seals on doors
 

one problem solved, one more problem appears...


now that i have decided that my carb problems are fixed, i decided to have a look at the inside of my doors. My 'Margarethe' is a slant windshield Fordor. I opened the passenger side front door and found some surface rust on the bottom of the inside of the door. no rusting-through but i want to get this in order. So, the plan is...


- take a stainless steel brush and clean all the doors
- brush rust-converter onto all the surfaces
- after drying put wax onto the surfaces


i assume that this will kill the problem for the rest of my lifetime. Any thoughts?


i also saw that there is no seal between the door and the window glass at the bottom of the window opening. I have not been able to positively decide on which parts i need on the snyders online catalogue. can anybody show me which parts i need.


As always, thanks in advance FordBarners...


Tom

Re: seals on doors
 

https://www.duluxprotectivecoatings....converters.pdf

https://blog.higgins.com.au/blog/how...ust-converters

How good are rust converters?

Re: seals on doors
 

As long as it truly is surface rust…..your plan should work.
Rust can be like an iceberg…..more there than showing. If the rust is coming thru from the backs your plan won’t work.
Example is cowl panels…tiny pin holes showing outside, many rust-thrus lurking.

Re: seals on doors
 

Rust is produced by oxygen reacting with iron. Mechanically removing the rust from the surface is very important. I like to use a power wire wheel which does a good job of removing the rust and making the surface of the steel bright and shiny. Then I wipe on a solvent such as alcohol or a wax and oil remover. Then I apply a quality metal primer such as epoxy followed with 2 coats of paint (lacquer or acrylic).
Putting wax on the affected area after cleaning will not protect against corrosion for a long time. If wax could do this then we would only have to wax our cars once.

Re: seals on doors
 

i think i used the wrong word, for 'wax' put in maybe 'underbody protection'? something that you spray into the metal chassis parts to protect them from the elements.


Would you use a brass, mild steel or stainless steel brush?

Re: seals on doors
 

To me the bristle type means little …it’s the abrasive action. But I’d use a stainless mainly because they are tougher.

Re: seals on doors
 

I have been doing the same thing. I hit down in the door with a sand blaster but boy does that make a mess. I was thinking of brushing epoxy paint in the bottom of my doors. POR15 is also a option. I am finding that things are much rustier than they appear, even a solid looking car is full of holes once you start removing rust.

Re: seals on doors
 

Conversion coatings are only a surface treatment so it's best if a surface is cleaned as much as possible prior to using conversion coatings. Grit blasting with sand is pretty harsh. There are other medias such as glass bead that are much easier on the surface. Getting into nooks and crannies is always the hard part. Where there is corrosion between panels, it's better to separate the panels and clean it off than to encapsulate it. Encapsulation will work for a while but the cancer is always lurking there where it will eventually resurface as the coatings deteriorate.

Use the conversion coating before or during the priming process. Etch type primers have a zinc phosphoric acid mixed it that etches the surface before the dry out and cure process is complete. Primers should be painted over to prevent moisture from getting back in to a treated surface. The paint doesn't have to be pretty inside panels like a door or a rocker panel. It can be brushed or sloshed or what have you, if not sprayed.

What saved the early Fords for so long was the thickness of the metal used. Even with thick metal, it still rusts through after so many years in the elements. Be prepared to patch rust through spots no matter how small they are. A friend of mine would cut little odd shaped patches to repair rust through spots and bullet holes. He'd cut, file, or grind out the holes and make a patch to fit then weld it back in taking a lot of time so as not to over heat the spot repairs. One tack weld at a time if he had to and he used an oxy acetylene torch with as small a tip as would be appropriate just like I do. A lot of old vintage tin survived pretty well in the arid high plains areas of western Kansas where I'm originally from.

Re: seals on doors
 

at the moment i am trying to figure out, what a dry ice cleaning of the inside of the doors would cost. I think that's the best method, non-abrasive and completely clean. afterwards i will put rust-converter including a primer on the surfaces.


i am unsure whether putting underbody protection onto the surfaces afterwards is good or bad, it may give better protection but it may hide any further corrosion until it's too late...

Re: seals on doors
 

Would the dry ice method damage the exterior paint? That would need to be eliminated by testing.

Re: seals on doors
 

For your window seal problem: Bratton's has a variety of seals but nothing for a slant window. They do give door measurements so maybe something will fit. They sell a Fordor seal #31390. Again, measure your door and compare with what they sell. Good luck

Re: seals on doors
 

good question. i assume that it does not hurt the exterior paint as it is not abrasive to the metal, just the paint and corrosion on the inside. you can see a lot of videos on youtube. i will go to some local dry ice specialists and ask that question and then i will report.

Re: seals on doors
 

i have been in contact with snyders and they pointed me to a-19008-4df, which looks right. i will have to take my doors apart and check. now, if only i could get those inside handles off, they really are a pain in the...

Re: seals on doors
 

Big Ben was sand blasted and coated in zinc.

Re: seals on doors
 

Hi guys,


what i find funny, is, that there seems to be no seal on the door sealing between the door and the bottom of the window when the window is in the up position. See the attached photo. the car is a slant windshield Fordor. is there something missing? Or is this as it left the factory?