tunnel rust

[woodman]

I found some rust last night when opening up the center tunnel access panels (no, I'm not surprised). But I did figure out how it got there. When I put the front end up on the ramps, water started to leak down the speedo cable and drip onto the pedal cluster that I just rebuilt. I then could follow the trail of water down the tunnel where the bright orange evil was lurking. How in the world does one treat the rust in there?! That appears to be the worst case of rust I've seen yet on the car, so I don't want to ignore it. Any tips would be great. I also need to find out why there is water coming into the cockpit from in front of the windshield. The cars been in the garage for the last 5-6 years, except for the one time I washed it 6 months ago. I believe the water is also the source of the binding accelerator cable. It feels like it needs to be lubed (replaced, that is).

'75 1.8 FI

[Special K]

Well, if you don't mind pulling the shift linkage and all the rest of the stuff in the tunnel (easy for me to say, my '73's stripped bare). I painted the inside of my tunnel with POR15, as far as I could with a brush, then took a piece of an old sock and some bailing wire, tied the sock in the middle of the 5' piece of wire, then fed one end of the wire from the forward access back to the shifter opening. Then I saturated the sock with POR15 and drug it back and forth through the tunnel until I was sure it was pretty well coated, then repeat the process from the shifter opening back to the rear access panel.

Oh, try and get as much of the loose crap out of the tunnel as you can before slopping the paint around. Good luck, definitely a tough area to treat.

[thesey914]

I would just soak the area in old engine oil -the oil soaks in and form a protective barrier against further corrosion

This a job for WAXOYL!!

http://www.mossmotors.com/cgi-bin/db2www/mossmotors/MossUSA/shop/ViewProducts.mac/report?T=28998&PlateID=3549

WAXOYL is a "spray on" body protector. The kit comes with a wand for spraying in places like the tunnel. It is soaks it to the rust and them forms a firm wax seal. I would recommend spraying the tunnel, then heat the tunnel from the bottom with a heat gun to be sure the WAXOYL flows to places you might have missed.
This is a "must use" product in England - just ask a MG or Jag restorer.

Ken

Here is the compltet URL

Ken



http://www.mossmotors.com/cgi-

bin/db2www/mossmotors/MossUSA/Shop/

ViewSearchResults.mac/report?T=29514

[John2kx]

There was some info here about coating inside of longs. with Por 15 as well. The bug sprayer mentioned earlier was used.

I'm planning the attack in this area of mine with the bug sprayer and hope that only the shift rod and shifter need removal. Not sure if any of the clutch or throttle cables need be removed.

[woodman]

sounds like its worth trying. I'm replacing both cables, the plastic fuel lines and the shift bushings. So I'll add this one more thing to my list.

Thanks

[Zeke]

Originally posted by thesey914
I would just soak the area in old engine oil -the oil soaks in and form a protective barrier against further corrosion

And this smells so nice too. Kinda reminds me of the TV commercial where the chick pours on the motor oil before jumping in the Winston car w/ Jeremy Mayfield.

[woodman]

No way am I pouring oil down there. I can see my date (wife) on Sat nite looking over at me through that great oil odor. Gain some points there for sure. I'll try the Por approach.

Milt, are you anywhere near Cal Hts?

[derek_sf]

zero-rust is a lot better than POR-15.

[maf 914]

I too thought about the odor when reading the suggestion to coat the tunnel with oil. The smell of oil from the heat exchangers is enough for me. I just degreased the entire underside of my car last week. One of my objectives was to try to reduce the oil smell. I really need to do something about the leaks I guess.

Mike