The seams don't rust until the seam sealer cracks. No cracks, no rust. If you see a crack in the seams fill it with something, I don't care if it is toilet paper. A crack starts what is called an "oxygen concentration cell" type of corrosion. A difference of O2 concentration causes a bigger voltage difference than most other types of corrosion. That is why bridges/pilings show lots of corrosion at the waterline, and little above or below the waterline. I have never seen a Vanagon with rust at a non cracked seam. Just the opposite, I have an 86 Syncro that lived its entire life in CA. The whole thing is beautiful. Except for 1 12 inch section of seam, which is beginning to rust. At the cracked seam. Now the question, what do you replace the factory seam sealer with? 1 part polyurethane? Catalyzed seam sealer? I used very expensive catalyzed seam-sealer on a repaint of a van and it cracked in 9 months. Anybody got a good answer to that? The sealer I used was 30 bucks a tube, wholesale, body shop stuff. It wasn't flexible enough. |
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