Is rust a big issue?

[dasilva]

I was reading a Buyers guide in PPC magazine this month, and talks about the RX7 having bad defences against rust. Early UK cars could be falling victim to rust in the next view years.

Goes to explain that its difficult to repair any major rust on the sills etc..

Has any one had any issues regarding rust? I take its wise to under seal the cars regularly

[mullins]

Just as bad as any car of their age. It depends on where you live and whether or not they salt the roads, etc. What do you mean when you mention \'early\' RX-7\'s? A 1979 model is obviously pretty screwed by now if it hasn\'t been garaged and looked after. As for rust repairs I had two new sills welded onto my old RX-3 and it was an easy job for a professional panel man.

[mullins]

Oh forgot to mention there was a good buyers guide on the \'85 model (Gen 1, series 2/3) in issue 27 of retro cars magazine. Not sure if you are going this old but if you want it, it\'s yours for the postage cost.

[dasilva]

No, unfortunately they were talking about the FD, you come to expect rust all over a Vauxhall or Ford at 14 years old but most Jap cars seem to resist the rust better, may be it’s because the cars live in Jap land for majority of the lives.

It just seemed odd to point this out in the buyers guide unless it’s a real issue.

[gonzoninja]

A lot of the time in Japan they do not salt the roads in winter. So maybe Rex\'s don\'t get driven much in the winter!

Anyway, obviously over here they do salt the road. Having said that a lot of the body on an FD is Aluminum and Fibreglass to keep the weight down. However I assum some parts of it are steel and you can bet your ass they are the bits closest to the road and the most difficult to see.

But I\'m sure someone more clued up on this will be able to tell you (and me) if they need undersealing.

[Brett]

I would say it all depends on wether or not the car has been undersealed or waxolyed on a regualr basis, once a car gets on the UK roads the rot will set in regardless.
 Metal rusts, its a fact of life I\'m afraid.

 Having said that I havent seen any terrible FD\'s yet, but I suspect theres a few out there getting a bit thin by now.

[grinder]

rust .. did some on metion rust...

.......... stu runs round in circle waving his hands in the air like a looney ..........

TurboIInuttah : http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16598&highlight=rust

Me ( Grinder ) : http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13531&highlight=rust

although these are FC\'s

[RobbieRX-7]

im pretty sure the only aluminium panel on an fd is the bonnet. All the rest is galvanized steel..thats why jap cars last longer, because ford, vauxhall rover ect do not galvanize the chassis or body panels. Also as mentioned they do not salt the roads in japan.

[Mave]

?? I\'m pretty sure ford, vauxhall, rover etc. have galvanised their chassis and body panels since at least the early \'90s. Ford may have had a rust issue in the mid \'80s, but in our household we\'ve got a 1989 Astra, a 1990 Peugeot and a 1996 Alfa and non of them have got anything other than surface rust.....

[Brett]

Really?  Vis a vis the Astra, have you checked the bottom of the doors?  They rotted a good \'un on my Mums 1990 Astra which she had from new. (Ok so the rust poked through in about 2002...)

[Mave]

I expect some individual cars are rustier than others. The point I was poorly trying to make is that I think the old days of European cars being poorly protected compared to Japanes cars is long gone; it\'s as much to do with careful cleaning and catching problems early (eg when the paint / galvanising gets breached) as it is to do with the car itself.

[steve b]

Wow Fd\'s and rust, this amazes me I assumed they would have been sorted not to rust like most other Jap cars, regardless of if the lived in uk or Japan.  My MR2 is 14yrs old UK car, driven all year round and theres not a spot anywhere what so ever.  Rust on FD\'s must be quite rare, crash damaged cars etc really?

[clive]

Hi All,

U/K FD\'s were well protected and even had stonechip/underseal up onto the sides of the car .

Yes unfortunately Gen 2\'s rust particularly around the rear wheel arches but personally I have never seen rust issue\'s on Gen 3\'s, not saying they don\'t or can\'t, just saying what I have seen and I\'ve seen a couple over the years !

[rx7veilside]

dont worry about rust it will spend most of its time in the garage being repaired      

[Mave]

Hi All,

U/K FD\'s were well protected and even had stonechip/underseal up onto the sides of the car .

Yes unfortunately Gen 2\'s rust particularly around the rear wheel arches but personally I have never seen rust issue\'s on Gen 3\'s, not saying they don\'t or can\'t, just saying what I have seen and I\'ve seen a couple over the years !

live, you mention UK FDs as having decent protection, but then say you\'ve never seen a problem with Gen 3\'s; is that all Gen 3\'s? I\'ve got a recent import, one of the jobs on my list is to waxoyl and underseal it, but I\'m not sure how urgent an issue it is?