Suspension corrosion
Discussion
GTRene said:
yep, not nice, seen more of such on lotus cars in some for sale ads, guess depends how salty the climate is near sea or many salty roads or stored in a moisty garage with bad ventilation?
HiI have only owned it since the end of last year not sure where it’s been kept before but will be garaged all year and summer use only going forward.
70EXG said:
Unfortunately if they have not been cleaned and protected this can occur especially when used on salty roads, I clean mine off and protect them before putting the car away for winter. 16 plate V6 with 8k on the clock for reference
HiThat picture is how I would like mine to look.
I think I will have to clean it up as best I can and try to maintain it going forward hopefully it won’t get any worse.
What do you use to protect yours out of interest and do you put anything on the tub?
Thanks
Hmm, I think that's similar to mine at 12 years old when I did a suspension refresh. I shot-blasted mine and painted them with hammerite and they still look pretty much immaculate 5 years on (well filthy, but not rusty!).
On a side note, I'd check this bolt at the back, next to the black plug:
I can see the orange line between the washer and the aluminium mount point, but the amount of rust on the bolt makes me wonder if the seal has been breached and you have direct steel-on-aluminium contact. That would be bad.
On a side note, I'd check this bolt at the back, next to the black plug:
I can see the orange line between the washer and the aluminium mount point, but the amount of rust on the bolt makes me wonder if the seal has been breached and you have direct steel-on-aluminium contact. That would be bad.
kambites said:
Hmm, I think that's similar to mine at 12 years old when I did a suspension refresh. I shot-blasted mine and painted them with hammerite and they still look pretty much immaculate 5 years on (well filthy, but not rusty!).
On a side note, I'd check this bolt at the back, next to the black plug:
I can see the orange line between the washer and the aluminium mount point, but the amount of rust on the bolt makes me wonder if the seal has been breached and you have direct steel-on-aluminium contact. That would be bad.
HiOn a side note, I'd check this bolt at the back, next to the black plug:
I can see the orange line between the washer and the aluminium mount point, but the amount of rust on the bolt makes me wonder if the seal has been breached and you have direct steel-on-aluminium contact. That would be bad.
Here is a closer picture of the bolt
MrC986 said:
ACF50 (& similar products) prevent surface corrosion on car parts & similar & were developed by the aviation industry. Motorbikes are also prone to similar corrosion. YouTube will show you what anti-corrosion products can do.
HiYes I am aware of ACF50 I have been trying to locate some locally the past few days with out luck. I am going to order some ACF50 and some Duralac over the weekend.
kambites said:
Wiry PAYE said:
Hmm yeah that looks OK. Surprised that end of that bolt is rusting so much though. When you refurbished your wishbones do you think it is possible to remove and refit the old bushes as I would like to tidy them up but it is hard to justify new bushes etc when it’s such low mileage.
Wiry PAYE said:
When you refurbished your wishbones do you think it is possible to remove and refit the old bushes as I would like to tidy them up but it is hard to justify new bushes etc when it’s such low mileage.
Diffiuclt to say, My bushes fell to bits as I removed them, but then they were 12 years and 50k miles old and since I was replacing them anyway I put no particular effort into being careful with them. You could probably just mask them off and leave them in the wishbones. kambites said:
Wiry PAYE said:
When you refurbished your wishbones do you think it is possible to remove and refit the old bushes as I would like to tidy them up but it is hard to justify new bushes etc when it’s such low mileage.
Diffiuclt to say, My bushes fell to bits as I removed them, but then they were 12 years and 50k miles old and since I was replacing them anyway I put no particular effort into being careful with them. You could probably just mask them off and leave them in the wishbones. Didn’t think I would be having to do something like this on such a low mileage car but stuff happens.
Thanks for the replies.
Wiry PAYE said:
GTRene said:
yep, not nice, seen more of such on lotus cars in some for sale ads, guess depends how salty the climate is near sea or many salty roads or stored in a moisty garage with bad ventilation?
HiI have only owned it since the end of last year not sure where it’s been kept before but will be garaged all year and summer use only going forward.
many many cars were, and I guess most were just sold on, and later some problems of it came above.
I can understand the annoyance, never fun with such a relatively young car those rusty parts on your pride.
I had something like that (not so terribly) some time ago with a car that was in a dry garage, then it was snowing and the doors (underpart) were all under snow, I thought no problem, then some weeks after that I cleared I had to go in that garage and cleaned the snow there, came in the garage and felt the car felt wet-ish, later I saw many new parts had some fly rust on them...grrrr.
the garage could not ventilate because of the snow closing it, so next time I will not let it come that far, I also made high up ventilation holes in the door with some mosquito net (against vermin) so that the garage always can ventilate, even when snow closes the vent gaps underside doors.
Wiry PAYE said:
The washer I have marked in the picture I take it this has a layer of bonding/glue between it and the aluminium mount?
Is this easy to change and can you buy the correct bonding?
From what I remember it's bound to the tub, it's not attached to the bolt at all. As long as it's in tact, you can just ignore it. Is this easy to change and can you buy the correct bonding?
that steel bolt glued to the alu chassis, first I thought thats crazy and no fun when you need new A arms or changing bushings.
but I guess they did this cause steel and alu can corrode? and or when coming just a bit loose the steel bolt could make a round hole oval...play.
when everything is still fine, I guess you can paint some anti corrosion stuff on that bolt head.
but I guess they did this cause steel and alu can corrode? and or when coming just a bit loose the steel bolt could make a round hole oval...play.
when everything is still fine, I guess you can paint some anti corrosion stuff on that bolt head.
Gassing Station | Elise/Exige/Europa/340R | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff