Waxoyling
an MGB
This
article on pumping the magic fluid into the inner parts of the body by Roger Cooper
was published in two parts the MGB Register Notes in the December 1982 and January
1983 issues of Safety Fast! (Dec 82)
The
success or failure of this operation depends on two things:
Condition of
the car before you start. The makers of Waxoyl claim that it kills rust but
it cannot of course strengthen areas weakened by very heavy corrosion any more
than it can restore metal which has already completely disintegrated.
The
thoroughness with which you carry out the job of treating your V8.
You will need at least 5 litres of Waxoyl to carry out a full proofing job. You
might even think it advisable to buy a larger quantity and have some left over
for restoration in case of small accidents. Before embarking on the task, I looked
at various sprayers in DIY and garden shops but eventually settled for Waxoyl's
own unit which is really tailor made for the purpose and is very easy to use.
It is a good idea to make sure you have a couple of litres of white spirit or
turps substitute handy in case you need to thin the Waxoyl down a little and to
clean the equipment when you have finished. As an alternative to thinning Waxoyl
you can do the job on a hot day or if you carry out the job on a cooler day, you
can put the can of Waxoyl in a bucket of very hot water to warm it up. You will
also need a small paintbrush and an old clean jam jar, some rag, a couple of large
plastic bin liners to cover the brake discs to keep the Waxoyl off them, and some
rubber blanking plugs to put in some of the holes you will have to drill for access
to various box sections. Make sure your plugs are and your drills are compatible.
Although Waxoyl can be applied over a thin layer of road dirt I recommend that
you clean the car down thoroughly underneath first, carefully poking all the muck
out of all the nooks and crannies with a screwdriver.
Particular
rust prone areas to watch
> Behind the headlights.
>
On top of the ledge towards the rear of the inner wing.
> Where the rear
end of the sill blends into the rear wheel arch. There is a particularly nasty
pocket there almost an inch deep with an open end pointing down and back at 45
degrees.
A stiff scrubbing brush helps remove mud from the wider expanses
under the wings. Scrape off any flaking or damaged underseal, paint and loose
rust to expose the metal. Sound underseal and paint can be left intact.
Like any other car, the MGB has its weak spots. You may be familiar with them
from long association. If you are new to the model then take a look at the older
ones you see running around to get an idea of the problem areas. The main ones
are around the headlights (as mentioned above), the back and top of the front
wings (that dogleg seam in front of the windscreen), the ledge on the inner wing
(mentioned above), and at sill level the area between the rear edge of the door
opening to the front edge of the rear wheel arch.
The top of the petrol
tank also collects water and mud, and rusts through. You may be too late here
but if your tank has not gone too far, you might consider removing the tank, Waxoyling
it all over and the areas surrounding it, and the supporting straps, and putting
it back again.
If you intend being generous with your application of
Waxoyl, as I did, then I suggest you remove some of the interior trim - door panels,
carpets and other parts. It says on the can that Waxoyl does no harm to "soft
furnishings" and I did not remove a door panel and have found that panel
has gone limp and flabby inside - so be warned! In any case removal of the panels
gives much better access for spraying.
Drilling
is required for full access to box sections
To be sure of full
access to some of the box sections, a certain amount of drilling is required around
the door areas. My car had been professionally treated when new in 1974 and already
has plugs in the holes drilled in the outer sill at the rear end of the aluminium
tread plate, just below the striker plate on the door pillar, and on the door
itself at the rear edge at the point where the vertical face curves away to the
joint on the bottom edge. You will need to carry out the first two drillings,
but if you remove the door panels as suggested, you need not do the third drilling.
You will need blanking plugs for these holes because they are exposed to view.
There is also a hole at the front of the top of the outer sill close to the door
seal. It is a very useful access to the front end of the outer sill.
The holes you need to drill are:
Remove the shaped aluminium strip
which secures the edge of the rubber carpet and the draught excluder to the projecting
vertical seam between the two sills
Drill three 5/16 inch diameter holes
through the rubber carpet and the inner sill (one in the middle and one at each
end) in such a way that the aluminium strip will completely cover them when you
replace it. I was interested to see this section had been overlooked when the
car was professionally treated - fortunately it is still in good condition.
