Shocking discovery

[vegatron]

I have just noticed a shocking discovery. I am torn between color selection. So went to a local dealer that had a GO mustang to see what it would actually look like on the car. From going around it, noticed something I don't like. Engineer wise. Noticed that the rear shock towers are alligned within the wheel wells themselve. Now, this is mainly for anyone who opts to drive there Mustang all yr that live in area's that have salt applied to their roads. If you look, the upper shock tower is inside the wheel well. Well, this from past experience is a bad design. I had a car that was like this. Here is what happens. Over time, the rubber, from a few yrs of cold and hot, expand and shrink, thus eventually getting enough play, just enough that will alllow, when driving, road salt and slush will end up passing between the shock tower and rubber, above the shaft to leave salt slush residue on the inside of the fender. Which will lead to inside rust forming. Even with rust prooving, this being a hard place to get to, unless done so. You driving one day, hitting a good enough sized bump and wamm, shock tower busts right out. happened with a car I had once, and really is surprising to say the least. I for one, when I get my car, will make sure this area not only is rust proofed, but will be checking and replacing the rubber if needed yearly. Too bad the upper tower support wasn't on the other side of the wheel well, that would really settle this problem. I know most will not see the winter, but for the few that do, beware.

[ford4v429]

I tore mine apart pretty far to undercoat- pulled rockers/front fenders and liners/door panels...anyway: I feel there are two areas that also are going to be 'high corrosion' areas on the new body-

 

#1-if it starts, its a big repair...theres a 'flap' in front of the rear tires- inner/outer rocker junction...about half the cars Ive looked at were open at the top on one side or both- the hole 'funnels' into the razor thin pinchweld area between panels- guaranteed salt and rust will hang out there, and no way to clean it out...highly suggest seamsealer on top hole, I sealed the bottom also- it can still breathe thru the lower holes a little forward...also due to the angle the wand was held at, one side of mine had ZERO undercoating on the backside of the flap- couldnt really see, but stuck my camera back in there, you can look in between the layers at the pinchwelds...directly in front of the tire...angled flap would deflect even more crap into this open seam...seamsealed that also- my other side was sealed up fine.

 

#2- just a dirt catching place: behind your headlights, the bumper to fender junction, and headlamp/core support junctions: fenderwell is not attached to fender- and spray drips/runs forward onto the 'shelf' formed by core support structure- I bet if you look with a flashlight thru the air snorkel cutout you will see dirt lying back in there...the core support weldment is such that theres a radius down from the flat to the core support, so any dust/sand/whatever will wedge down in the gaps...I poured paint in mine till it ran thru to the bottom(very slight gaps at any pinchwelds) and used rollon bedliner to from a radius up top, easily rinsed out now. I caked the bedliner about 1/4 inch thick over the reinforcement plate that bumper bolts go thru- it also acts like a dirt dam...smoothed it over, also easy to rinse off...kinda self cleaning really if you drive in the rain.

 

#3) the upper frame 'arm' under the top of the front fender has openings that look like 'scoops' facing forward right behind headlamps...if you drive in salt, the stuff will easily get blown right into the frame...on the big top ones, I 'glued' a piece of plastic over- like a diverter- still open so it can breathe, but no spray blasting in thru the grill can get inside without making a u-turn...much less likely. similar openings in lower rail below/behind front wheels- you can see these by turning wheels, not removing fenders or fenderwells...I also sealed these, after shooting paint inside to seal the pinchwelds...lots of bottom openings and rearward facing ones too, wasnt so worried about them as it needs to breathe, just dont like the idea of little dirt/water scoops in the underbody, pulling crap into inaccessible areas to eventually become a damp layer of mud...

 

#4- the trunk of my car was swiss cheese. drivers side had at least a dozen gaps where the guy (or robot)shooting the sealer missed the seam, wasnt real bad as it was on the bottom anyways, but still, I drive in winter too, and dont want salt getting anywhere its not supposed to be...

 

I took a bunch of pics, will try to find link to them.

 

good point on the shocks- I dont know, but *maybe* ford put one of those teflon self adhesive pads in there under the shock bushings...if not maybe we should

[vegatron]

Good heads up there. I really would be interested in seeing the pictures.

 

I'm not sure of your comment on teflon self adhesive pads. The problem really is the fact the bushings will become hard, so it will leave a gap between the shock rod and the actual top and bottom bushings. This allowed while driving salty water, slush to be forced by onto the top of the shock tower housing. Don't know but don't think self adhesive pads would solve this problem. The car I had was a 84 Sentra. After it broke through, I was amazed at the amount of salt around the area. Large area, it was like a full foot that was rusted through. It was undercoated good, so the tire side of the wheel well wasn't even rusted. Funny part, this area had undercoating on it, yet not much, and with time, the salt just did it's thing. Hard to believe, but it really did rust from the inside out.

[ford4v429]

underside pics here(scroll down) :

 

http://mustangforums.com/m_1756083/mpage_1/tm.htm#1767078