Zut Alors - 306 rain gutter rust

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Wed 6 Jul 2005 20:25
Zut Alors - 306 rain gutter rust - SjB {P}
SWMBO has a 35k miles 306 Sedan worth a grand tops, but which is as mint as a ten year old car used every day ever will be; Fit as a fiddle mechanically, spotlessly clean (and I mean spotlessly - I have the car cleaning bug only a couple of stops short of concourse merchants!) inside and out even down to door jambs and engine bay, and is a complete hoot to hustle along a twisty and bumpy B road. It is also totally reliable and costs buttons to run, so run it we probably will for a few years yet.

But, horror of horrors...

Having waxed lyrical about how totally rust free this car is, I read the other day that they are susceptible to rust of the rain gutter that runs across the top of the door apertures. Sure enough, peeling the rubber channels off, my wife's 306 gutters are quite badly rusted.

The rain gutter itself is a U-section channel that is brazed on to the roof along one face of the U. This face of the U is simply flush with the roof, and the other carries an inverted U section rubber seal that mates with the doors. The rain then gathers in the bottom of the U and runs to the A, B, or C pillar where it is lead away.

The rust has extended down the entire height of the side of the U that is gripped by the rubber channel, and is but a millimetre or so from eating in to the roof itself (which is presumably much better protected with zinc etc so should rust more slowly if it rusts at all)

So, what to do?

Leave it as it is?
Pick the loose rust off, paint with Dinitrol, and stick the rubber channel back on?
Spend a couple of hundred notes getting it sorted properly (channel ground off and a new one fitted)?
Or?
Or?
Or?

Remember we will probably keep the car for a few years more.


TVM!
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Wed 6 Jul 2005 21:03
Zut Alors - 306 rain gutter rust - Ex-Moderator
No brainer...

>>Pick the loose rust off, paint with Dinitrol, and stick the rubber channel back on?

Leave it and you will end up losing the car through it, spend loads of money getting it fixed and you'll find that's the only bit left in a year or two.

Its not like you're worried about its re-sale value.
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Wed 6 Jul 2005 21:47
Zut Alors - 306 rain gutter rust - SjB {P}
Yup, just what I said to the missus thanks Mark. Second opinion was sought though as it is apparently a common problem, so there may have been (or be) another cost effective method I haven't thought of.

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