Oh No!

[Gumball]

Went to put gas in the car yesterday and noticed tiny little bumps in the paint under the filler door,

13 years old, 97,000 miles, I guess it was just a matter of time

[SSEiMan01]

Wah! I dread the day mine starts...

[deano55]

Wah! I dread the day mine starts...

ahh, you have a Florida slow start on us

[SSEiMan01]

Yes sir. I'm sure the low miles it had are the only reason its holding out.

[nos4blood70]

Yes sir. I'm sure the low miles it had are the only reason its holding out.

Pffft. Keep telling that to yourself. Wait till you see mine tomorrow.

[sqela]

Man when it rains it pours. At least on the bright side it's not mechanical

[SSEiMan01]

I forgot to look at yours, Carl.

Besides, you know me, it'll probably get fixed before the first bubble breaks the clearcoat.

[crash93ssei]

240,000 miles on my '03 has no paint left in that area at all, just a big rust spot, I keep it covered though with touch up paint to make it not so obvious though :(

The '02 SE though also has 240,000 miles and there is no sign at all of rust, looks 100% perfect with no signs of anything even starting.

[Gumball]

I think im going to try spraying WD40 in there some how, should help a little.

[BlackHawk99]

My 00 SE with 231K was so bad that you could stick your whole hand in the body panel.

The filler door was darn-near broken off because of so much rust and corrosion.

[dz09x]

I was always curious if there was a way to possibly stop it. Rtv the small gap near the filler door is what i did when i first saw a bump well over a year ago and it hasn't been spreading too fast.

My other idea was possibly putting a rubber ring on the back side of the filler door, that when closed will act as a seal... who knows? might work?

[SSEiMan01]

It would probably hurt to do that. Water can sling up from the wheel well unless you plug the "drain". I put that in quotes because the drain hole is at the highest point of the fuel filler area. Who needs logic?

[deano55]

I think im going to try spraying WD40 in there some how, should help a little.

thats what I have been doing since I joined this sight, so far very little signs. I shoot it in the drain holes under the doors and in the hood by the latch

[00Beast]

194k on mine, no signs yet. It was originally a Florida car, though...

[Spitzkindl]

So the rest of the car is free of rust? The bumps are not a bigi (unless the car is pregnant), it's only what meets the eye. Good to get fixed, but maybe at the same time take a closer look at the whole car for rust? If it's like my car, I would especially remove the rear bumper and check there. On the other hand the car is only 13 years old, so maybe another 5-10 years before a total makeover?

[MattStrike]

If it makes you feel better, GM did the odd foam thingy seal on my '86 as well. But I've never seen fuel door rot on anything other than an '00+ until I found my SSEi, but even that had, well, no frame due to rust. If you want, maybe at the meet we can see what we can do to prevent it? I can't help but think that there is something odd that's causing it...