Rust

[Suttons]

Hi all,

I’ve had my first caterham for almost 9 months and noticed some rust forming in a few places most notably a the front suspension area and little or the rear roll bar. I’m not ver experienced in dealing with rust so open to all advice what to do with it before it gets any worse.

Edited May 8 by Suttons
Images didn’t upload

[SM25T]

Have to turn the lights on before you take a photo !

[Suttons]

Lol, the images just come through as black no idea why I can’t attach the image

[Suttons]

I managed to add some images to the original post. Here’s the other images.

[Ainsley]

Remove the bits, remove the rust and repaint/re-powder coat.  Personally I would just send them off to someone to do professionally. 

You could spend ages sanding then re-painting.  But that's very time consuming when the sun is out and its finally prime time for driving.  Perhaps just sod it till the end of the year and pay someone to do the job properly when the car is hibernating ?

 

[Suttons]

Great ok thanks for the recommendation. Any recommendations who to send the parts too?

[ScottR400D]

I’d be thinking about why it’s like that too. My car is 9 yo and doesn’t have anything like that. All I’ve ever done is keep dry, wipe over with WD and put Helicopter tape on the forward looking surfaces. 
This is last year: The white dots on the wing support are the edge of the HT  

 

[Jonathan Kay]

1 hour ago, Suttons said:

Lol, the images just come through as black no idea why I can’t attach the image

Were the first images too big?

Jonathan

[DanRo]

That is a lot of rust for 9 months of use, although great that you are using the car.
 

If you were out over the winter, it may have been exacerbated by road salt. It would be worth having a look under the car too, to see if anywhere needs attention. There are hard to reach areas alongside the pedal boxes where muck gets in and if that’s mixed with salt, it can cause big problems. 

It’s usually the areas exposed to grit and stones which lose some coating and then it starts to spread. If re-powder coating is not your plan, It’s possible to sand and spot treat areas with either Por15 or Simonez tough satin black paint, though it will look like a touch up job, unless you’re a dab hand. Better than rust though and if done in time, you only need small amounts. 
 

As mentioned, once treated, rubbing down with anti-corrosion fluid like ACF50 will help prevent re-occurrence. 
 

 

[Ainsley]

Any touch up should be seen as a temporary solution.

If the rust gets under the powder coating you will be left chasing it forever.  Better to remove, recoat and then prevent it happening in the first place.  Any small stone chip of damage will let it back in.

On my other toys I'm meticulous about post use cleaning and then spray with some water dispersant (Silicon spray or WD40) if its been wet.  Plus I just don't use them in the crappy winter conditions.  

 

[Tiddy7]

That looks about normal for Caterham powder coating, I'm surprised that it lasted that long!

 

[Colin Cooper]

My '96 car lives outside and is used all year round, so it does look like yours after a while.

Every couple of years I jack the front up to enable the wheels to be turned left /righ for access. Clean the worst corrosion off with emery cloth, then repaint with Hammerite smooth paint. 

Col

 

[David Brown]

Used to apply electrical pvc tape to the front suspension to stop stone chips, invariably over POR15. Easy to apply, almost invisible and an annual, sacrificial job that took 15 - 30 minutes to do. 

[Ainsley]

Oh, that's a good idea.

[SLR No.77]

“Helicopter tape” is a worthwhile addition to the leading edges of the suspension arms etc, it last for years as well.

Stu.