[1964Saab]

To cheer yourself up go to the autotrader site and search for Mazda MX5s. Take a note of the registration numbers of cars for sale (those that you can see - dealers will obscure the plates for reasons as below). Then go to the DVLA MOT History site. Make certain it is the DVLA one - there are some placed by rip off companies that will charge you, the DVLA is free. You can the check the MOT history for the MX5s for sale. You will be lucky to find a single one that has not had a failure or serious advisory for rust in the front chassis legs, sills or rear quarter panel. For MG Fs and TFs it is usually no brake lights or worn wipers. So much for the Mazda being the best sports car ever.

Jan T

 

[mowog73]

I find the same here in Canada, that many MX-5 has rust issues in the chassis legs and sills. They are a good car but they are not without their issues, and rust seems to be a bigger issues with a MX-5 than with an F.

 

[Chris T]

Mazda took the recreation of the British sports car a bit too far when they start to rot away. F/TF’s can look quite scabby at times but there often isn’t anything too bad other than TF sub-frame mounts.

 

[nocturneblue]

Well it's all been said really, but yes, rust is a fact of life with an old car, kept outside. I have been attacking rust on my 2004 TF for years now. Four of the eight subframe mounts replaced, both front suspension wishbones, both subframes derusted 'in situ' and treated and sealed, various paint chips treated especially on the bonnet and around the lights, also rust starting on seams at the top of the windscreen frame (take off the rubber seal to look), also under the rubber boot seal, also in the gutter behind the rear window, not to mention all the steel bolts in the bonnet area and the slam panel for the bonnet catch, plus the rusty bonnet catch security pressing underneath the slam panel. Then of course there are the wheel arches, rust always starts on the inside of them where the arch forms a sharp edge and tries to work its way out to the more visible areas. My latest fix was one of the sills, which had surface rust bubbles and tin-worm tracks aplenty. It's a lot of work - a lot. I do it all myself. There are two ways to go at it essentially - the wire brush over the offending area and a quick spray with stonechip or whatever, then the OCD approach - I do the wire brush bit then burn off every last bit of rust with builder's acid (careful) then treat with the rust treatment phospate/phosphoric acid solutions which are less brutal than builder's acid but take a long time to work if there's pitted rust - but they do leave a protective film which gives you a short time to spray the area.
I also do rust prevention - flood the sills with Dinitrol cavity wax, also any hollow structural member (pick a dry week). Put a cover on in winter (at least one that covers the hood and windows).
I think it all comes down to whether you want to have carefree motoring with just a bit of an oil change once in a while or want a challenge :0) These cars are of course now 15-24 years old and I don't think it's possible to have a car that old, built at Longbridge, and expect them to just go on forever without major work at some point. I ought to say I have 'preservation' of my TF in mind - for some time to come - so am OK with the level of faff involved in keeping it working and the rust under control.

 

[Fiddler2]

Great, that's just what I wanted to hear - my TF is my only car and I use it for everything when I'm home from University. So whilst I want it to run well and look ?, I'm definitely not trying to turn it into a museum piece. Will get cracking then! ?
That's one of the benefits of being a key worker is that I can enjoy driving my car to and from work in this lovely weather?

My Solar Red F body is ok .It's just anything painted black rust and paint peeling is bad .Pedal plate was 25% rusted away and anything powder coated is peeling. .
Painting all with VATCAN rust converter.
You really need car on lift and 2+ days scrape.wire brush .Vatcan + Waxoyle.
Then all the body rust spots and also deal with laquer peeling .Paint was water based 2k laquer. Now doing head gasket +remote thermostat the fun never ends .At least the roof goes up and down .(unlike Bentley. RR convertables?)

 

[Fiddler2]

My Solar Red F body is ok .It's just anything painted black rust and paint peeling is bad .Pedal plate was 25% rusted away and anything powder coated is peeling. .
Painting all with VATCAN rust converter.
You really need car on lift and 2+ days scrape.wire brush .Vatcan + Waxoyle.
Then all the body rust spots and also deal with laquer peeling .Paint was water based 2k laquer. Now doing head gasket +remote thermostat the fun never ends .At least the roof goes up and down .(unlike Bentley. RR convertables?)

Last night TV all about Ken Dodd a better comedian than MGFs did Rover have a job lot of 8mm af bolts cheap ? And that famous black subframe paint..Can anyone tell me about the camshaft positioning spring pin "dowels"

 

[Fiddler2]

Only joking! Drive for a mile ,hood down,and smiles return .even laughs. Steering magic Head back on soon.

 

[Mr. Omikron]

Hey all, Due to a combination of long postage times, me ordering the wrong stuff, and being busy at work I only just started de-rusting a few weeks ago. I've been scrubbing away with a wire brush and painting just about every underside surface I can get at with hammerite. Despite some initial nervous procrastination, it feels great to work on my own car and I'm getting more comfortable with jacking up the car safely - it was suggested that I can jack up from the bracket where the two rear tie bars meet, which I have been doing.

The main reason for this post is that I'm wondering - is there a similar place at the front of the car that I can use as a jack point? I'm assuming there is an easily accessible area I can get axle stands under as well?


While I'm here I can give a bit of an update regarding the state of the car itself:

The car got though the M.O.T., surprisingly without any mentions of rust whatsoever, which was pretty great news. Having been underneath good and proper myself, I can confirm it is pretty rank under there! The difference with just one coat of paint is night and day. No more crusty stuff falling off and it looks so much better! Although the rust is at such a stage that I suspect I'd need to start removing things and treating them separately to get them all looking really 👌. Probably something for another time - am more than happy with doing this for now.
Anyway, long story short, so far so good and I haven't come across any real horrors yet. Though I haven't gotten up super close to the front yet, it looks to be in a better state than the rear was before I painted it.

Big thank you all for the advice and info, especially considering I came here just worrying about body panel rust. Definitely would not have had the idea or confidence to get under the car on my own.

 

[PatM]

Haha- No, the front is a problem- I have to use my small trolley-jack just to get under there- jack it up off the suspension and prop it rear of the subframe on the floor pan. Both sides. Mine failed its MOT last year on the front swivels- I wasnt going to drop the subframe- so i did the repair-route. This meant it was up on stands for a couple of days while I dismantled and odered the parts. You can just make out the axle-stand.

 

[Fiddler2]

VATCAN seems to work very .well £20 litre .I think it's acid derust and latex mixture
Welded up a garden plant pot stand from not so clean steel tube . VATCAN then black paint . Year later perfect . Yes I did clean up before welding but left experiment rusty bits