randytrish

Everything's within reach after you remove the mufflers. I checked mine last week.

GC96

Cool, thanks.

Targajack

No rust here...

Rinty

Is that "basecoat" approved by the government of La Belle Province?

Targajack

I have cleaned the wells properly, then I have used 3M undercoat + Black anti rust tremclad from Canadian Tire. From previous experiences, it should last for years, and with the glossy finish I am able to wash it very easily.

TY

MDamen

I just checked this area on my car and it looks exactly like Erik's from page 1. No corrosion at all. It's a daily driver with 140,000 miles on the car. The first 80,000 were in California, the rest in Seattle. We get plenty of rain but not a lot of chemicals on the roads up here. I'm going to clean it up, apply some body color paint over self etching primer and then seal the edges.

IXLR8

I'd add a step and apply some quality Würth or 3M spray-on paintable rocker guard. Different textures are available; I'd go light to medium.

Any grit that gets between bolted together panels will eventually wear through the layer of paint and primer.

berni29

Hi

Good point about the grit. Its similar if you have ever had a broken side window in the car the glass granules can get under the carpet and then between the foam and the floor of the car where it will cut through the paint, primer and zinc. Just add water for rust.

Berni

tommyg

When I had my rear apart this past Spring I tackled this vulnerable area. Even though the car spent it's previous life in the PNW, I wanted to make sure it would never incur any rust in this notorious trap. Removeing the bracket revealed, on mine at least, some unprimed bare metal areas that Hansi and Wolfgang apparently missed - specifically where the studs protruded. I primed everything and then made the horizontal butt joint impervious to the elements with a bead of clear flashing/gutter seal.

GC96

To anyone who's done this, is it necessary to take the bumper cover off to properly seal the upper seam or is there some other way to do that? I'm in the process of checking this area on my car, I have the mufflers off and have the heat shield on the driver's side off. So far there is no obvious sign of rust at least on the side I have checked. It looks pretty much like the first picture Erik posted on page 1 of this thread and it sounds solid as well. I am now trying to decide if I should go ahead and pull the bracket off, paint the area and seal it, or just clean the area and apply a seam sealer around the bracket. Either way it looks like the bumper cover restricts access to last few inches of the upper seam. I would like to confirm that there is no other way to seal that area before I start taking off the bumper. Any advice is appreciated.

GC

MDamen

I had my bumper off when I pulled mine. It took me an hour to get the bumper off. It is not difficult at all.

GC96

Thanks, I guess I'll take the bumper off.

rsr91128

I did mine with the bumper off and don't think you could do it properly with it in place.

I probably would have just cleaned and sealed the top of mine if I was sure there was no rust.

A tip on bumper removal is you do not have to remove the wiring for the lights (and those stupid license plate lights). Just unplug the complete bumper wiring harness in the electrical box in the right rear of the engine bay then feed the harness and boot through the hole shown in the middle picture in the above post. Much easier than leaving the wiring hanging and having to feed it back into the bumper, IMO.