As is pretty typical, I've got rust bubbles showing in the body above the door handle;



My feeling is that this is caused by the fact that the factory waterproofing captures any water that gets through the trim attachment hole just above it.

I'd like to remove the waterproofing so that the rust can be treated (Por15) and then put on a thin coat of underseal, that would allow the water to drain away.

The following photo shows the back side of the panel and the blue arrows point where I want to remove the factory waterproofing.



So, any ideas or recommendations as to how I get that crud out!!

Wes V

That is a combination of seam sealer (alot of it) and undercoating.
the rust is formed by the foam piece in the targa bar that hold moisture...

to remove that use a combination of heat gun, torch, wire wheel on a grinder, and time....

Rich

I've tried a heat gun and it helps.

Will a torch set the stuff on fire??

Could you be more specific as to that foam piece you are talking about.

Wes

In your top picture, the top hole. In the targa bar above the fender line there is a big piece of sound deadening material. It fills the whole inside of the targa or sail panel. You might try to make some holes inside the bar so it can have some air circulation from the inside of the passenger compartment.
Charliew

acid dip...
pick and scraper and patience.

I've used a torch on mine to heat it up and scrape it off works pretty good. Only thing up in that cavity its going to be tough. I'll be removing that foam crap from my car
this weekend. Don't forget about the other end above the tail lights it has the same stuff packed in there.

Wes,
I would not use a torch around the vent tube. That is a leaded seam and heat will pretty much flow the solder right off the tube/ pillar. Unless you want to learn a new trade (tinning) no torch.

Spray the backside at the undercoating liberally with WD40 and let it sit overnight. This will soften the coating and creep a underneath.

Get a 5/8 or 3/4 inch heavy twist wire wheel (on the die grinder) and this will remove any coating in about 30 seconds down to bare metal. Wipe area with acetone when finished to remove any oil residue.

If you need to MIG a patch in go slowly as to not melt the lead and you should be fine.

WD40 softens it?

That's interesting!

Wes

it smells really bad when it burns!