| Author | Message | ||
     John McGhee New User Username: jam Post Number: 4 Registered: 10-2012 |
Fellow enthusiasts, In tidying up Spirit 55208 I decided to remove the sill finishers as the sikaflex (or similar) bead that had been installed 18 years ago had gone the way of all flesh, leaving a jagged and unsightly residual, the sole function of which appears to be to collect grime and white dust from zealous polishing. I noticed that there was surface corrosion on the body at the forward end of the passenger side finisher and, upon removal, determined that the "Tee Bolt" used to secure the front of the finisher to the body was basically rusted out, with the rot spreading to the hole in the body and then under the paint just above the finisher. Both cavities were nicely sealed and clean and the bolt on the other side was as good as new, so go figure... About 90% of the myriad RR&B cars that I inspected prior to acquiring 55208 had corrosion in this area and I am wondering if it is typically linked to corrosion of the T bolt, the inspection/replacement of which may be a useful bit of preventive medicine. I am contemplating a thin rubber shim between the bolt and the body to separate the metallic offenders upon reassembly. Has this been attempted by others? Is it standard pracise to run a sikaflex bead on reassembly of these finishers? My experiences with wooden boats tell me that devices designed to prevent ingress as often as not fail in that endeavour, but rarely fail to prevent egress and, as they say, rot never sleeps... Kind regards John | ||
| Jeff Young Prolific User Username: jeyjey Post Number: 109 Registered: 10-2010 |
I also had some rot under the finisher (although the worst bit appears to have been just forward of the finisher's leading edge):  The inner sill wasn't too bad, so cleary mine also started from the top:  Cheers, Jeff |
