Cleaning front strut towers

[stugilmour]

I have reached into the front struts and can feel a bunch of "stuff", like leaves, etc. Is there an easy way to clean the stuff out? Is there a drain on the bottom of the tower area; understand this can be a corrosion area.

thx

[peterako]

Hi Stu,

Had the same problem with my car.

Barring turning the car upside down and shaking like hell.....

I got a thin tent peg and used this, plus my fingers, to remove as much crud as possible.

I also made sure that that the drain hole was clear, again with the tent peg and some thinner wire.

THEN I power hosed (not too much power) teh rest of teh crud out....

Talk about a terrible design! (I believe a recommened mod is to weld teh top openings shut).

And this is THE corrosion area to keep an eye on.

Mine had corroded, and had to be repaired. The Metal around this area is incredibly thin...

Maybe there is an easier way......if so....someone let us know!

Best of luck,
Peter

[reb53]

Hi Stu,

Because it's so full of crud you may not see the drain hole at the bottom edge of the turret.

Once you've cleaned it out and it's dry it's probably worth spraying a heap of " Zinc it" or a similar cold galvanising type paint down there to slow the corrosion.

Ralph.

[alan71]

The holes are not very big, you can enlarge them but as my chassis is galvanized I thought it best to leave them.

Alan

[nebogipfel]

Once you have the crud out FWIW I'd go for a regular soaking of Waxoyl or something similar.

Paints would only work properly if you could get in to clean the metal surface .....not possible, of course

[Lincoln62]

I put the nozzle of the compressor up the holes every now and then and blow the gunk out. If you don't have a compressor you could probably use the tyre inflator at the gas station. Spraying some Waxoyl or fish oil in there would be a good choice for a bit of protection.

Peter
66S2

[john.p.clegg]

What John has done is fill them with expanding foam (after a damn good cleaning/oiling),it certainly keeps the road-crud out...

John

[Carlos A]

You can use a power tool, a couple of steel wire cylinder brushes, and some patience.

[bill308]

Compressed air with a blow gun might also work well.

Bill

[billwill]

It is VERY VERY important to keep the inside of the turrets clear of crud or anything else that can hold moisture as it WILL RUST the turret from the inside out. Not only must you get the crud out, but you MUST test the strength of the metal if the drains have been blocked for a while. It may look OK but you will be able to poke a screwdriver through the metal. Be ruthless; You may hate to poke a screwdriver through the metal, as you then know you are in for a longish repair job, but if that turret gives way when you hit a bump at speed you might cartwheel the car.

These photos show what happened to my elan and how I repaired it and how I painted the interior of the turrets by blocking the drains and pouring in a litre of paint. My repair included making much bigger drain holes for the turrets.

http://www.datahighways.co.uk/photos/og ... repair.htm