RE:Zeibart & Rust

["Tim Hancock" <timhancock@domain.elided>]

Wow! a question about Zeibart takes me right back to the era of flared
trousers and Afro haircuts (of which I had neither) as this stuff hit the UK
scene way back in the 70s, and a franchise appeared just round the corner from
my student lodgings in Leeds..so I watched Ford Cortinas and all sorts going
in and coming out smelling of and dripping Zeibart goo.

Does it work?.....just to be truly helpful I'l say Yes and No. There is no
doubt in my mind that coating the insides of otherwise rust prone sills and
box sections with a wax based product is a boon to their long term
preservation. Unfortunately, on my numerous trip round vehicle scrap yards I
kept coming across corrosion ridden cars that had obviously been Zeibart
treated, and asking myself how this could be. My wholly unscientific
conclusion looking at the cars was that the particular compound used in the UK
produced a thick skin which in time hardened to an almost leathery texture,
and that if either damp got behind it through it lifting, or the skin was
damaged by road debris, or was trapped behind during application, then the
propensity to rust was increased dramatically. Given the UK climate the
effects were rapid.

My fathers second Peugeot 504 was treated using a similar process called
Tuffcote Dinol (1975), and it worked...up to a point, but we still had
corrosion set in under the drivers seat area from road debris impact breaking
the protective skin.

All I can suggest is that if you are serious then get a little illuminated
scope and pop one or two of the sealing plugs and have a look inside the sills
and box sections. They will tell their own story about how well the Zeibart
has worked, and the plugs should pop back in again easily enough.

Tim Hancock   (England 1: Argentina 0)

I'm off to the AROC (UK) National Alfa Day tomorrow at Stanford Hall in
Leicestershire.
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