does anyone have any ideas for stopping the rot this winter. I cant cover the car and it will sit on the drive, but be in use though the winter. Dont have a garage. Will do a lot of rust proofing before the winter. Does anyone have any stratergies for slowing the rot for a 2CV standing outside in the weather?

Thanks

Justin

Justin,

This is the dilemma I'm currently facing with my Acadiane, I've got no garage to put it in and have to see the poor thing getting battered by the elements. I'm going to try and get a cover very soon, I've ordered tons of rust proofing products and am just going to hope and pray. If it stays dry enough to do so I might try and see if I can scrape off any old underseal and re-paint and do it properly. Its currently dripping with waxoil but I just need to get wax over the inner wings and underneath. I might apply vaseline around window rubbers etc to plug any gaps there too.

The only way I can see to stop the inevitable is just to look for a garage, there are just none available near me.

cheers

Joe

If you're not too concerned with the appearance then you could try something that I did to my 1954 Standard Vanguard a couple of years ago.

The car was my daily driver over a period that included the entire winter, it also lived outside as the garage was full of motorbikes at the time. To prevent any deterioration of the chrome I smothered it in undiluted waxoyl, applied thickly with a rag then left as is.

Having done the chrome I thought 'why not?' and proceeded to do the same for the paintwork. By the time I'd finished I'd used a gallon tin squirted in the cavities and another gallon spread like butter all over the car, I then drove it like that the entire winter.

The downside was that any road dirt and salt becomes stuck in the waxoyl barrier and the car looks filthy, the upside is that it only reaches the waxoyl barrier and not beyond, so come spring when you wash off the resulting muck with hot water your paint and chrome are perfect.

super advice thanks. I thought of one of those car covers but I think they are counter-productive. ive got lots of rust proofing stuff so its a matter of going mad with it before the weather goes mad.

Sorry to sound like a smart arse - but i think vaseline MAY be a bad thing for rubber....??? can anyone confirm this...

cheers

No worries Williami, it may well be, I just remember using it on the boot seal on my Volvo Amazon once to temporarily stop a leak, seemed to be ok but I did wipe it off after only a week once I got a new seal, it may not have had time to do any damage. I'll have to google it and make sure.

I know what you mean about the covers. As I want to use the car, any benefit the cover may bring will be nil once I put the cover over a wet car after the daily commute. I'm worried it will just trap water under it, might be better to let it just air off naturally, and leave the rust prevention to the wax. I might just get one in case I'm going to leave it for a few days though.



I've thought about this and asked a similar question recently whether it would be ok to do so. I might apply it on the panel lines and gaps etc. I don't mind it looking grimey as its beige/poo brown anyway

I sprayed a fair bit of Dynax wax around the seams & wiped off the excess a few weeks later...




between the cab roof & van box;



loads underneath the 'hoop' trim at the back;

Cool, I've just ordered some more of that Dynax stuff. Thanks for doing that, it'll pay off if once I put more on this winter hopefully. Did you scrape off the underseal from one wing? I'm thinking of trying to take the old stuff off, but its a big job.

The underseal was unbelievably brittle - you just had to touch it & it would fall off! I took one of the front wings back to the black factory primer, then cleaned & painted it with Bilt Hamber 'Electrox', then used UPOL 'Graviguard' over the top of that.



One of the areas i'd concentrate on are around the rear bump stops - due to the design of them they will hold the crap & rot through in no time. They are mint at the moment;





Did the guy give you the rubber stop?