Behind the seats the inner sill widens out to link up with the vertical
panel across the front of the battery compartment
Carefully lift and turn
back the rubber carpet to expose this area and now there is a double row of spot
weld marks visible, you will need to drill one hole on each side of these welds
because there appears to be a vertical web dividing the box section into two parts.
Now having done the preparation, let's get on with the messy bit - but really
it is not that bad! Waxoyl is relatively clean harmless stuff to use and if you
are reasonably careful, you should not put it anywhere except where you want it.
There are two basic operations - injection and spraying. I did the injection first.
Injection
Fit the long plastic tube
with the "nail" in the end to the Waxoyl gun. The "nail" is
a diffuser or spreader and should not be adjusted for best effect before starting.
This is the one time when you are likely to get in a mess! At the front of the
car, there are two main box section chassis members supporting the engine and
gearbox unit. You should find two small plastic plugs or rubber bungs, one at
each side of the base of the radiator, giving access to these box sections. Extract
these bungs and put them in a safe place for refitting later. With the Waxoyl
gun set up for injection, carefully push the long plastic tube through one of
the holes in the direction of the rear of the car, working it back as far as it
will go - almost its full length.
With the suction pipe well immersed
in the Waxoyl can and gun and delivery pipe fully primed, give the trigger a fast
powerful squeeze about once every second (giving it time to suck up another full
charge from the can) and withdraw the probe about ½ inch after each squeeze
of the trigger until the end of the tube appears at the hole again. But be warned
the probe can get stuck! You will need to be patient as you may have to feed the
tube back in again a little and apply a twisting action until you can free it.
Do not be tempted to pull hard on the tube or you will probably rip the "nail"
out of the end of the tubing and
that will be the end of your nice spray pattern inside
the section intended to coat all the
internal |
surfaces.
Having
successfully done the rear part of the front chassis, turn the probe around and
feed it forwards as far as the bumper, repeating the injection sequence as before.
When complete, do the other side in the same way and then replace the bungs.
Moving back to the drillings around the door, insert the probe into each
of the holes in turn and push it in every possible direction. It is worth mentioning
here that during this stage of the work my trigger finger seized solid and had
to be prized off the gun before it could be revived! I should have had a glass
of Heineken handy to revive the parts that . . . As you are working on this stage
of the work try and visualise the internal structure of the bodywork and aim to
coat every inner surface of the bodywork with Waxoyl.
Some Waxoyl will
inevitably run out of the drain holes under the sills, so make sure they are clear
first. You may feel it is worthwhile to use the drain holes as additional access
points for the probe and another jet of Waxoyl. It is particularly important to
ensure that all the seams between the various sheets of metal and panels are well
dosed with Waxoyl as they are a favourite moisture trap.
Turning
now to the forward door pillar
You will see a cavity ahead of the
hinges at the top and a small gap between the pillar and the wing at the bottom.
The cavity is easily dealt with, just push the probe in as far as it will go in
every direction and squirt another blast of Waxoyl. Pay particular attention to
that dogleg seam in that area just ahead of the windscreen on the top of the wing.
At the bottom of the door pillar you should have just enough room to poke the
probe through the gap between the pillar and the wing. Push it forward as far
as it will go until it comes up to the back of the splashguard behind the front
road wheel. You can then either go beserk with Waxoyl injection from this position
turning and moving the probe around to cover every possible corner or, if you
prefer, you can be more technical by removing the splashguard altogether and then
blasting the Waxoyl in from the wheel arch. It is important to realise that water
can get into that void past the splashguard and when it does it runs into the
sills and out of the drain holes - provided they are clear! If you do not believe
me try it with a hosepipe.
