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Locatting Rust On Mark 2's

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6 February, 200917 yr

Any Mark 2 is going to be at least knocking on for 20 years old now, so all but the very best will have some rust, but have generally fared better than other cars of the era as VW rustproofed most of them well. Check any car over well for rust, but particularly the following:

Colour is a big factor: Light colours, particularly silver are more prone as they have thinner paint than darker colours such as black, metallics, and never rust navy (so called because the paint on mk2's this colours is about 9 inches thick unibrow.gif).

The main reason for rust on cars that have it is the sill and arch kit getting moisture stuck behind it. It'll show when it's getting bad by creeping out into the visible bits, but before it gets that bad, it's worth taking the kit off and having a look. There is an article on removing the kit here, although it is for a mk3, the principle is the same.

Round the windows, particularly the rear quarters and windscreen can be bad, as water tends to sit here. With the window removed, any rust will be wrose than it looked with the window in. Don't let your scuttle start rusting out from this, as it is a mare to sort out. Likewise, look round the wiper arms.

Battery trays don't tend to be bad on mk2's, but have the battery out and take a look anyway, just in case a battery's leaked, or the drain hole's become blocked. Anything worse than a small patch in this area is a tricky job.

Tailgates on squarebacks and coupe's can end up rusting from the inside, this is normally because of the rear screenwash leaking.

Like any car, they're affectted by stone chip damage, this is unsightly, but unlikely to get bad unless left unchecked for long periods.

A big concern is the fuel filler neck, as mud can get stuck here for long periods of time and rust through the neck. Check the back of the sill round here well as it suffers at the same time.

Age of car is also a factor, the early ones were built and rustproofed better, though being older, these won't neccessarily have weathered better.