I’m in the UK. I am hoping to view a late facelift car tomorrow and due to being unable to sleep, have been awake reading buyers guides for these cars.
The one I am viewing has been stored for many years and needs some mechanical TLC, this doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is windscreen area/scuttle rust, to the point where I have nearly talked myself out of viewing it. The car has 130k on it, so will have been used in all weathers o er its life, so it’ll be a minor miracle if there is no rust here.
I’m not a welder (but want to learn again as I used to do very basic welding), so much is it likely to put right assuming this area has gone rusty?
Thanks in advance,
Mark

 

I am in the north eastern US and also did quite a bit of reading before buying a facelift - scuttle rot was probably my main worry; the only local car I saw did have rust, but I could not gauge how severe. I decided to buy a southern car.
I do recall a UK company that posted about scuttle rust repairs, so might be worthwhile tracking down that post and speaking with them if the car has signs of rust.

I also wondered if it would be worthwhile drilling a hole from the engine bay side of the scuttle and applying rust inhibitor - anybody tried that?

Good luck!

 

Mark,

The challenge in assessing the rust you describe is 2-fold:

- It is impossible to accurately the extent of it without stripping off the windscreen chromes and seal infill panel as a minimum, and often the need to remove the wings
- if left unchecked, it has potential to reach to the Plenum chamber, right into the A-Post and even down to the lower wing and into the sill. And it still might show as just a tiny bubble at the screen edge of the scuttle!

I was very lucky in catching mine when I did. See the attached pics.

So, if there's a bubble, you've got a problem but you don't know how big is the problem. But even if you haven't got any bubble, you STILL might have a problem , as I did to a lesser extent on the RHS of my car.

Sadly, spraying wax under the scuttle won't help much at all, as the rust is not starting from the scuttle. It's starting from the windscreen flange and working it's way out in all directions to the outer side of the car.

Coupes suffer worse because the drain channel behind the chrome gets blocked. But Convertibles like mine also suffer because the windscreen mastic shrinks over time leaving the flange exposed to the air and then the inevitable happens.

Good luck with the search. Maybe post a pic of any potential purchase and we may be able to advise.

As you're in the UK, you could join the JEC (you should do that anyway!) and maybe get a pre-purchase inspection done.

Cheers

Paul

 

[QUOTE=ptjs1;2620250]Mark,

The challenge in assessing the rust you describe is 2-fold:

- It is impossible to accurately the extent of it without stripping off the windscreen chromes and seal infill panel as a minimum, and often the need to remove the wings
- if left unchecked, it has potential to reach to the Plenum chamber, right into the A-Post and even down to the lower wing and into the sill. And it still might show as just a tiny bubble at the screen edge of the scuttle!

I was very lucky in catching mine when I did. See the attached pics.

So, if there's a bubble, you've got a problem but you don't know how big is the problem. But even if you haven't got any bubble, you STILL might have a problem , as I did to a lesser extent on the RHS of my car.

Sadly, spraying wax under the scuttle won't help much at all, as the rust is not starting from the scuttle. It's starting from the windscreen flange and working it's way out in all directions to the outer side of the car.

Coupes suffer worse because the drain channel behind the chrome gets blocked. But Convertibles like mine also suffer because the windscreen mastic shrinks over time leaving the flange exposed to the air and then the inevitable happens.

Good luck with the search. Maybe post a pic of any potential purchase and we may be able to advise.

As you're in the UK, you could join the JEC (you should do that anyway!) and maybe get a pre-purchase inspection done.

Cheers

Paul

Thanks Paul.

Ive decided to pass on the viewing. It’s a high mile car but has also been stored for about 13 years and I can’t be 100% what conditions it has been stored under, so unless it’s a miracle car, I think the rust will be there. It’s a very late coupe which I’ve read are the worst of all for scuttle rust.
For me the price is too high for a high miler with no history, so it’s gonna end up being a money loser which isn’t what I’m after right now. I want a project but not that much of a project.
I’ve decided to look at a rather sad XJR6 instead which does have history, does have low miles and looks to have more basic rust to challenge rather than likely complex scuttle + repairs.
Im always gonna have an XJS to scratch, but not this time.
Cheers for the help and advice.
Mark

 

This what I found; Screen out, some welding and paint. It's not the end of the world or the car, but a lot of work to put right properly; Copy and paste to the other side..

 

Thanks for the posts explaining the problem.

Question: do we think that all facelifts are susceptible, or maybe just certain years? I am trying to figure out if my '94 is basically a time-bomb and then asking myself if I should continue to 'invest', or get rid.

 

I don't think that all cars are necessarily at risk from this. In the UK and Ireland we get wetter weather, so that's one factor I suppose. I have heard different theories explaining the reason for the problem.
1. That the method of installing and centering the windscreen in the factory scratched the flange around the windscreen leaving it susceptible to rust
2. That on cars where the windscreen has been replaced, the flange around the windscreen is scratched when cleaning off the old adhesive
3. That the drain channel behind the A pillar SS trim becomes blocked with debris which causes water to collect at the bottom of the A Pillar
Usually things happen for more than one reason and that's probably true in this case as well.
As far as I can see, its just not a good design. If you look at the shape/profile of the flange to which the windscreen is bonded, there is an area at the corners and along the bottom of the windscreen from which water can't drain and will just sit there;

 

A good summary from Chris. I'd just add one more thing.

The original mastic does seem prone to shrinking (or maybe it was never applied that well when new!) On my car, once all the chromes. trim and infill seal were removed, I could see daylight at places around the screen. Which meant there were gaps where water could sit and enter. And mine was the original screen, so it either left the factory like that or deteriorated over time.

I'd suggest a VERY careful removal of the chromes and infill seal and assess the situation.

Cheers

Paul