Rust! Should I leave it or treat it

[c.morewood]

I've enclosed a couple of pics of some small rust eruptions below the paint.
I'm tempted to get the emry paper out and rub them down and repaint. But I'm not sure whether I should just leave them alone as with the solid paint covering below the door it must be pre existing corrosion under the paint.
Should I leave this till it breaks through or treat now?
Are there any reccomended paints/anti corrosion treatments before I apply the colour coat?

Any advice would be gratefully recieved.
Thanks,
Chris

[HDI Dave]

Mine rotted out there,rear cill, so did t'other side and the drivers forward cill

You might be lucky,but on pressing the blisters mine turned into a major rework of the cills.

I'm guessing I stumbled upon a water ingress trap,(at least on hatchbacks anyway..) :

Take the rear wheel off,or you could just set the car on high,with axle stands etc, so as not to chop yer arms off..

Look inside the rear wheelarch, to the left, there's a small 2 - 3" square plastic inspection cover kind of thing..mine had nearly become completely detached...letting water spray in to the cill, (I could see inside the cill with a torch, looked like a perfect rust pattern of water flow spraying in.

So after both cill rebuilds I blathered the insides with oil/grease/owt I could think of to protect it.
Then, I undersealed my cills an inch higher,which covered most of the repair,but can't be seen when the car's sat level again.

That lower paint hides a lot as well..it's like a stonechip/underseal plasticy stuff,painted to match the car. Like I say,you might be lucky, but on mine, pulling that thick paint off revealed mahoosive holes/rot!

Hope that's of some use..and not scared you to death

[VertVega]

In your msg upper pic shows a typical Estate possible rust problem location like this one,
rear door area on the other side where the fuel filler cap is less likely to have this much damage

Don't get worried, your's doesn't look that bad



(I don't exactly remember if this was a Xantia from Germany or Czech ?)

[citronut]

this will be holes under the protective coatting,

and it wiil be an MOT failiure as it is within 30cm of the rear seat belt and sum frame mount,

my R reg 1.9TD is going to require some cutting out and welding on the door sill/s this year


regards malcolm

[Peter.N.]

If you are not going to repair it get some oil inside the hollow panels as soon as you can, cheap engine oil will do, once you have the inside soaked with oil the rust will not get any worse - well not from the inside anyway.

Peter

[Deanxm]

I wouldnt go for the oil treatment here, this looks to have rusted from the inside out, if you poke it with a screwdriver it will probably go straight through, by the time you see it its too late.

If you douse it in oil then when it comes time to weld it up whoever is doing the welding is going to really hate you after he has set fire to the car for the 5th time.

D

[citronut]

rust will not get any worse -

well at least till the MOT tester gets his rust finding tool at it



regards malcolm

[Peter.N.]

..Well - yes Depends if its in an MOT sensitive area.

That's why I said 'if you are not going to repair it' Dean.

Peter

[Deanxm]

That's why I said 'if you are not going to repair it' Dean.

I do read all the posts all the way through i promise

D

[Peter.N.]

Your'e a better man than me then

[HDI Dave]

In your msg upper pic shows a typical Estate possible rust problem location like this one

Vert, I beg to differ old chap. Every time rust like this comes up everyone says 'ohh, yes,estate...'

Well my Xant must win the forum rusteration prize hands down..as mine has every common rust spot..and more..yay! and unless she's had a bum tuck with liposuction..she's definately a hatchback

rear door area on the other side where the fuel filler cap is less likely to have this much damage

I'm guessing you're on about the rear quarter panel,with the fuel cap. As on the hatchback the nearside (uk) rear quarter panel rots out..mine did,I had to fibreglass it from the inside.

Unless you're on about your pic,below,which shows the inner cill/arch. Mine rotted out there too..just had it plated for the mot. The other / offside side is nearly as bad,on my hatchback..and is my next venture before winter salt etc.



I'm on a different pc now,but I'll try find some pictures of my self destructing rusteration project

[Xaccers]

Mk2 hatches suffer at that seam much much more than Mk1 hatches. Either form of estate rusts there so better to catch it early.

Chris your photo looks like the wheel arch seam is good so don't fret about that.
The cill does need attention if you are planning on keeping the car as long as possible or want more than scrap value.

[KennyW]

Dean,

This is what I found in my old Xantia when I had similar. I'm not trying to scare you but Iwould get welded with a patch as if it is within 30cm of seatbelts etc it is an automatic fail.



and



I promise I was not trying to scare you. This cost me £80 to be sorted.

Kenny

[VertVega]

... Unless you're on about your pic,below,which shows the inner cill/arch.
Mine rotted out there too..just had it plated for the mot. The other / offside side is nearly as bad,
on my hatchback..and is my next venture before winter salt etc. ...

I thought it was an Estate only complication I can see that there are a few more Hatchbacks on the road ...

KennyW is yours also a hatchback?

[c.morewood]

Thanks for all the replies.
I spent the day going over every inch and fixing what I could. I sorted the roof rails, if I'd have known how easy they were to get off I'd have been cleaning them every 6 months or so. The rust has been sanded away rust preventer applied and 2 coats of paint and laquer..plus a lot of WD40 and grease.
The cill isn't too bad, from the sound of it and feel it looks like a 2 in square patch is all thats affected.. I'll get that done sooner than later.. been using a lot of curerust today but I'll still need to get the underside done before winter.
Thanks again for the help.
Chris