Hog Trough Preservation

[bobav78]

Although Studebaker owners for 47 years (had one brief excursion into Avantis with a 1963 R1 in 1970-71) we now have our first real collector's Avanti. It is a 1978 Avanti II that we bought at South Bend at the meet in June. It is a driver - we will tour with it and look forward to some AOAI meets in the future.

I have a question about trying to preserve the hog troughs. Mine appear to be in pretty good shape - and I would like to keep them that way. Has anyone come up with a way to protect the inside of the hog troughs? One idea I had was to squirt some oil into the drain hole from time to time in hopes it would coat the inside and retard development of rust. Does this make sense? Anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks for any advice.

bobav78

[oltrknut]

The rust is caused by the acumulation of dirt and grime that remains wet for long periods of time, and or the chemicals used for deicing in colder climates. Introduction of oils would help collect and retain the dust and dirt, as I restore these cars I try to enlarge the vent holes and suggest a periodic cleaning with water , try to keep the drain holes open and circulate water thru to keep clean.

[ernier]

My hog troughs look great from the outside. When I stripped out the

interior I decided to get brave and took a 3" hole saw and cut 3 holes in

the fiberglass above the troughs from the top. I was disturbed to find a

layer of heavy rust on both sides and part of the area where the roll bar

connects rusted away on one side. I scraped the loose stuff off as best I

could and vacuumed the debris out. I then poured Eastwood's Corroless

paint in, It's their version of POR 15 ( of which I am also a big fan). I

jacked the car up front and then rear and then side to side to coat as much

as possible and then used cheap foam brushes stuck in the end of some 3/8

gas hose to slather it around even more. After the paint dried, I sprayed

in Eastwood rustproofing until it dripped out from the drain holes.

The 3" holes are covered with duct tape. So checking now and then is easy as lifting the carpet and peeling the tape off. My car will not see much wet weather and is in a garage

so I'm hoping the deterioration has been halted. But I can't emphasize

strongly enough that from the outside the hog troughs looked and felt as

solid as new.

The area to cut the hole in is below the sill plates a couple of inches

from the edge of the rocker panel. It's pretty easy to determine where to

cut. I don't think you would have to remove the front seats but it would

make it easier to get the carpet to stay out of the way. Cut the rear

hole as far back as possible so you can get good access to the area where

the roll bar comes in. The section behind the roll bar can't easily be

accessed from the top. I sprayed rustproofing in through the drain hole in

the bottom of the trough. The rustproofing tool I have has tips that spray

like a lawn sprinkler without the rotation so you can stick it up in a hole

and spray the sides.

By the way the Eastwood rustproofing gun is relatively cheap and doesn't

need a big compressor. It's worth the investment for the job I described

and if you have any metal cars it's a bargain.

Ernie 64 R2 R5388

Although Studebaker owners for 47 years (had one brief excursion into Avantis with a 1963 R1 in 1970-71) we now have our first real collector's Avanti. It is a 1978 Avanti II that we bought at South Bend at the meet in June. It is a driver - we will tour with it and look forward to some AOAI meets in the future.

I have a question about trying to preserve the hog troughs. Mine appear to be in pretty good shape - and I would like to keep them that way. Has anyone come up with a way to protect the inside of the hog troughs? One idea I had was to squirt some oil into the drain hole from time to time in hopes it would coat the inside and retard development of rust. Does this make sense? Anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks for any advice.

bobav78