Treating the longs, advice needed Options

[amfab]

Hi, I have a question about treating the inside of the longs. I have some rust issues in the back of the long—jack point areas. I am cutting out and replacing the weak areas.

The area to the front of the jack point has some surface rust, but the metal is solid so I do not want to cut further forward. I am also going to put Brad Mayeurs kit over it all, so I am not worried about strength, I do however want to convert/seal the inside of the long going forward, before I install the kit to prevent further degredation.

What is the best/easiest way to do this? I was looking at the Eastwood green aerosol frame stuff, the converter/sealer that has the hose, or maybe Ospho, but I am trying to not damage the heater hoses in there and still get decent coverage. I don't know how to get the aerosol hose up into the long

Any suggestions? Can the heater hoses be pulled out and replaced without cutting the inner rocker completely out? What are they made of anyway?

Thanks for any suggestions

-Andrew

[GeorgeRud]

I'd give Brad a call and get his advice as he's put in more of his longs than anyone. You should get some good advice from him.

[Elliot Cannon]

I used some rust treatment stuff on my passenger side longitudinal about 14 years ago. I had easy access because of the largish opening at the bottom of the "hell hole". (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I used some aerosol stuff, that might have come from Eastwood, I don't quite remember now who it came from. The aerosol can has a small piece of tubing that inserts into the nozzle. I found about a three foot long piece of flexible tubing that fit tightly onto the nozzle tubing. I inserted it as far as I could into the inside of the long. I then depressed the nozzle to start spraying and slowly pulled the tubing out as I was spraying. I did this a few times. I later had the hell hole welded up. That was 14 years ago and my long is still solid. (As far as I know). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I should also mention there aren't any heater hoses in my longs. At least not in that one. I would definitely treat it with something while you have access to the inside of the long.

[rick 918-S]

That spray won't hurt those tubes

[euro911]

Eastwood Internal Frame Coating. I did my tunnel with it ... still need to do the longs.

Comes in green or black

http://www.eastwood.com/internal-frame-coa...-nozzle-qt.html

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.eastwood.com-7300-1482549610.1.jpg)

[mgp4591]

Is there enough room to get good spray coverage inside the longs with the heater tubes still inside? I don't know how much they fill the space...

[euro911]

Mike, I plan to pull the two inner long rubber plugs to access the interior and sneak an inspection camera in there to 'see' any obstacles, but from looking at other folk's open longs (repair work), I have a pretty good idea of what's in there.

I'll insert the Eastwood wand through the front opening to get the forward portion, and the rear opening to get the aft portion. I'll run the camera again after it's dry to see if I need to do some more spraying.

[mgp4591]

Mike, I plan to pull the two inner long rubber plugs to access the interior and sneak an inspection camera in there to 'see' any obstacles, but from looking at other folk's open longs (repair work), I have a pretty good idea of what's in there.

I'll insert the Eastwood wand through the front opening to get the forward portion, and the rear opening to get the aft portion. I'll run the camera again after it's dry to see if I need to do some more spraying.

Makes sense Mark and that's what I'd planned on doing. And I've done some other research and found that the tubes really don't take up that much room. I think that'll work just fine - Thanks!

[dlee6204]

I try to cover as much of inside of the long with OSPHO. Once it dries, I use the Eastwood internal frame coating.

[74ravenna]

I have the same dilemma.

What about the rusty pieces and scale that are sitting inside the long?

Will the spray cover that and "seal" over the loose debris?
My guess is no.

I had a small rust hole in the passenger side front fender well, right at the end (beginning?) of the long.
I opened it up to about a silver dollar size hole, at that point I need to weld in a small patch anyway.
What I found was a fair amount of rusty scale. I was able to vacuum a lot of it out and the rest I used a magnet on a stick, then I used air to blow out any residual dust/dirt.

I was then able to use the Eastwood green spray. It worked well for me but I had that opening to work with.

So now I know the driver side long is also full of debris that I want to remove so I can coat the inside of that long but I don't have any thru rust on that side to break open another hole.

I hate to make a hole in a solid section, but……...

[cary]

Here's a shot of the area your trying to tackle.



That primered area is the inner/stiffener layer of the outside of the long.
The backside stiffener goes up and lays under the seat belt nut.

Another looking down from the top of the hell hole.

[BeatNavy]

And here's what it may look like on the inside if you have rust issues and the PO did a sketchy hell hole / long repair job (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)

I would think the interior frame coating products would help (couldn't hurt), but they're more for prevention of rust damage (or further damage). If you already have a lot of metal detritus in the longs (as shown below), you probably need to open 'em up. As mentioned, you can put a scope in inside and take a look (but you may not like what you see (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) ).

