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[Tick Tock]

Corrosion is the C word when it comes to any vehicle made of metal, as eventually Mother Nature tries to reclaim all the minerals that went into its making. I've been fortunate(?) in having an Omega Estate on the driveway for the last 4 years, slowly plodding my way through it from front to back, and being amazed at the amount of surface corrosion that is found behind various bits of panel and trim.... and an example that I thought was relatively tidy when I started on this venture, and I haven't even had the door cards off yet.



There's no doubt that any car which has endured several British winters in its early years, will have started to rot away from the inside, and the whole chemical process of oxidisation may even have started as early as when the car left the factory! The areas around spot-welds are particularly prone to early signs, and when you get into the depths of Concentration Cell Corrosion it becomes obvious how the rot starts off due to stresses within the bodyshell and minute cracks forming a convenient channel for oxygen. Once you see the surface rust bubbling away, it's a good indication that there is rot within the confines of the seam joint working its way out. You'll never really get rid of it unless it's cut out and replaced with new metal, but there are several ways to treat it and keep it under control. I'm not promoting any remedial action, just giving a few pointers at this stage.



I haven't started this thread to frighten anyone, but maybe just bring to your attention what I've found. Eventual corrosion when holes start to appear is a sure sign of a scrapper (and not a bad thing when there's still a few knocking about), so always worth spending some time doing simple things like removing the sill covers to see what's lurking behind there. The resultant trap of moisture and grott is a gateway to trouble, so I hope my findings will be of help.

[Tick Tock]

Even after cleaning up on the outside, the rot will still be there on the inside.



The small wheelarch liners can reveal grotty areas when removed, and don't be fooled into thinking a nice patch of underseal isn't hiding anything nasty underneath. The cleaned up area was given a blast of porous primer, and the box sections inside sill squirted with a penetrating oil. After an hour the first dose of Dinnitrol was sprayed liberally inside, and allowed to permeate through the internal parts of the joint, eventually sponging through to the outside. Hopefully it will keep it preserved for another 5 or 6 years.



Condensation will have formed on the inside skin of the bodywork many hundreds of times, and the droplets and moisture will sit down in the crevices keeping the atmosphere damp. I'd estimate a large proportion of the dreaded rear wheelarch rot comes from inside the car, not helped by a few stonechips outside.



The tailgates on Estates are a well known problem, and started off by poor drainage below the wiper spindle, badge holes, and around the push button.


These forum threads with pictures are scary!

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=134916.msg1730843#msg1730843

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=130053.msg1665229#msg1665229

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=129671.msg1660641#msg1660641

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Nice set of images. A job I'll be attempting soon, I hope 

[Toledodude1973]

Really good pictures.....also bit worrying

[Toledodude1973]

Will definitely have the sill covers off at the w/e

[migiestate]

Thank you for a great post. Weather permitting I will be looking over my Omega at the weekend to do some repairs.

[Tick Tock]

I'm sure a lot of contributors to this forum will know the bad bits on Omegas, and know where to look in particular. I'll update as I progress through the car and hope some of the images / info is of help. 

[Mister Rog]

I haven't started this thread to frighten anyone, but  . . . . .

But . . . . you have. Me 

I was seriously consider having some bodywork surface scratches tarted up. I'm not so sure now 

Ah well. Cars ? I hate them . . .  sometimes

[terry paget]

I find it depressing how these magnificent cars slowly rust away. Their design life is 7 years, after that they begin to fail mechanically, and to rust. I find the engines, gearboxes and rear axles very robust, I've not lost one yet, but body rust is very variable, and when it gets serious I scrap the car. I suspect the car's earlier life is critical.

[Mister Rog]

I find it depressing how these magnificent cars slowly rust away. Their design life is 7 years, after that they begin to fail mechanically, and to rust. I find the engines, gearboxes and rear axles very robust, I've not lost one yet, but body rust is very variable, and when it gets serious I scrap the car. I suspect the car's earlier life is critical.

I've owned four Omegas, and scrapped two. But both through failed head gaskets and/or oil coolers not rust . . . yet.

(please I don't want the oil cooler/head gasket debate, they've gone)

[Diamond Black Geezer]

My spare Omega now has a hole in the bottom of the sill, same place as shown above. That's done galactic miles and lived its life as a taxi. Not bad for nearly 20 years, nut it's still a sure sign of what's to come...

[05omegav6]

That tailgate picture is misleading as that wasn't painted properly... should be painted before being built up...

Also stands to reason that any part which is clipped or bolted to the main panels/shell has the potential to rub to paint and primer away allowing corrosion to begin

[Bojan]

Battle with rust is really one neverending story 

1) keep the car clean - this is step one, really
   a) wheel arhces hold a lot of mud on the inner side - clean with brush or similar - this gives them quite a good fighting chance
   b) sill covers - take them off, toghether with holders, once a year and wash the sill in detail
   c) wheel arch liners - take them off once a year and wash in detail
   d) once a year try to rise a car (on jackstands or similar) and jet-wash the underbody several times, using powerful solvent (i.e I use DIMMER made by ATAS and it's great for that) - it's most important to get all the dirt/mud cleaned from the various innaccesible parts

2) keep it dry and away from moisture as much as possible:
   a) clean scuttle drain (to prevent water entering into cabin via ventilation)
   b) check the floor-mats if they are wet -> there is a thick 'spounge-like' insulation material below -> if this gets wet, it holds water for a long period of time, and this is a call for corosion (this is why I trow out this insulation in my car) -> if your windows fog from the inside easily, you have water in this insulations pads.
   c) try not to park it on unpaved surfaces (wet unpaved surfaces tend to create a low of evaporation during day, and this condesates on the car from the below). 

3) do occasional detail checks of the underbody and other 'hidden' parts

4) repair rust spots when you notice them. If it's underbody or other parts that are hidden/not seen from the outside, it's really a easy: clean with wire brush or angle grinder -> some rust-convertor or inhibitor -> primer -> underbody seal / paint

Really, corrosion repairs of underbody and hidden parts is perfect DIY job. You really can't mess up, it doesn't require much previous skill. Tools required: jackstands, angle-grinder, wire-brush, cleaning equipment (mini-wash is really helpful), corrosion converter/inhibitor, primer, underbody seal, paint. You can use paint brushes or air-guns for applying coats.

For primer, I would recommend 2K wash-primer, especially for underbody seal.
Newer apply underbody seal directly on metal.

[Tick Tock]

This project Omega seems to be never ending, and it's a close call as to how far to take things...... removed rear exhaust section this afternoon to get in behind the nearside rear valence to inspect and tidy up. As expected, a couple of heat shield studs sheared off, but fortunately they were on the top shield which I can drill and fit nuts / bolts from within the loadspace area.

Found my first hole on the old girl, on the nearside inside rear valence, in an area where a shield stud should have been.



And previously found this when the bumper was removed.



I know...... I must be mad, but find it therapeutic sorting out the grotty areas.

[Tick Tock]

Inside the rear valence area, hidden by the rubber pockets that sit inside the cubby holes.



This shows where the sunroof drain pipes eventually come out, and the rubber bung / socket area is starting to suffer from surface rust.



After removal of the rubber pockets (I don't know if this is the same on the saloon versions), it was found to be dripping wet, and it hasn't rained here for over 10 days. It's pretty evident that the foam rubber pockets trap any moisture in this area, as shown by the top one in this image.