few questions

johnbird · Post by **johnbird** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 7:33 pm

i gave the cars a thorough pressure washing this morning to blow the salt out of the nooks and crannies.the bx had lots of muck coming out of it and onto the road.there was loads.i noticed the body has a lot of plastic panels which is the ultimate anti rust device! which panels are in fact steel and which are plastic please?
on the drive home after collecting the car i noticed the revs were hanging a little-almost as if the throttle pedal needed a stronger spring fitting.made smooth changes a little tricky.today i had the bonnet up and did all the fluids and noticed the throttle cable looked sticky and thicker than it should do.cleaned it all down and squirted lots of cleaner up into the cable sheath and cleaned all the throttle mechanism up as it was gungy too and its cured the hanging throttle.is this a common fault?something to look out for?
are there any obvious things i should keep an eye on?
discovered the rear blinds and they look great!
have to try and source a remote central locking plipper and receiver or get a place who can marry them now.
really pretty happy with the car so far.stereo picks up radio 4 nicely.

JayW · Post by **JayW** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 8:54 pm

Non-Metal panels are:

Bootlid
Rear C-pillars (outer skin)
Roof edge strips
Bonnet

johnbird · Post by **johnbird** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 8:57 pm

are all of the rear spats and arches plastic too?

richardd1652 · Post by **richardd1652** » Sat Jan 01, 2011 10:19 pm

No the rear wings are metal,just the top of the "C" pillar above and including the horizontal vent are plastic and the little stone guard on the edge of the rear wheel arch.Some cars also have metal bonnets but theres no real rule to this as some do and some dont.All tailgates and roof edge trims as previousely mentioned are also plastic.
Rust traps are mostly obvious like inner wings,tops of "a" pillars near the top hinge.Bottoms of "b" pillars have been known to go and also the inner shut areas of rear wings can get grotty(when you open the rear doors look up the joint of rear wing to shell especially in bottom corner)Inside the boot along rear edge and corners under lamp areas can go and this can be where the rear exhaust hanger is mounted and can drop off.Also an unseen area is the rear panel corners behind the back bumper which isnt accessible until bumper is removed.
Sills are pretty good usually but worth regular checks and ive seen some cars with rust starting around the windscreen.
Sunroof drains can block causing wet floors but usually an easy fix.
I had a 14 St Tropez on a 1990 and it had rust on the back wings along the rubbing strip and also a 1991 TZD Estate which had big holes appear in the same area so i usually give the rear arches a good blasting on a regular basis.
Your car however looks cracking and has obviousely been well cared for through its life so shouldnt have any of these problems .
I may have missed some points and am sure someone else has other points of view to offer.
Richard.