The PO of my car pictured here didn't want to go inside to treat the longs. He slapped a Brad Mayeur kit on the outside of the longs (I didn't know about the kit then and it took me a while to figure out why I seemed to have three layers of metal at the seams). The Brad Mayeur kit did a good job of preserving structural shape and integrity even as the insides were rotting, but my goal is complete resto, so I wanted to get all this garbage fixed.

[tomrev]

I'v had good luck with the Eastwood spray, both on my 914's, and other projects. If you do have a fairly clean inner area, but no, or limited access, I have drilled a 5/16's hole every 2 ft. or so, to insert the tube sprayer, then capped with a rivet, etc. once finished. With the 914, you will see the extra running out the drain holes underneath, and can confirm you are treating the full length.

[jmitro]

I used the Eastwood internal frame coating kit also. Three cans.

Even if the longs are closed, you can still insert the nozzle up the drain holes at the bottom of the pinch weld, and you will get good coverage. The coating is very thin so it penetrates very well.

[amfab]

Mike, I plan to pull the two inner long rubber plugs to access the interior and sneak an inspection camera in there to 'see' any obstacles, but from looking at other folk's open longs (repair work), I have a pretty good idea of what's in there.

Mark, where are these plugs?

That spray won't hurt those tubes

Awesome, thanks, I hope that goes for the Ospho too,

I try to cover as much of inside of the long with OSPHO. Once it dries, I use the Eastwood internal frame coating.

OK I will do both,

I have the same dilemma.

What about the rusty pieces and scale that are sitting inside the long?

Will the spray cover that and "seal" over the loose debris?
My guess is no.

I had a small rust hole in the passenger side front fender well, right at the end (beginning?) of the long.
I opened it up to about a silver dollar size hole, at that point I need to weld in a small patch anyway.
What I found was a fair amount of rusty scale. I was able to vacuum a lot of it out and the rest I used a magnet on a stick, then I used air to blow out any residual dust/dirt.

I was then able to use the Eastwood green spray. It worked well for me but I had that opening to work with.

So now I know the driver side long is also full of debris that I want to remove so I can coat the inside of that long but I don't have any thru rust on that side to break open another hole.

I hate to make a hole in a solid section, but……...

Hardly any loose stuff where the metal is solid. I also have a small hole at the front of the long I will be repairing also. So I will use that as access as you mentioned

I used the Eastwood internal frame coating kit also. Three cans.

Even if the longs are closed, you can still insert the nozzle up the drain holes at the bottom of the pinch weld, and you will get good coverage. The coating is very thin so it penetrates very well.

Good to know, I just ordered a gallon of Ospho that I will squirt in with a cheap pesticide sprayer, then I will do the Eastwood stuff—I bought 4 cans. Then I will prime and paint the inside of Brad Mayuer kit, then scrape the paint and primer off where it is to be welded and prime with weldable primer.

It is now a California car so that should be good for a couple decades

Thanks everyone for the advice AND the pictures.

[BeatNavy]

Mark, where are these plugs?

You can see the opening of one in the upper right corner of the picture I posted. There are two per side. From the factory it was covered with a black, sticky/rubber cover, but they have often fallen off or fallen apart. Remove the seats and carpet and you'll find them along the inside of the inner long. You'll get a good view of heater tube through them, and you can probably snake something into the long from there. As you can also see from that picture, you're primarily concerned with the lower half of the longs, as that's where most of the damage can be.

[euro911]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) whole-heartedly ...

[amfab]

Well, as I hack into this looking for clean metal to which to weld, I am no longer experiencing the dilemma I was a few days ago.

I crossed the threshold of about 30% of the inner rocker needing replacement, so I decided to cut the whole damn thing off and buy a new one. No more worries about how to spray in there.

You can see the opening of one in the upper right corner of the picture I posted. There are two per side. From the factory it was covered with a black, sticky/rubber cover, but they have often fallen off or fallen apart. Remove the seats and carpet and you'll find them along the inside of the inner long. You'll get a good view of heater tube through them, and you can probably snake something into the long from there. As you can also see from that picture, you're primarily concerned with the lower half of the longs, as that's where most of the damage can be.

I am going out to pull the rocker cover off the driver's side now

I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to use your advice, and that how to get good coverage when coating inside will be my greatest challenge on that side.

BTW, I just got an Air Supply system and I am loving it!

[iankarr]

BTW, I just got an Air Supply system and I am loving it!

Well... those guys did blow.

[amfab]

OMG the driver's side is worse. I could jack up from that side so I was hoping for better. I knew I was in trouble when after cutting through the inner rocker and removing the heater tube I could see two quarters. I pulled the interior out and I am pulling the tar off the floors.

So regarding my initial post... never mind.

Restoration design is gonna love me