07-27-2005, 03:03 AM
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Re: Rear Quarters - To Fill or Not to Fill, That is the Question
Number 2 is the answer. That's based on my experience with Amphis over the last 20 years and having talked to many German owners who have had their cars since new.
Number 3 is not necessary - the water will evaporate although there is a case for a drain plug if the car is used in salt water as it then becomes easier to hose it out.
Number 1 sounds good but doesn't work - whatever you do moisture gets trapped and it rusts faster.
When rustproofing Amphi pay attention to the box section directly under the radiator and the two frame members. These always have air inside which contains moisture - the level depends on the temperature - as soon as you get in the water the temperature drops, then the air can no longer hold the moisture so you get condensation which forms on the inside - directly against the metal. If you ever get the chance to see an Amphi that has been cut in half you can see this unusual rust patten.
Best solution for the frame mebers is drill a hole in the front near the steering gear, (later plugged with abolt andfibre washer) make sure any water is removed and then using a high pressure spray coat the inside with wax - ideally then check with an endoscope. I did this to my car in 1989 and have checked it every 5 years or so and all still looks good.
David C
----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Israel
To: amphicar-lovers@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 3:32 AM
Subject: [amphicar-lovers] Rear Quarters - To Fill or Not to Fill, That is the Question
Hi All,
Amongst the many late night discussions at Celina was the topic of
how best to deal with the rear quarters in that pocket between the
inner and outer panels. Would be interested in thoughts and
experiences of others.
There seem to be three options with pros and cons to each.
1) Fill them with epoxy or something. The advantage here is that
if you can keep water out then you should have no future problems
with rust. The problems seem two-fold. If the seal is broken due
to vibration or anything else, water will definitely be trapped with
no way out other that to eventually start oxidizing metal.
Likewise, if the space is filled, it would make doing a spot repair
more difficult as you could not just easily cut out a coin sized
piece and weld in a patch.
2) Leave them open. Water will get in there and how do you then
fully dry it out? At the same time, easy to keep an eye on what is
happening and you can use maintenance treatments such as waxoil.
3) Leave them open but put some sort of small drain plug at bottom
of each panel. Not sure on pros or cons here?
Your thoughts?
Mike I.
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