The doors are next
on the list for treatment
If you have removed the trims then you
can use the spray nozzle. If not, then you will still need the probe to inject
through the drilling in the rear face. Concentrate on the seams and the top edge
of the outer skin. Remove the two plastic bungs on the top face of the door just
above the hinges. A judicious squirt of Waxoyl through there two holes will help
preserve the bolt heads and other bits and pieces visible inside. Replace the
bungs. If you are satisfied that you have done the best job ever on the injection,
put all the bungs back in their respective holes and replace the rubber carpet
behind the seats and refit the aluminium door sill cappings. Wash the gun through
with white spirit to clean the plastic probe tube, remove it and fit the short
spray nozzle. Jack the car up enough to give you room to work underneath and chock
it and insert axle stands for safety. No point being crushed underneath a beautifully
Waxoyled V8 that fell off its jack - you will not enjoy driving it then! Again
start from the front with the wheels removed and the brake discs well protected
by bin liners, and spray all over the inside of the wheel arch paying particular
attention to the rear of the headlights - flood the stuff in there. Get it into
the ledge on the inner wings, the seam along behind the chrome trim along the
side of the car (another narrow ledge), round the edges (or lip) of the wheel
arch and particularly around the splashguard by the door pillar. Continue spraying
down onto the sill underneath and into every crevice right through to the back
of the car. Pay particular attention to the extreme bottom edge of the sill. Treat
the rear wheel arch and the areas in front of that odd little recess at the back
of the sill - and behind it as well!
At the front again, there is a shallow
box section cross member just below the radiator in which there are three large
holes in the bottom surface. Give this box a good dose inside and out, and while
you are down there get as much Waxoyl into the main front suspension cross member
as you can by spraying from all possible angles into the visible openings. Spray
the outside of the box sections which support the engine and check to see that
the injection job you did earlier was good enough and that some Waxoyl has found
its way through the drain holes and seams. Working backwards again, give the whole
of the rest of the underside of the car, especially the outriggers and floor pans,
a good soaking. You can vary the density of the spray by the proximity of the
gun to the work, or by using a heavy duty nozzle. You might find it helpful to
use two hands in order to keep the gun steady and at an even distance from the
work.
In this underbody area you will find a number of lap jointed seams
in all sorts of vulnerable places - around the inside of the rear wheel arch for
example, right where the tyre throws up all the road water and muck. Make sure
that these areas are very well soaked in Waxoyl and if necessary, give them a
couple of coats just to be sure. Use the brush and some Waxoyl in a jam jar to
paint the suspension linkages and brake pipes and all the little odd bits and
pieces you might have missed with the spray nozzle.
Remove the batteries
and spray all around the battery boxes, inside and out, to guard against corrosion
but take care to keep the tops of the shock absorbers free of Waxoyl to avoid
possible contamination when topping up at some future date.
Inside the
boot area, remove all trim, carpets, spare wheel cover, spare wheel, tools and
other kit. Also if you feel up into the void by the roof pillars at each side
of the rear hatch, you will find a large foam block stuffed in there for sound
deadening purposes. Remove this too. Now give a light spray inside that void,
particularly upwards to get at the back of the top seam on the rear wing. The
meeting point of that top seam with the rear of the side window is a rust spot
and source of water leakage. This treatment is to guard against the effects of
condensation, but you may find in wet weather that water drips off the tailgate
and into the car when the tailgate is open. On out MGB 1800 the water gets into
the window rubber from the outside and percolates through inside and runs out
by the heated rear window connections when you lift the tailgate. The tailgate
itself will benefit from a quick spray around the inside through openings already
available.
Finally there are two small areas you might want to consider
treating - inside the bumper and overriders and the studs at the back of the chrome
trim down each side of the car. You may need to do some dismantling - certainly
you would have to remove the chrome trims by prizing them off carefully with a
screwdriver - if you want to go that far!
Well if you are now completely
satisfied that you have done a thorough job, put it all back together again, vacuum
out the swarf from the drillings, clean your kit down, stow it away for next the
time, and take a hot bath.
When you are dressed and reflecting on your
good work with a glass of Speckled Hen and admiring your MGB, you might feel it
would never win a concours event - who wants to polish under the floor pans in
any case - but at least you will feel that your MGB will be around for as long,
maybe even longer, than there are spares available! |
