Here's what happens:

 

wow. have fun with that.

 

Depending on how much rust is there/under that metal....is what determines if its worth fixing.

which from the pic....doesnt look like fun.

 

Yeah, I don't get it . I'd been looking for one without holes in it , finally found one at the junkyard.

 

Mine doesnt have holes and the underneath looks like that.....

 

Here's what I've got so far:

 

I don't understand. Someone drilled a bunch of hole in the plastic battery tray, ( why? ) which allowed something to eat away at the paint and rust the metal...battery acid?

 

....did you just paint over it?

 

Its just surface rust people jesus, looks good ray.

 

my rust is deep as hell.....i need to get it fixed.

 

Thanks for Sharing Yor Pain Ray!! FWIW, ALL SA/FBs look something like that under there!!!
People: TIME TO PULL YOUR BATTERY SHELVES OUT (and de-rust)!
I POR-15'd the inner fender, Powdercoated the tray, replaced all the attaching hardware with stainless steel. Should be bullet-proof now...
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Stu has the idea, you just need to get in there, get dirty and get that area cleaned up so you can repaint. Then replace the battery tray with one that doesn't have holes! I've got about an afternoon into my project so far, but then I'm cleaning up all the rest of the engine bay as well.

This one really wasn't that bad, despite the nasty looking pictures. It was, as yetterben correctly points out, just surface rust. In fact none of my 4 GSLs have had any really serious rust in the battery area that needed real body work - this one was the worst and it is all because of this very bad idea.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

looks like night and day Ray!!! glad you caught that sucker early! did the previous owner punch those holes in the battery tray?

 

That mod came with the car Dave. I have a tray without holes that will be going back in.

I'm going over the whole car getting it ready to put on the road. I hadn't really noticed the battery rust being so extensive until I pulled the battery and started cleaning things up.

So I hope that I'm inspiring some of you guys to take an afternoon and get the rust out!

 

Looks good Ray. Did you just use regular primer? It's always a good idea to use a rust preventative like Por 15 or something before you primer and paint. If it's not that bad, a brass wire wheel will get into all the little pits without digging it out making it worse. Ray, you get a "little" rusty place, and O" my god. You should come up and clean the engine bay in the SA for me . I think you would have a heart attack!

 

You're right Sam, I'm on a campaign against dirty engine bays. Mike stopped by a few weekends ago and I wouldn't let him out of the drive way until we hit his engine bay with some degreaser and a hose.

I wish I had thought of the rust preservative, that probably would have been better - I just used krylon metal primer and I'll finish with some silver krylon enamel, if it's a reasonably close match.

Despite the ugly looking rust there wasn't any weak metal and I was careful to get down in the nooks and crannies with a wire hand brush and steel wool while treating the area with engine degreaser and hot detergent. After a good rinse and dry I waited for a warm dry sunny day, wiped everything down with rubbing alcohol and did the priming.

Rain today but the next time it gets hot and dry I can paint it and start putting everything back together. It's certainly better than it was and should hold the rust in check for a few years.

Especially if I don't put holes in the battery acid retention tray.

 

Update:














That's Rustoleum silver metalic spray enamel, it's a real close match to the original silver color. This project is coming along nicely, I've decided to take my time and do it right. Still to do: Brakes, put back the engine bay and freshen all the interior and exterior trim. Also check to be sure there are no more rust surprises.

 

Is this like a disease or something cuz' I can show you a pic of my engine bay, lol. Actually I was hoping the underpants knomes would should up in the middle of the night and clean it up for me, You know like a side job or something.

On a serious note I like the way you cleaned up that bay. It's always good to see what others have done to tackle various jobs on there car. Good Job.

 

wow!! impressive work Ray!! did you find a close color match in a rattle can? it really looks great!

 

Looks good, Ray. However, without those holes, you will be missing out on some nice weight reduction.

 

Ray,
is that K3? I have the exact same problem and was planning on doing something the same as you.
quick question,
Are you replacing the metal battery stand or shelf, or whatever its called, and if so how, cause it doesn't seem to be sold from BDA or anywhere else.

 

Yes that's K3 and the Rustoleum Silver Metalic paint looks to be a pretty good match. I sprayed only part of this strut tower, you can see around the brake line and clip where the old K3 is showing up.



The original K3 has a light yellow tinge compared to the Rustoleum, but that might just be grime or aging. So I think I've found my touch up paint.

I'm going to spray under the hood this evening and may even do the exterior hood and front bumper, which it is starting to show some age and fading. Then if that looks good I'll rattle can the whole car instead of forking out lots of bucks on a professional paint job.

Kent I am taking this opportunity to lighten the load. Items not being reinstalled include:

Air conditioning system
Cold start assist
Hot start assist
Cruise control

I don't miss that stuff much, especially the AC maintenance and working around all the clutter. The best part is that under the hood looks much better without it and, as Kent points out, it makes for some nice weight reduction.

I'll continue to post my progress on the Silver One here if people are interested.

 

looking good