Chapter 6 : Yet More Rust
Yet more rusty metal.....
All of the photos here concentrate on the chassis from the front of the Y fork rearwards and that's because most of the corrosion was there
As mentioned on the previous page, it's usually where water holds up that corrosion starts. The front of the Y is an ideal spot, it's almost as if it was designed that way - gotta keep the spares supply going y'know.
So it's cut and patch, nothing clever, just simple metal bashing.
Although not shown here, I also took the opportunity to box in the rear sections of the Y. You can't really do the area around the engine mounts without restricting access, so that stays the same.
But once you're past the engine mountings it is possible to close in the open "U" section with thin sheeting. I did this not so much for strength but to prevent future corrosion by stopping dirt and moisture build up once it's out of sight.
Once the panel was in place closing the sections I sprayed the inner surfaces with waxoyl which hopefully will out last me !
But there is some good news, the central spine was completely rust free, the sound deadening material completely dry and presumably original from 1972.
The front crossmember showed surface rust but once cleaned up was quite solid. The only area needing attention was the plates where the pedals are bolted through, there was fairly heavy rusting between the top of the plate and the fibreglass floor of the car.
Again it all looked good from underneath, it was that pesky crevice holding moisture again. Because it's a mounting point for the brake pedal I opted to replace the section completely, in fact I did both sides.
