Rust ?

[red98gt]

Has anyone started to show rust? Either Convert or Sedan. I'm starting to show just below the doors where the body seem is on my Convert.

[chuzz]

Well, you ARE in the rust belt. I hear they use a lot of salt on the roads there. Is that not true? If so and you drive your vert in the winter snow and ice, you have to wash it all off when you park it.

[JonN]

My '01 PT has been through 16 New England winters and only has one area of rust in the drivers side rocker which I've patched with bondo. I know it isn't perfect, or the right way to fix it, but as long as it can pass state inspection every year, which it has, I am fine with it. I come from a family where we literally run cars into the ground before getting rid of them, so I'll keep it the way it is until I decide to weld in new rockers.

However, washing the body and undercarriage often during the winter has certainly helped a lot. My PT looks better than most up here in Massachusetts. I typically just rinse off the undercarriage with the hose and do a wash and wax of the body.

[JoeX]

My 06 PT rusted from the pillar between the doors to about 4 inches in front of the rear wheel well. 115,000 miles rust belt Pittsburgh PA
Strange thing after cutting them open there was also a trail of rusted metal on the inner unibody frame, like water was filling the rear seat foot area and running out the body seam where the door plate seal is.
The actual door jam was intact with out any rust.

Same thing happened to a 03 Sebring I had but I found about 3 cups of sand in the rockers as I cut them open to remove the rusted metal. 118,000 miles

[quicksilverdon]

"Rust never sleeps".

[chuzz]

Originally Posted by quicksilverdon

"Rust never sleeps".

Neil Young/Crazy Horse fan, too?

[wingman55]

Plenty. That's why I use The RATMOBILE for a winter rat.

[Vengence]

Here in NY, we get some wild winters. Like snowvember 2 years ago when we got hammered with 6-8ft of snow in 48 hours. We have salt galore everywhere.

With the 2008 LX PT I just bought in December, I would like to have gotten it undercoated but snow was already hitting us so it missed it this year. Next year, If I do not get a beater car winter, then I will get this one undercoated. My PT is originally from Tennessee so it never had snow/salt and everything is near mint on the car. I'm happy with it regardless of what I had to repair on it and it runs like new again. But, the salt can eat up everything and I don;t want that to happen. I love the PT's and wish they would revive the car but I do not see that happening. If they do, I would buy a new one immediately. So far, this is #4 for me.

[rckstein]

Originally Posted by Vengence

Here in NY, we get some wild winters. Like snowvember 2 years ago when we got hammered with 6-8ft of snow in 48 hours. We have salt galore everywhere.

With the 2008 LX PT I just bought in December, I would like to have gotten it undercoated but snow was already hitting us so it missed it this year. Next year, If I do not get a beater car winter, then I will get this one undercoated. My PT is originally from Tennessee so it never had snow/salt and everything is near mint on the car. I'm happy with it regardless of what I had to repair on it and it runs like new again. But, the salt can eat up everything and I don;t want that to happen. I love the PT's and wish they would revive the car but I do not see that happening. If they do, I would buy a new one immediately. So far, this is #4 for me.

When I lived in Iowa, they use a lot of ice chemicals during the winter months, I had bought my first new car ('79 Ford Mustang) I had it undercoated and rustproofed so not only did they treat all underneath areas with a black rubberized coating, they also drilled holes in various body panels to spray some goo, a lighter oily substance that would flow into all the hidden seams and crevices, inside all the hidden areas, to prevent rusting from the inside out. Unfortunately, I never kept the car long enough to see if the treatment worked, but it certainly didn't hurt.

[ptprice]

My brother's 2006 PT Vert just had rocker panel rust repaired. It's a Pennsy car thus that rust. He caught it soon enough so the rust wasn't that extensive but no bondo was involved. The rust was cut out, through the hole any interior surface rust was accessed and removed, primed and the innards were undercoated. (Careful not to plug the drains) A small panel was fabricated and carefully welded in place, the weld was ground to surface level and the final repair was as original.

Good luck.

Happy PTin', ptprice