.  Besides these cars are made out of a lot of steel, and most of that maeterial was not 'prepped against corrosion very well back in the 60's due to limitations in technology or actually giving a damn.  I don't know about Chargers, but some cars were known to start rusting as they left the factory...

[MoParJW]

Keep an eye on the humidity in your garage, especially when the outside temperature suddenly rises after a cold period (usually in spring).
A sign of high humidity is condensation on the bottom of the gas tank and on the engine block.

Personally, before using a dehumidifier I would look at garage insulation and airflow.

I've been keeping my car in an unheated garage for 7 years, and haven't seen rust getting worse, rust never sleeps but it progresses really slow if you can keep the humidity under control  .

[ottawamerc]

I use Crown rust check in spray cans (or equivalent) I spray all seams inside every where, every time I remove an interior panel for any reason I spray. Heck even during the restoration I was spraying inside of the rockers etc. and my body guy hated it! But I HATE RUST!!! way too much work to clean these cars to have them rust up so quick and like MYK said they didnt have a fighting chance right from the get go. 2 spray cans of Crown or Rust Check are more than adequate to protect our cars, cheap insurance!

Scott

[Bobs69]

I leave an oscillating fan running in my garage all the time.  I take the car to Krown as well..

[Skull-1]

When cars sit, especially in damp areas, this will happen. Do you wash the car with a water hose?
If so, some of that water gets in places you cannot get it out of.
also, did bodyshop address drip rails? Paint them?

Yes, but did not remove the quarters.   Looks like where they weld them to the trunk....back where the serial number stamp is, just on top....   A couple of big bubbles...   Very disheartening.


Thanks for all the replies.


Car is in Northern Oklahoma for now having spent most of its life in the humid Rio Grande Valley of deep South Texas.   

[Skull-1]

When cars sit, especially in damp areas, this will happen. Do you wash the car with a water hose?
If so, some of that water gets in places you cannot get it out of.
also, did bodyshop address drip rails? Paint them?

I haven't washed it at all, btw.   I am afraid to after it was sandblasted by the idiot I took it to before this guy.   My current body man did miracles.   He had an uphill fight, though...

Wet sanding may not have helped, but I suspect this car has fifty pounds of sand lurking inside it.  I drove it to 140 the other day just to blow everything out.   Not kidding.

Drip rails painted.  I think he did his due diligence.   Took ten years because my funds were so limited....

[Skull-1]

Yup.  Besides these cars are made out of a lot of steel, and most of that maeterial was not 'prepped against corrosion very well back in the 60's due to limitations in technology or actually giving a damn.  I don't know about Chargers, but some cars were known to start rusting as they left the factory...

I think the vinyl top cars had unpainted roofs even...  Talk about rust....  Whew.   Remember my dad and his brothers stripping the vinyl top off this car at South Padre Island......on the beach.....   It was so cracked and dry rotted....    I thought they had painted the top copper. I bet it was glue and rust I saw!

[Skull-1]

I leave an oscillating fan running in my garage all the time.  I take the car to Krown as well..

Keep an eye on the humidity in your garage, especially when the outside temperature suddenly rises after a cold period (usually in spring).
A sign of high humidity is condensation on the bottom of the gas tank and on the engine block.

Personally, before using a dehumidifier I would look at garage insulation and airflow.

I've been keeping my car in an unheated garage for 7 years, and haven't seen rust getting worse, rust never sleeps but it progresses really slow if you can keep the humidity under control  .

Ran my dehumidifier for forty mins without the hose connected just to see...   Pool of water running down the center of the garage.....

[Skull-1]

I use Crown rust check in spray cans (or equivalent) I spray all seams inside every where, every time I remove an interior panel for any reason I spray. Heck even during the restoration I was spraying inside of the rockers etc. and my body guy hated it! But I HATE RUST!!! way too much work to clean these cars to have them rust up so quick and like MYK said they didnt have a fighting chance right from the get go. 2 spray cans of Crown or Rust Check are more than adequate to protect our cars, cheap insurance!

