So, I had a brake job to do and then change out the fuel pump in my DD 1995 Buick Roadmaster wagon today before i could play around with my Shorty....so I thought today would be a good day to pull the crappy OE fender off since I need to replace it along with the drivers door. I already bought aftermarket inner fenders and prepped/undercoated them a month back or so-and, this gave me the opportunity to inspect the drivers side lower cowl area for any signs of rust-none were to be found I'm glad to say! As you check these pics out keep in mind rust wise this truck is above average for what you normally find here in the midwest! So, I merely scrubbed the areas dry, sprayed some 3M undercoating in the rust prone spots and then proceeded to install my inner fender. There's a lot I do prior to bolting a new inner back on-I wirebrush, etch prime then paint all fasteners, then, I spray undercoated all over the protruding threads of the fasteners so rust can't start there either. I even cleaned the plastic lower splash guards before re-installing. I'm on the hunt or rust free OEM fender and door for the LH side at the moment so here's some pics of todays progress:
Then after cleaning they get undercoated....
splash guard installed....probably what saved the floor supports! Gresat upgrade for older trucks!
Undercoated hardware...once dry, it'll match the rest of the undercoated inner fender....I also seam-seal and undercoat the gaps of the bolt mounting locations to keep water out of those areas to eliminate rusting out from behind the inner fender where they bolt to the cowl brace.
This is the outermost bolt location for the LH inner fender-after undercoating the 15mm bolt head, I snuck in-between the inner fender and cowl brace to completely coat the protruding threads and nut to keep water off the bare threads-this also helps keep rust at bay. Knowing where all these sneaky areas and how they are prone to rusting where everythigng else on a truck seems nice is the key to keeping the body in good shape for years to come. How many times have you seen an otherwise rust free truck except for the inner fender bolt locations....where there are big gaping rust holes because water got behind them? This is how I seal the rust out....
So that's it for now....I'll post up pics of the fender/door install then hopefully carpet and a completely new interior all finished! That will be this weeks project.