EK225-18965-S

[Brett027]

It gets scary once you start scratching around. I found a whole new nest of rust on rear guard above wheel arch today that was not evident at all until paint removed. Just when I thought I was home free. I've also found some ingenious patch works of tacked on scrap hiding away under bog and tar. It would be impresive 'cept its not!
Worked out there's 15kg of 0.6mm mig wire in her now, and 7 D cylinders of gas. Pretty significant pile of scrap outside garge door too. It does stand up under its own weight now though....enjoy the treasure you find beneath your paint.

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[mph]

That is where it starts. Nekminnit bare metal respray 8{)


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[rosco]

Get to it now before it needs extensive rebuilding, Patrick... that has always been my approach.
I had a couple of eaten away divits in the boot-seal lip... but got to them early before they ate through....
When it came to replacing the boot-lid seal, I made sure that I didn't apply sealant to the bottom of the seal.. so that any water build up could drain out.
The top front corners are a trap... leaves, especially from cypress like trees find this irresistible to find residence... and will dam up the channel.

There's just something about the boot-lid seal which isn't right - as most would know. If you have a good coat of wax on your boot-lid - if it's covered in water and you open the lid too quickly - water will run into the boot.... it catches me out all to often... either wipe the excess of, or open the lid very slowly.... I don't know how many times I've had to dry out my boot mat.

You might like to consider drilling a drainage port in the two rear panel support floors.... they are a trap for filling with water.. I simply drilled a 1/8 hole in each and "knocked" down the hole with a punch.... all the floor and end of my boot are painted in POR-15 now... but when I found water in those two cavities... I couldn't get to the drill quick enough...

There is a drainage port at centre as well... check that is open regularly - you can't see it from the inside - the boot latch frame hides it.. but, you see and access it from underneath..... another one to check when doing sub-floor inspections... which we all do, don't we?

frats,
Rosco

[Brett027]

There seems to be a nice resevoir for water underneath the drivers side boot/back panel support. Both Wilma and my 'pristine EK cut' have a nice neat rust hole following the support piece contour where it attaches. Probably worth a look.

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[rosco]

Yes, Brett - this is the area I suggest to drill a hole through if the area is still relatively sound.
Your's has made its own hole.. as probably most have by now if not addressed.

This, along with many other locations in our old buses - was either an oversight, or a pre-determined expiration inclusion..
GMH engineers put a bit of thought into some of the areas - but the non-skilled workers on the factory assembly line sometimes negated this adventure.

The bottom of panels and sections are where drainage is needed... once that is effected, the next step is to seal up entry...
The "top-hat" sections below the floor of our vehicles is a mine-field for ingress... I spent weeks under there with butyl-mastic and a drill.. then fish-oil... I check it at intervals - so far, so good.... I don't have any bare steel under there... except for alloy and working surfaces - I dread the thought of bare steel panels.... but, in hindsight - I'd prefer to see bare steel with a slightly rusted surface, than one which is covered in bitumen sealant.... wow! do I have a hatred for that blasted stuff!

frats,
Rosco

[gpi]

Thanks Rosco,
Boot area in this one is fantastic, though i could probably replace the passenger lower quarter if i was going to paint it.
I will look into making a few holes for drainage where you suggest, and only glue on the outside of the lip that runs around the boot

The seal i have is in 2 pieces, its a repro from unknown origin and id like to replace it if im going to the effort to fix the previous attempt.

There are a few options to choose from these days though im not sure what the best one to choose is yet

[Errol62]

My sedan was the same. The rear panel brace pillars filled with water, as did the bottom corners of the quarter panels. It was most noticeable after I got it painted and replaced the seals, but that may hav3 been because I expected there to be no water ingress. After all, I had just laid out a small fortune to get it done up. $2500 was the bill in 1988.


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[gpi]

Well that escalated quickly

[Brett027]

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[rosco]

Sheesh!... that boot and lid seal channel looks exceptional... great condition to refurb it for life...
Little bits, they all add up.... big difference to working on a vehicle that you are going to keep for life, as opposed to one which has an inevitable "use by" date...

frats,
Rosco

[Errol62]

You’ll get away with just respraying from the window bottom and rear door openings back I suppose Patrick


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[rosco]

Yes, Clay - that was one of the sections I did as a session..... it's a fairly easy one to mask up like that. I didn't have to do the boot-lid - it was done 10 years previous in GMH Dulon..

frats,
Rosco

[Errol62]

You’ll get away with just respraying from the window bottom and rear door openings back I suppose Patrick


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Or not


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[Brett027]

I admire the optimism.....

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[gpi]

Got all the loose bits and the sikaflex off, but the wire wheeling and etch will have to wait until more favourable conditions. Currently 70% humidity so there is no point today.