Protecting Rockers and Corners?

[cherokeejohn]

my advise/opinion; being a 3rd generation body tech/painter, and spending half my life in this salty environment, I've seen, fixed alot of rusty vehicle, and tried my best at preventing rust from destroying all my hard work. A sort-of fix mt father taught me and his pa taught him is to drill small holes along the lowest points of the body that typically rusts. Do this pre-paint if possible. keeping the holes small as possible but able to get small straws up inside and swivel around a bit. then there are two ways to close it up and still use it in the future. 1) is to buy very small rubber plugs with a outside lip i.e. 1/8", 7ish mm. I find the best place to get these is in bulk from Ebay, they are cheap and disposable, around $5-10 per 100, 2) is to use 1/4" stainless auto trim screws and get some very small rubber washers, also i get in bulk from Ebay. Fora rust preventative, there is a aerosol spray can sold by all auto paint suppliers (varies in manufacturer and name but same chemical inside) that is used to spray the backsides of auto panels that don't get painted, it is a little pricey but not out of this world expensive, and you just spray it through the little straw, inserted in the drilled hole all around inside the area on the vehicle then plug it off. repeat every couple years or so depending on how salty your region is. My father substitutes the fancy spray chemical with plain old spray Carnuba wax, or the dry silicone spray that's used by welders and metal and pipe worker, don't know the names of it but it's very commonly used in those field of work. It's used for bare metals to prevent rust while their project is under construction. Its also pre-coated on most raw metals sold for fabrications, the stuff you have to wipe off with laquer thinner or other chemical before welding or prepping for paint. Any major Welder should know of it and what its called. Again use as needed pending your region. I recommend also that if you drill your holes into the panels that are already painted, wipe a little bit of seam sealer, like used on driprails around the hole itself. Allow it to dry before putting the plug or screw in the hole though, it will prevent future headaches. Hope this helps a few of ya's out. any questions, just ask n I'll help out the best i can