MGB Any way to prevent rust on these MGB's

[111]

I noticed the other day that in the seems of the fenders a little surface rust is starting to appear. This car has been garaged kept most of it's life, but lately it has been out in the S Florida rain more than ever before.

So I'd like to keep it from getting any worse, and hopefully some of you will have some good suggestions.

 

[Britishautobody]

Well ,keep it dry and it won't get any worse. Rust needs moisture to grow. When rust develops from underneath seams outward it is a hard animal to eliminate. You can try soaking a rust converter into the seams and putting paint over = more or less a band aid. Rust is a cancer, it is hard to eliminate and hard to control.

 

[toysrrus]

Hi There 111,

I was just passing thru & thought I`d pass on this bit of "Priceless" info.

"GET IT UNDER SOMESORT OF ROOF FAST"!!

 

[111]

By these replies am I to assume all MGB's rust if left out in the elements? I mean Britain is a wet and damp place to live, so you would think after all the years producing cars, they would have addressed the rust prevention issue of their cars by the 1980's.

 

[DrEntropy]

Ummm... well, not to go all political here, but: If the cars wouldn't rust, the car sales for the BL conglomerate would have dried up, y'see. :wink:

Be glad ya didn't choose an Italian car. :smirk:

And seriously, if you're seeing rust at the welting seams between panels, it is likely to be from the inside out. The seams are spot welded, moisture traps and prone to rusting. There was a Waxoyl rustproofing available at the time, anybody's guess as to whether or not it got applied properly to every car passing that particular worker's station. Inner sills is another place to check well. Proper repair is a labour of love, the thing would need to be taken down to panel components. Way too expensive to do in most instances, unless you do it yourself as a hobby project.

 

[111]

Up until now it has not had a spot of rust on it, even in the typical places people mention. However we have had a lot of rain in the last few months, and this garage queen has been exposed more now than probably most of it's existence. I just didn't expect that it would start to rust being exposed to moisture over the course of a couple of wet months.

 

[aeronca65t]

As stated above, there's no single, easy answer. I suppose you could buy a new Heritage shell from the UK and have it galavnized.
But other than that, just try to keep it clean and dry.

One thing that I've done on ~my car~ is to run a small 110V box fan blowing on it 24/7 (I do this with the plane too). It tends to keep things a bit more dry and the moving air tends to keep away rodents and other pests too. I move the fan to different areas of the car. I'm going to go out and move it right now.

 

[vagt6]

Really the only way is to keep the car dry, don't wash it with water (never wash with a hose, just wipe down with damp towels, etc.), and store it someplace where the relative humidity stays below 50%.

Rust propogates with humidity. Keep 'er dry, mate.

 

[davester]

...or you could move out here to California (though getting a garage would probably be cheaper).

 

[DrEntropy]

Really the only way is to keep the car dry, don't wash it with water (never wash with a hose, just wipe down with damp towels, etc.), and store it someplace where the relative humidity stays below 50%.

Rust propogates with humidity. Keep 'er dry, mate.

Bit of a trick to pull off in southwest Florida, unfortunately.