hey i was reading the thread about driving the fc in the winter which im forced to do and it got me hype to rustproof her. So far ive been getting her washed, including the underbody and rust inhibitor service every week. But now i went out and bought a few can of rubber underbody coating. I am sure I need to hit the metal; sections of the wheel wells but where else would be important. DOnt say the whoel underside cause i just dont have the time.

Im going to continue getting the underbody wash and rust coating but i just want this extra protection.

 

sunroofs always rust

 

rocker panels rust out from the inside.

 

check where the rocker panels meet the floor boards on both sides of the car. My seven had rust holes there I pushed a screwdriver through with no effort at all. I welded new metal in and fiberglassed both top and bottom then appled undercoating.

 

please xplain what a rocker panel is?

 

Im sorry, I don't mean to tease or burn here....

but you have a thousand something posts on here and don't know what a rocker panel is????????????what do you discuss on here?

the rocker is the section of the body that is underneath the door...it makes up the sill plate (the bottom of the door jamb that has the plastic panel that says "Mazda") basically the area that will be covered by a side skirt

 

Just never used that term before thats all. Thanks for the description.

 

Inside the rear wheel wells...

 

lololol i didnt know either until just know! i thought it was a american car guy (read hillbilly) term for fender, kind of like how they call LSD's posi's and engines motors. i guess im just stupid though.

 

"Posi-traction" was a trademark for GM's LSD unit, so that's how it got the name... You'd be surprised how many rednecks have argued with me saying Posi's weren't limited slip...

As far as FC rust areas... These are the main ones, along with ways to prevent it...

1. sunroof (clean drain tubes)
2. around edge of rear wheel well (wash your damn car regularly!)
3. rocker panels (clean drain holes)
4. along bottom of door (clean drain holes)
5. along where hatch rests (drain plugs at the corners with tubes)
6. lower window trim (good luck)

 

my lower window trim is GONE LOL

i gotta start trackign down those drain holes but for ohter reasons. I have a mysterious leak that rises form beneath my rear seat.

 

That was the only noticeable rust spot my FC had when I bought it, but the repaint took care of that...

 

yeah where are these drain holes at? I didn't know the sunroof had a drain hole...

 

Those are the sunroof drainage tubes most likely...

The sunroof doesn't have a drain hole. It's just a tube on each side and it runs down behind the plastic panels where the seatbelt holder is (on S4's). Start taking apart the plastics and remove your sunroof panel by popping the headliner off (just the sunroof liner) and undoing the 6 nuts that hold it in place. then with the plastics gone, you'll be able to see the tubes. Also check the holes that drain into the tubes (ok yea there's holes lol) for blockage. That's the number one cause of sunroofs rusting out... That and bad seals...

 

Rust is probably the most annoying thing in the world. For instance, my paint job was stellar when I bought my car in 02. One winter in St Louis and BAM! both rear-wheel wells rusted up like the tin man.

 

I don't think I could stand to bust 50 million more plastic interior pieces in an attempt to remove the sunroof panel. Broken interior pieces are probably the most annoying thing about owning an Rx-7.

 

I've argued that about LSD's with people before.They thought I was crazy when I said they were the same. As far as rust goes I have a small rust spot in front of the driver's side rear wheel.

 

Just be careful and take your time, my girlfriend and i gutted the interior in my project car with very little trouble i broke a little of the passenger a pillar b/c of idiocy, thats it though.

 

I gutted my car as well I went over it top and bottom and rust proofed it all and repaired a few rust holes. I resealed the **** out of it. I even removed the gas tank and got underneath that and recoated the tank. The filler neck all that ****. It sucked doing it but now I know what my car has. I did this before I even really did any work to the car. Why put money into a car that could be a rust bucket??? In my opinion everyone should check before they pour money into something like that.

 

Under my battery is starting to rust.

 

the front floor pans behind the front wheels . god my 2nd fc had it bad on both sides corse living half its life in boston where they put salt on the roads . then the other half in corpsi christi (gulf coast) doesnt help either so by the time i got it you could see the light in some places if you pulled back the carpet . so i sold it for 600 dollars and bought my present one for 550 with 60k on the motor . i'd say i won on that deal

 

You don't have to remove any plastic to pull the sunroof panel... That's where the tubes coming from the sunroof connect with the outbound drain tubes... That's where you'll have to disconnect them if they need cleaning... Any water behind the seat either means you have holes in your floorpans or the sunroof tube has become disconnected from the outbound tube, and is leaking directly into your car...

Oh and one other notorious rust area is behind the mouldings...

 

I think it would; be that one. the two tubes disconnected half way. Because the rest of the car is completely dry but after a good storm i can have a visible puddle in my rear driverside seat. So im gonna have to remove the plastic interior on the driverside to repair it correct?

Im gonna do it all at once, remove the seats, and sides, repair the leak and put back in storage bins

 

Yea you'll wanna start by removing the door sills... Then remove the plastic piece that wraps around the top edge of the rear corner and secures the speaker covers... After that you can remove the seatbelt hook and pull the main plastic panel... You'll find the tubes behind that panel... There should be some sort of "T" there where the tube connects...

 

my sunroof and hatch has rust. other than that i'm good.