Hi, I’ve got a couple of corrosion spots on the bottom of a door and on the boot edge, of my X350.

Ally rust looks scabby but i believe it’s not as bad as it can look is that correct?

I assume I need to Rub down the affected area and repaint but I have no ideas what protective treatment to use on bare aluminium. On steel I’d use Kurerust or similar before paint.

Any pointers as to a suitable product for my aluminium XJ?

 

Sand the affected areas and remove any white oxidization from any pitting that may be present.
Prime the area at this point with a quality 2k epoxy primer.
If there is any pitting from the corrosion abrade the primed surface lightly and apply a polyester stopper.
Once sanded level apply another light coat of epoxy primer , then prime and paint as you would for steel.

 

In addition to the steps Neo outlines, I think you will need to apply an Etching Primer to the bare aluminium?

 

Sorry , I should have clarified that the epoxy is an etch primer.

 

Sorry , I should have clarified that the epoxy is an epoxy etch primer.
For removing any white dust oxidization from the pitting i like to use a small brass brush.

 

My two X350s which I owned from spring 2010 to early 2019 both suffered this syndrome which is not too serious, but is rather unsightly. The white powder is aluminium hydrroxide. Aluminium is peculiar in that corrosion occurs in the absence of oxygen, rather than its presence. So the two front aluminium disc brake shields remained perfect despite getting loads of water and salt on them. The aluminum corrosion on the X350s is crevice corrosion. Both rely on water and more especially salty water in the crevice. The corrosion product occupies a load more space than the aluminium, so the bubbling occurs.
https://www.totalmateria.com/page.as...ite=ktn&NM=187

I found the best repair process to be: -

- scrape out all the white powder with a craft knife and get back to bare shiny aluminium. This leaves you with a shallow pit in the paint.
- apply zinc-rich primer, (two coats)
- apply normal primer (two coats)
- apply acrylic stopper to build level with the surrounding paint.
- flat off
- finish as normal (primer, base coat, clearcoat)
- polish

The biggest problem is getting the paint to match. On my second X350, a light-blue metallic, I had to try three suppliers paints before getting one that matched, and this was quoting the colour code !
So why use zinc-rich primer ?
Jaguar use zinc-coated self-piercing rivets to stich the aluminium body shells together to stop galvanic corrosion between the steel rivet and the aluminium panels being joined. I never saw any corrosion at the rivets, it was all crevice corrosion. I never had any further problems once I had done the repair. All the materials are available at Halfords, but be careful with their colour coats; they may not match very well.

 

Look to the boating industry for etch primers, since alumin(i)um cars are rare, but all yachts have ali masts and fittings. And a hostile environment.
e.g. https://international-yachtpaint.com...rs/etch-primer.

Preparation of the bare ali is critical, for example bare ali gets an oxide layer within minutes. After the etch primer, it doesn't really matter so much.

(I used to have a yacht, which turned into a Jaguar, because the Rule of Plebs is you can only have one expensive hobby at any given time)

Oh, Fraser's link was such good background info that I'll repeat it here:
https://www.totalmateria.com/page.as...ite=ktn&NM=187

 

I was always told that yachting was like standing under a cold shower tearing up £50 notes ! Is this still true ? Whatever, owning a Jaguar has never been cheap !! I know, I'm now on my fifth. If you've never seen real rust, just look at a Jaguar of the 60s and 70s. Having said that, the rust problem carried on into the 90s and 00s until the aluminium cars came along

 

Yep. $300 club fees. $700 annual haulout fees (before doing anything). $1000 insurance. $1000 marina fees (that's owning it!). $150 to annual antifoul the prop (special stuff separate from the hull). Something like $5000 p.a. all-up and that's DIY.

I really did sell my yacht and replaced it with a Jaguar. And don't call me Shirley :-) (from "Airplane" "Shirley you can't be serious")

What I did find was that I could never replicate factory-applied ali coatings, which would mostly last forever whereas mine might last a few years. I put this down to lack of environment control such as in a factory. Or (lack of) experience of course.

P.S. the correct term is "A hole in the water into which you pour all your money"

 

As to finishing, I've had good colour-match with computer-matched automotive spray can (to the colour code).

But I've only had to repair "bottoming out" of the bumper i.e. underneath. If it was on a door it would look yuk, finish more than colour. There's a reason why panel beaters insist on re-painting an entire panel.

 

Having spent many years restoring aluminium coachbuilt Rolls Royce and Ferrari one product that i always found useful when dealing with bare aluminium prep on a large scale is Deoxidene though i doubt the Ops repair is sufficiently large enough to require such measures and it is certainly not the kind of product you want splashing about in the close proximity of good paint!

https://www.trimite.com/product/deoxidine-624/

 

 

Fraser, Yachting is 'The Fine Art of Slowly Going Nowhere At Great Expense, Whilst Getting Cold and Wet'!

Regards,

Ray (Yachtmaster Offshore)

 

Showboating is a similar term???
Yachting term is a new to me.
Both amusing terms

 

Since I'm stuck in lockdown watching too much Youtube, I see that some classic car owners call them "Land Yachts". Search on "land yacht cars".

I would prefer to sit all day admiring my X358 Hangar Queen, but it's got a cover on it. For a month now. <whimper>
(Proof: even the air suspension went down)

 

Land yachts, lead sleds, both common American slang for cars.
Usually meaning large, long wheel based, comfortable cars.
Lead sleds used real lead for body filler, instead of the plastic stuff used now.
We also have low riders, & rat rods, to name a couple more.

 

"The biggest problem is getting the paint to match. On my second X350, a light-blue metallic, I had to try three suppliers paints before getting one that matched, and this was quoting the colour code !"

That may have been because a Jag colour code can have half a dozen different shades..........................crazy!

You need a spectrometer to match the shades.

 

H Chris, I hope you have the car on a maintenance charger? My XJR was almost into the paint shop and screen repair just before lockdown happened so its sitting in the drive with a lead out of the garage and the charger sitting in the boot.

 

Hi Robin, yes I'm on a permanent charger. Nearest I can get to a "supercharger". haha.

Nevertheless I went for a drive in an X350 with Jeremy today:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6_dmQ_62J4
(X350 owners who hate the standard grill will love Jeremy)