Scott

Gonna get some of that!



Gotta stop the rust before it starts though, right?

[Cooter]

When cars sit, especially in damp areas, this will happen. Do you wash the car with a water hose?
If so, some of that water gets in places you cannot get it out of.
also, did bodyshop address drip rails? Paint them?

Yes, but did not remove the quarters.   Looks like where they weld them to the trunk....back where the serial number stamp is, just on top....   A couple of big bubbles...   Very disheartening.


Thanks for all the replies.


Car is in Northern Oklahoma for now having spent most of its life in the humid Rio Grande Valley of deep South Texas.   

I'll tell you what's disheartening. Replacing every piece of rubber you can think of, paying a professional when you coulda snd have done it yourself, to install glass because your chasing the myth that one fine day you will own a Charger that doesn't leak when it rains....


Only to find out in a downpour leaving a car show (Carlisle), you have two inches of water in your floorboards.

[Skull-1]

Ouch.

[stripedelete]

I'll tell you what's disheartening. Replacing every piece of rubber you can think of, paying a professional when you coulda snd have done it yourself, to install glass because your chasing the myth that one fine day you will own a Charger that doesn't leak when it rains....


Only to find out in a downpour leaving a car show (Carlisle), you have two inches of water in your floorboards.

At least you know it is restored to "factory". 

[myk]

I have to ask: how do you guys clean your chargers?  I use a garden hose on mine but I cringe every time I wash the car.  I know a guy that uses quick-detailer spray and  lot of microfiber towels instead of soap and water...

[ChargerST]

I have to ask: how do you guys clean your chargers?  I use a garden hose on mine but I cringe every time I wash the car.  I know a guy that uses quick-detailer spray and  lot of microfiber towels instead of soap and water...

I use two buckets of water: one with soap and one with clean water. soak the sponge in the soap water first, clean a small area, rinse in clean water (which gets dirty quite soon and gets replaced every other minute) - that way you don't have to use a hose and the car only gets wet on the outside/you can better control where the water goes.

[Cooter]

I have a sray bottle with distilled water. I spray/wipe/repeat until car is clean. Then wax.

[ottawamerc]

Really!! I spray mine with my garden hose wash with a soft rag and spray rinse again. I finish with those absorbent towels, occasionally I will use compressed air to blow out the water trapped in the rear window molding. Not that I try to but i even drive in the rain

Scott

[myk]

I think cooter and ST have the right idea.  You have to control the amount of water that gets used and their methods are probably best.

The better the car gets, the more of a pain in the ass it is...

[Dino]

Garden hose if I feel like it, no touch car wash 99% of the time.  I've been driving mine through some nasty stuff and as long as you rinse it off from time to time, the car will be absolutely fine.  A car does not mind water, it minds clogged passage ways.  THAT'S why they rust.

[ottawamerc]

Garden hose if I feel like it, no touch car wash 99% of the time.  I've been driving mine through some nasty stuff and as long as you rinse it off from time to time, the car will be absolutely fine.  A car does not mind water, it minds clogged passage ways.  THAT'S why they rust.

Bingo! 

Scott

[Cooter]

When cars sit, especially in damp areas, this will happen. Do you wash the car with a water hose?
If so, some of that water gets in places you cannot get it out of.
also, did bodyshop address drip rails? Paint them?

Yes, but did not remove the quarters.   Looks like where they weld them to the trunk....back where the serial number stamp is, just on top....   A couple of big bubbles...   Very disheartening.


Thanks for all the replies.


Car is in Northern Oklahoma for now having spent most of its life in the humid Rio Grande Valley of deep South Texas.   

I'll tell you what's disheartening. Replacing every piece of rubber you can think of, paying a professional when you coulda snd have done it yourself, to install glass because your chasing the myth that one fine day you will own a Charger that doesn't leak when it rains....


Only to find out in a downpour leaving a car show (Carlisle), you have two inches of water in your floorboards.