I could show you what life in the rust belt does to even 97 galvanized metal. Got two new outer rockers in the shop. Spent the weekend cleaning. The rockers so far gone on the drivers side I'm going to have to make about 3 ft of the lower lip of the inner rocker to! I've known this job needed done for a while. Just could not do it till now. Not looking forward to it. Now or never. One more winter will really screw it. Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from U.S. Cellular -----Original Message----- From: Ken Ames <ameskg@xxxxxxxxx> Date: Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:01:13 To: AMC, Rambler, Nash, Jeep and family<amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: [AMC-list] Messing with the trunk - Happens much faster in other locations though. In Canada and many states, the dirt that gets in there has salt in it. The rust through takes much less time. Ken Quoting Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx>: > Starting in 62 AMC made extensive use of galvanized metal in hard to reach > places. That might be part of what saved it. I've found fine dust/dirt in > cavities many times though. There are supposed to be drain holes in the lower > panels. These are often little slits/openings in the seams that are hard to > find. Dust and dirt gets in past seals in windows, trunks, etc., and settles > in. You probably had a load of dry dust/dirt down there that didn't get wet > until you washed out the trunk, and the dust/dirt is blocking the drain. The > dirt can draw moisture, but usually doesn't draw much, and it takes many > years for it to rust through. I discovered such pockets of dirt in my old 63 > American in the mid 90s. Took it 30 years to collect 3-4" of dirt and rust > through in a small area. > > ----------- > Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2009 12:29:43 -0500 > From: Bruce Griffis <bruce.griffis@xxxxxxxxx> > > I did a little body filler today (not the bondo stuff, just a little > filler where there are some irregularities in the metal). Then I > figured I'd stick my hand down the side wells between the trunk floor > and the fenders. I'm guessing the seam sealer on the driver''s side > was in bad shape for a long time. The bottom was filled with hard > packed dirt and mud. It was wet from when I washed the trunk prior to > fiberglassing the rusted out spot. I got a lot out, but think I'll > pick up some attachments for my shop vac so I can reach all the way > down. The passenger's side seemed fine - but the driver's side was > bad. > > Where I cleaned up and was able to feel the metal on the sides - it > seemed smooth and solid. I'm guessing the failure must have been > recent - but that wouldn't explain all the dirt in there. Time to > clean it out and look a little closer from underneath. Might need to > figure out how to get rust converter down in there after I get it > clean and dry. > > -- > Frank Swygert > Publisher, "American Motors Cars" > Magazine (AMC) > For all AMC enthusiasts > http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html > (free download available!) > > _______________________________________________ > AMC-list mailing list > AMC-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx > http://list.amc-list.com/listinfo.cgi/amc-list-amc-list.com > _______________________________________________ AMC-list mailing list AMC-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://list.amc-list.com/listinfo.cgi/amc-list-amc-list.com _______________________________________________ AMC-list mailing list AMC-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://list.amc-list.com/listinfo.cgi/amc-list-amc-list.com