440 Rust??

[Dave M]

My father has a 1991 440GLi hatch (auto) and I was just curious on something....Rust!! Aside from all the usual areas i.e wheels arches, wings, bottoms of doors etc has anyone had or heard of rust on the inside of the car near the fuel filler?? When the car was purchased, it had an active life on a farm track, therefore picked up a lot of crap from the track. I cleaned out all the dirt around the arches and waxoyled all, however I'm a little concerned over a ledge that can be found on the inner wing on the rear drivers side of the car, near the fuel filler. IT HAD TONS OF CRAP IN IT!!! 2 FULL handfuls to be precise!. I cleaned it all out and undersealed followed by waxoyl but I'm just nosey, Does it rot here as well???

Regards
Dave M

[Steve Hogg]

RE: 440 Rust??

They didn't build them as well as the 700's Dave.
In addition to my 760 GLE Estate I've got two 480's an ES and a Turbo. The 760 is a 1989 car and is totally rust free, the 480 Turbo is a 1990 car and has rusty doors, sills, rear wings and boot floor. I am attending to these areas one at a time but the root cause was a water leak through the rear light seals allowing water into the enclosed box sections. I got a complete history with the car including a main dealer invoice for resealing the rear lights (not cheap) and to be honest a five year old could have done a better job with plastercine. Don't get me wrong I'm not a perfectionist but if I am going to do a bodge I like to do it with care and attention to detail.
All that said the 480 is a super car to drive and makes me feel years younger, at least when I can prise my wife out of it.
As a parting note the 480ES has led a cosseted life and is in very good condition but lacks the excitement of the turbo.

Steve

PS. Persuede your father to buy a 700.