silicone for arches

[Guest]

i dont know if anyones interested but ive had a brain wave about stopping rot developing in arches.

because the rear arches of maestros are made of two seperate skins and unfortunatly only held together on the outer lip with pinch welds. (i dont know the technicle name for this type of welding, dumbass) lol
therefore there is small gaps between the welds between the two arch skins.

i dont see why i couldnt use clear silicone to fill these small gaps on my arches. that would stop any damp crappy stuff getting in.

could anyone tell me if this method would be successful or tell me any other ways to fill these stupid little gaps.

im thinking about this because the arches on my ledbury maestro are good and i want to keep them that way for many years to come.

help appreciated because bodywork is not my strongpoint.

[G51 NAV]

I think the term which is eluding you is "spot welds"

Not a bad idea Ben, but even better would be to inject the cavities with something like Waxoyl or Dinitrol which not only has the moisture-repelling qualities of silicone, but also has rust-neutralising chemicals and inhibitors, which should keep your car in better condition for longer than just silicone. While you're at it, do the doors and sills.

[Guest]

I think the term which is eluding you is "spot welds"

Not a bad idea Ben, but even better would be to inject the cavities with something like Waxoyl or Dinitrol which not only has the moisture-repelling qualities of silicone, but also has rust-neutralising chemicals and inhibitors, which should keep your car in better condition for longer than just silicone. While you're at it, do the doors and sills.

cheers, to late, ive all ready done the doors/tailgate. how would i go about doing the sills??

[SimonR]

Yeah, Waxoyl or similar is the stuff.

Buy a large can of it, fill a bucket up with warm water and stand the can in it for five minutes to get it nice and liquid. I have omitted to do this in the past and had a really hard time as a result!

Then open the rear doors, undo the binding posts that screw into the rear quater and using a waxoyl sprayer give the area a really thorough spraying through the hole.

In the past, I've used the red spray gun and extension pipe with a nail in the end as shown in the picture below:



The red spray gun is sucks the stuff out of the can and the clear tube (bottom left) affixes to the nozzle which means you can apply the stuff remotely into hard-to-get-to places.

A soon as I get the time and all the little spots have been treated I'm going to treat my new Maestro in this way.

[G51 NAV]

Hmmm...sills...I suppose up through the drainholes would be one way, and down though the door-strikers. Not sure what you would gain access to if you unscrewed the mouldings which hold the carpet in place down the length of the car. Screws inevitably screw into holes, and holes can have gunk injected into them. I once had an MG Maestro which had had its sills professionally wax injected, and this had been accomplished by having holes drilled into the underside of the sills, injecting the sills with wax, and putting rubber bungs in afterwards.

[philippope]

If you take off the the mouldings which hold the carpet in place down the length of the car there are a number of holes with grommets in, through which you can inject waxoyl along the length of the sill.

[Guest]

If you take off the the mouldings which hold the carpet in place down the length of the car there are a number of holes with grommets in, through which you can inject waxoyl along the length of the sill.

cheers for the suggestion phil, if i put waxoil in the tailgate will i have to clear the drain holes out in the bottom corners. same with the sills, do i have to clear the drainage holes out after ive put waxoil in????

[G51 NAV]

Yes! The reason the sills, doors and tailgate rot out in the first place is because the drain-holes get blocked. Though frankly I've never figured out how water gets in to the tailgate in the first place

[E_T_V]

Like most of the panels it is usually condensation that lets them get damp inside.

[Guest]

Yes! The reason the sills, doors and tailgate rot out in the first place is because the drain-holes get blocked. Though frankly I've never figured out how water gets in to the tailgate in the first place

where are the drainage holes for the front doors, i know about the 3/4 (cant remember) big drainage holes but are there any small drainage holes in the corners of the doors?

[E_T_V]

No there aren't but perhaps there should be.

[G51 NAV]

No there aren't but perhaps there should be.

Indeed. One of my pet hates. Perhaps I should put that on the Pet Hates thread.

Both the leading and traIling corners of all four doors should obviously have had drain-holes in them. I'd love to meet the guy who designed the doors, grab him by his throat, lift him six inches off the ground, and ask him in a voice which could heard over the length of a football pitch:

"WHY WAS IT NOT BLOODY OBVIOUS TO YOU, BUT OBVIOUS TO EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, THAT THE DOOR-FRAMES NEEDED DRAINAGE AT EACH CORNER, YOU F ING CRETINOUS MORON"

...then put him down and see what his reply was.

[D87SMW]

Door drainage design

The subtle approach eh, John? :laugh:

The above is very true though, the doors on my MG bulge out at each corner as a result of them rotting and warping where there are no drainage holes. T'is a to repair!

[Guest]

do you think i should create some corner drainage holes before my ledders starts rotting? or would this just encourage more rust where the hole is drilled? i know internal access to the corners of the doors is a pain in the ass so it would be a pain to treat the area that i would drill.