ford4v429

Well,
I was hoping to POR-15 inside my rockers and doors tonight, but first gotta fix a few things...might want to look over your rear seam sealed areas- found a bunch of spots that were missed on my car, wouldnt doubt its typical. heres a bunch of pics- the stuff behind the rear wheel on drivers side is pretty bad, one spot behind shock mount on passenger side was missed too, found one spot behind passenger rear wheel where seam sealer appeared to be too thick, and shrunk/cracked at corner. Now I regret not doing this before driving it. I'm sure the galvanizing didnt let any rust start yet, but still, theres dirt in places that cannot be cleaned- and that dirt has salt in it...will POR-15 as deep as possible in the gaps before adding some 3m 'fast and firm' seam sealer...
One thing that really worries me- in front of both rear tires, you'll see a 'flap' pinchweld- with a 'scoop' like hole at the top, about 1/4 inch wide, an inch long- that hole goes directly down into the rocker. Hate to sound too cynical, but my Mark VII had some odd 'drains' too- and when I cut the rockers out on it (originally was going to cut a quarter sized area out where paint was blistering- started cutting and entire panel was shot) found a 1/4 inch of mud/salt/road crap down in the lower pinch welds- I honestly wonder if this might be 'designed' to rust after 5-10 years...planned obsolescence? Any way, back to that area...at the bottom of same 'flap' the pinchweld has gaps too and no sealer- I could push a piece of mig wire loosly thru it and out the rocker drains farther forward. I dont know itf I might 'prevent breathing' in the rocker, but I AM GOING TO SEAL THESE UP. THe side/bottom drains are nice- at the pinch bottom/wide open, look fairly easy to flush out compared to some others Ive seen, but still the areas between drains have that little 'vee' where outer panel radiuses down to the pinch, and dirt always wedges into that gap. I am going to drill a couple holes under my sills to POUR some POR-15 down inside after taping up drains, then jack car front/rear to let it run along the 'vee' and fill that in to keep crap out of it. might be paranoid, but I tend to keep cars for decades, and hate rust.
Heres some pics of areas missed- first the drivers rear- swiss cheese here...passenger side was fine
left rear gaps

heres the only spots missed on passenger shock mount area- drivers side was fine-
right rear gaps

heres that 'flap' I was talking about- sealing(lack thereof) is identical both sides- the top hole goes right to the inacessible inside of rocker panel-
flap gaps
whole thing


heres the passenger side- way my cameras made I could get 'in' further and you can see the pinchweld has zero sealant behind the 'flap', due to undercoat wand angle- already had a lot of 'sand' packed in mine on both friggin sides-
right no sealer

heres the seam sealer shrink crack on the passenger side- area is rear where bumper meets wheelwell. Sealer looks to be almost 1/4 inch thick...Ive seen it shrink/crack before when I used too much on my 65 when I had the body off the frame.
shrink crack

if you plan on keeping your car, I'd really consider taking a few hours to go over it underneath. I hate to say it, but in my opinion: I 100% honestly believe the 5-10 year rocker is a intentional design.
If you live up north, how many explorers,arostars,mark VIIs,tbirds have you seen from the 90's in perfect shape except for holes in the rockers- from inside out...nice paint right up to the point where the metal disappears...

Hey, if they lasted forever, why would ya ever replace it... just my 2 cents...

in any event, my car was definitely not sealed properly on the drivers side...sealant behind wheels is not even up to the gaps in places...somebody missed.

sowaxeman

Impressively thorough there 429 I shamefully admit that my car is a show queen - sunny days only for my Saleen so I'm not too worried. But I think the average Joe (who doesn't have access to a lift like you ) would be best served by taking it to Zeibart for the lifetime rust protection package.

PullMeOverRed05

Damn Tim, Ford can't get anything past you!

ford4v429

Well Chris-
just 'looking after my investment'
just wish I'd have looked under before taking it out, but after waiting 5 months, just HAD TO DO IT
was really suprised at how many holes were missed on drivers side though...why did they even bother...

Sowaxeman- no lift here, just jackstands...this cars kinda a bitch to pick up- not *sure* if front crossmember is heavy enough for floorjack, so took front up a couple inches at a time side to side...I saw pics of jackstands under rear kmember mount- on mine gently tried and noticed some flexing, so put the stands out near the center front control arm mount- stands fit there good. Thinking about taking it down from the center- trying anyway...the 'corrugations' in the center look almost 'made for' floor jack but will not pickup without watching closely for flex...picked up wifes windstar there before, not supposed to, it is always been fine, first time is kinda unsure- put a indicator on it or something to see if anythings flexin too much....

I'm not a big undercoating fan i'm afraid...spent some very nasty hours stripping undercoating from a 65 galaxie that was getting rust under the undercoat...with undercoat, you cant tell till it falls off. I like paint better as it blisters up if anything starts under it, and found that POR-15 stuff is about nuke proof...however, with the thin film thickness a blister would still appear if something gets under it. Pretty sure I'm going with 'roll-on bedliner' on top of the POR as a bit of stone chip prevention- especially on the top rear wheelwell lip- that area always takes a beating, and the shape makes anything that gets inside if the paint/sealant chips, permanent...

Exilenla

INVERSTMENT ! You sound just like the guy at the dealership

Concerning all the same! thanks for the heads up!

Cheers!