Where old cars rust

[Unkel Kunkel]

 

Large areas of completely unpainted metal have been revealed as I start to dismantle  a Spitfire bonnet.

Presumably they sprayed the bonnet after it had being assembled  in “ bare”metal and the paint went where it could reach.

The lack of protection wasn’t a surprise, but the way some of these areas remain  remarkably intact after fifty years without any protection at all, certainly was.

These were places mainly confined to the upper and inner facing aspects of the wing and the outer wheel arch.

Lower and other areas - the familiar picture of devastation 

Presumably, the deciding factor here  was these areas were just  relatively dry most of the time?

 

[Pete Lewis]

i thought ???     they all got a dip (submerged  )  primer before the sprayed  top coat.

Pete

 

[Unkel Kunkel]

9 minutes ago, Pete Lewis said:

i thought ???     they all got a dip (submerged  )  primer before the sprayed  top coat.

Pete

 

 I think the bonnet is original.

it does look like that they assembled it, then dipped sprayed etc.

There is no paint / primer under the various brackets etc.

[ahebron]

I cut some rust out of a Mitsubishi Mirage below the windscreen and it had a primer/dip line below which it didnt rust but above it was a free for all. 
Obviously they didnt expect the tops of the car to rust