plastic plugs under rear arch?????

[Russonly]

Found some plastic plugs under the rear wheel arch, at the front of the arch!

Other than being really good rusting points, what are they for?

Do I need them or can they be filled?

[CovKid]

Seat belt mounting holes?

[jamesc76]

for spraying under seal into the end of the sill!

[Bert2]

Agree with above there is a round plug in the front section of each rear wheel arch where they sprayed underseal into the sill

[CovKid]

waxoyl more likely

[Russonly]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply!

Just spent the evening pulling the rubbery foam underseal stuff from the wheel arch seems - chasing the tin worm . Bloomin hard stuff to shift (foam and worm)!

Got a few holes to fill now including this one. Best get some waxoyl banged in this un I guess!

Russ

[jamesc76]

waxoyl more likely

which a trade name for a brand of underseal! Shutz is a much better product as is harder (tho just as easy to apply) and stands up better than overpriced waxoyl!

[Plasticman]

Waxoyl and schutz underseal are totaly different materials, Whilst underseal affords some protection from the elements and has its place they also leave the rust to fester and sweat, great on new metal but not in box sections, waxoyl or the equivalent is far better sprayed in and it will flow into all the crevices and doesnt set.
(owned and ran a classic & vintage resto company for over 20 years)
mike

[melmelody]

agree with the above post .a lot of cheap schutz is crap. waxoyl or a similar brand is far better.flows into the cavities and also has rust inhibitors. do it regularly and it'll last forever

[Plasticman]

If your under 40 then no disrespect butyou wont recall the state of most vehicles 'as built' under and inner body protection was not a standard or norm, some yes but many not, comes down to cost amongst many other things.

Anyhow this left a gap in the market for many get rich quick type phoenix companies, think 60's 70's no regulation no tinternet just you and what knowledge you had, so many folk set up offering 'rustproofing' ziebart was a prominent and reputable system that was used but a lot of the shall we say cowboys used other systems and the effectivness was down in most part to the skil of the guy doing it,often the apprentice who just wanted to be finnished with it and if it wasnt done right how could you the owner tell.

Holes where drilled in many areas of chassis sections and blind boxes and fluids (for want of a better word) pumped/injected/sprayed in then grommets to seal the hole, or tape stuck over!

Then came part 2.. the liberal application of underseal, be it schutz or any of the other generic brands, this hid a multitude of sins and was reasonably effective but only if done on a bone dry vehicle as new before any rust got started
invariably this was not the case and the liberal coating kept that bit of moisture warm and happy and so it commenced to nibble away at the metal and all along the owner was obliviouse to this as 'out of sight out of mind'

A few years down the line it ate its way through in many places and thence spawned a new industry, Chassis repairs.
Yep i ran one as an aside company as did many other folk, still have a few burns from dropping molten underseal and also bear in mind there was no such thing as a mig in general workshops then, you had to learn how to weld..with gas!
Ah well back to 2010
Mike

[Russonly]

Sounds a hoot!

...So, what's the best way of getting rid of the original foam / rubber underseal stuff? My knuckles are raw from using a screwdriver and knife!

Someone tells me to use a wire brush attachment on a drill, has anyone tried this?

[DavidPallister]

I scraped mine off using a 12mm wood chisel. Worked a treat

Dave

[CovKid]

Having taken sills apart, I can tell you they're full of waxoyl, not underseal which I'd never use on a vehicle ever. Would rather use clean engine oil and clean it off if I ever needed access to some panel. The only people I know singing the praises of underseal are the people that make it.

[Bert2]

I have just replaced both sills, front wheel arch around fuel filler complete off side corner, both rear wheel arches and side panels, the best method I found was to soften under seal with a blow torch and remove with a blunt chisel, be careful not to over do it as it burns very well and drips like molten Lava as you will find if you weld and do not remove enough. good luck

[dugcati]

agree with you bert.. FIRE !! it's the best way heheh