Is it just mine or do metro's have a rust problem?

[smiffy43]

I have had a few metros and i have only just twigged that they keep rusting on me ,even after undersealing re- sprays and all that any one got a solution? as it has rather baffled me.

[KC]

I wasunder the impression that all British cars suffered from the rust worm. At least the two I have owned did.

[smiffy43]

Nice to know im not the only one in the same situation then.

Must be all the bad weather.Thanx

[Bluebottle]

If you've got a rusty metro, it might be worth lookimg at the kit market to see what you can build with the useful bits- It's enviromentaly friendly to drive a re-cycled car after all!

[smiffy43]

im going to put a kit on it i was jus wondering why its so rusty,
im currently after a 6r4 kit and might put a mid-mounted v6 in it.(depending on insurance)

[TimD]

Ah - slight misunderstanding there on the word "kit", Smiffy.

What Bluebottle's got in mind is whipping all the mechanical bits out of a donor Metro, and bolting them into some whiz-bang little glassfibre roadster, of which there are many to choose from.

Even in their heyday, I can't remember a 6R4 wings n' arches kit. The standard track of a roadgoing Metro would make it look a bit weedy with all of those wide wings on it.

As for Metros themselves - it's not just yours. They're all rusty. I had a 1984 model when it was just 7 years old. Already it had total rust-through of the front wings above the headlamps, and there was a gaping hole just forward of each door. It really was in a terrible state. If yours is in any way perforated, then have a good long look at the rear subframe. They have been known to part with the chassis at the front mounting points, and flip backwards under the car, with the result that the rear wheels hang clean out behind the hatchback.

I leave to your imagination what this can do if a driver isn't expecting it...

[Ray Bell]

Interesting, Tim... I see the handbrake coming on momentarily as the cables are stretched, and the brake pedal going down as the lines are snapped... and who knows about the steering... if it goes at all one side first you'd be in trouble.

Kit cars are great, terrific idea, I think I'll start a thread on them.

[badoer fan]

Okay, who's been listening to Hereward FM?

[smiffy43]

all that is wrong with it now is a hole in the rear valance .it did have rotten headlamp mountings and 2 rotten wings but i welded them. but apart from that the rest of the cars bodywork is sound.Not a spot of rust underneath,inner wings are solid.Hydrogas units have a tad of surface rust but thats not a problem. I just couldnt figure out why all metros bodywork is f*****d .After all it is a 1985 so theres bound t be rust. thanks for all your help guys.Steve

ps.chassis is solid!!!!

[Chris Gamlin]

I had an old '82 Metro 1.3 S (the "S" was important! ) when I passed my test about 8 years ago, and it attracted rust like cow poo attracts flies. I lost count of the number of tins of P40 fibreglass, P38 filler and spraycans of "Champagne" paint i used on that car (how Austin could call dishwater beige "Champagne" I do not know!). The bits that were especially bad were the front valance, the front wing around the line of the headlight mount, and the bottom of the doors. Generally though, you name a place on the car, and you could bet it'd be rusty...front wings, rear wheel arches, front valance, bottom of the doors, fuel filler cap etc etc etc. I think the only reason the floor and engine bay didn't rust out too much on mine was cos there was so much oil leaking out of the gearbox selector oil seal and assorted other engine gaskets, that a nice protective coating of oil had developed on most of the underside of the car!!

Chris

[Ray Bell]

Reminds me of the story of an old bloke in Hillgrove, a little mining town in the hills near Armidale in New South Wales.

Being a sleepy kind of place, it didn't matter that he would simply stop in the middle of the street to have a chat with anyone as he drove about in his Vanguard. We speak of the seventies here, when the Vanguard was well over twenty years old...

He was a wise man, it seems, he had another car at home for use when this one rusted too badly to continue registering... "It had an oil leak when it was new, so it won't rust for a long time," he's reputed to have said.