FTO AUSTRALIA

Nowi v been reading the rust threads and im a bit stressed out.just wondering i havea 95 gpx and it was importedi n the ocuntary in 1998 by the previous owner.And since 98 it has always been garaged so neverleft out in the rain.Is rust still a big problem for me i cant see any spots on teh roof yet...should i try and get rid of the glue now or?oh and does the glue that you remove need to be replaced with anything?

Relax mate, they changed the glue in 96 or 97 (cant remember which). Youre safe. You dont need to do any of the stuff I put in the guide because the glue in your car does not collect moisture.

but the car is a 1995 gpx?

Sorry, I misread your post . You said 'since 98', and I dont know why, but I read that as a 98 model. In that case yours will have the potential to develop rust and if I were you, id remove the roof lining and get rid of the glue before that occurs. Coathanger does a good job. The guide I posted shows you what you need to do. Takes about an hour to carry out.

dstocks wrote:Sorry, I misread your post . You said 'since 98', and I dont know why, but I read that as a 98 model. In that case yours will have the potential to develop rust and if I were you, id remove the roof lining and get rid of the glue before that occurs. Coathanger does a good job. The guide I posted shows you what you need to do. Takes about an hour to carry out.

thats ok mate then do i need to get where i drill re welded mate?how much would this cost?also since im tkaing out the glue do i need to put something there instead like anotehr type of glue?

If you dont have a sunroof you dont need to drill anything out. If you do have a sunroof, there is a separate subframe around the sunroof (under the lining) that has glue separating it from the roof skin and if there are rust spots in the roof there, the subframe has to be removed to fix the rust problem properly. This involves drilling out the spot-welds. Hopefully, you dont have a sunroof and can ignore this bit. Plus, if you dont have rust spots atm, I wouldnt get the subframe taken out anyway. Just remove the glue and hit the exposed metal with a bit of rust neutraliser after having removed any loose rust.

The glue is used to separate the roof skin from the subframe underneath. In the case of a car without a sunroof, all that is required is to remove the glue and neutralise whatever rust you find. I never bothered replacing the glue. There is a 5mm gap between the bits of metal, so theyll never touch and rattle

Oh beautiful then dstocks ill get on it i dont have a sunroof so itake it all i need to do is take ioff the lining get the coat hanger out remove all the glue from the front and the back sections and look for any rust already present use a drill with some wire on it to get rid of the flake bits and hit it with the rust converter then done is that pretty much it mate?

yep. But only use the drill with a wire brush if the rust is significant. The wire brush attachment does a really good job, but you have to be really careful with that as it can catch and put a dent in your roof if you arent careful. If there is just a bit of surface rust, scrape any loose bits off with something like a metal paint scraper and neutralise with rust converter and then maybe hit with a bit of undercoat after it has dried. In your case the glue you will have to remove will be about 10cm from the top of the front and rear windscreens.

ok thanks mate will have a go at it over the weekend...

i just did mine yesterday, i used a hacksaw blade to cut/scrape out the old glue. use with teeth pointing back towards you. only took about 1/2 hr to get it all out. then i painted it with a product called "Penetrol" its a penetrating oil/sealer. make sure you use a small artist's brush or something similar that will reach into the small gap.

Did you have rust when you got the lining off Colin?

i had bad rust...started to coem through...had it all fixed up which was a bitch buy good as new now!

mines a 94 model...doesnt look like there is any rust...

It wont until it breaks through from underneath. Trust me its worth removing the glue.

amen to removing the glue! wish i did before i got the roof fixed again! meh

there was rust in my roof, there are 2 small spots where it came through the paint on the outside, above the front screen.
my son wants stripes painted the full length of the car, like the new ford focus XR5 so i will fix it when i paint those on.

lol By the way guys, the rust in the roof thing, all the photos are my car

I can tell you it works, mine hasn't come back, good job Dwayne.

my car is a 94 model and it has a lot of rust spots, 2 of which have exposed rust

wince!. Do you get wet when it rains.

i didn't say hole in the roof >_<

most of them are really tiny but the 2 thaat have rust are pretty small as well. will get it fixed one of these days.