The Ever Dreaded Rust
 

So I'm not entirely clear as to what the body is made out of. It looks to be all aluminum, but I don't know for sure. I've driven it today in the snow, so it made me wonder, has anyone here had any experience with rusting or oxidization?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Gs...=w1689-h950-no

Who says you can't drive a RWD in the snow?

Galvanized steel with a 12-year warranty against rust holes in the body shell.

Thanks! I guess I'll wash it off and put it back away for the winter

That's a great picture! :cheers:

Rain and snow aren't the real enemy, but rather the salt used on roads in winter.

Thanks! It was taken right before they dumped salt and dirt all over the road. Northern Wisconsin gets a generous helping of salt and dirt over the course of the winter, so either it gets a wash twice a week, or it's going away

The body being galvanized is great but all your control arms etc... will suffer. Last year I replaced the cradle on my Audi TT. The body is galvanized on that also so looks perfect but 13 winter driving season's in Michigan with salt ate the cradle up so bad there were chunks falling off.

Some areas here in Northern IL use sand and / or cinders which are even more abrasive. Add that to the salt and you have a real mess. Mine gets stored.

If needed I highly recommend a product called Ospho to treat surface rust. I have used it on Jeep's that had rust. The treated body parts never rusted again.

I've seen rust on things like nuts and bolts, but I can only recall one body rust picture. I drove mine in all sorts of snow, ice, road treatment, salt conditions without ever worrying about rust being an issue. Now on a '60-'70s Fiat, Alfa, Chevy, etc....

Wow! it must be bad if it make the picture disappear!

Surface corrosion.
http://986forum.com/forums/show-tell-gallery/63329-anti-corrosion-warranty.html

Search this forum for "rust". It can happen.

I just got back from WI after sitting in that snow storm watching the Packers beat the Texans in Lambo field. Left the game and drove 16 hours back to NJ
We get a lot of salt here. I can wash to body fairly well. It's the aluminum pieces, engine block that really take the brunt. It's hard to get the salt off those parts

One weak area for the 986 is the metal just behind the passenger door below the vent for the engine cooling fan. In the winter, salt can build up there and condensation drips on it and you may get a rust spot. My car was a Salt Lake City car for the first owner(s) and he or she drove it year round (assumption made by the fact that it had a hard top on it all the time and the mileage it had on it when I got it).