I just noticed there is rust in the area adjacent to the windshield. My next project...

This is underhood area that's normally covered by the black rubber duct. The duct apparently channeled rain in and deposited it on the hood. There was some kind of caulk applied between the outside and the hood stiffener which absorbed moisture. Because of that the hood rusted through in the spots where I had to cut metal out to remove the caulk fill the holes.

 

Ya know......I too have started to find rust on my 09 in the RH rear wheel well at the top ???

 

At the age our cars are it's not a real surprise.

 

Honda's corrosion protection is mostly based on surface treatment between the metal and top layer of the paint. That approach is never going to last decades in four season conditions. A proper multi-layer anti-corrosion treatment applied on top of the paint to underbody and box sections at least doubles or even quadruples the time to resist corrosion. But only very few car manufacturers offer any proper corrosion prevention on top of the paint due to weight and cost reasons (and taking into account the intended lifetime of a car). Just for that reason it is quite common in my part of the world to get a multi-layer anti-corrosion treatment done after purchasing a new car to improve protection against corrosion.

 

As it happens, I had my car rustproofed right after I bought it. The spots where the rust is occurring don't get rustproofed, however. The rust on the A pillars kind of surprised me though. And yes, we have snow and cold conditions (along with salted roads) too.

 

You are right, that windshield frame rust cannot be prevented with any after-treatment. The cause to the rust is probably either bad surface treatment or damage when assembling windshield. Sometimes you see that if the windshield is replaced afterwards and the paint get scratched when cutting the glue. Do you still have an original windshield or is it replaced?

 

It was replaced not long after I bought the car new. Newer cars with aerodynamic front ends are prone to getting hit with stones from the roads. Same thing happened to my wife's 2014 Accord. Thing is, if you look at the pictures the rust is on the flanges away from the windshield.

 

I am sorry, I can't really see where the rust begins. In the picture it looks like it's creeping from underneath the rubber. Then can you look under the rubber and see if it continues under the glue?

 

The windshield grommet is tight against the metal and since it's deep in the channel of the metal frame, no. Most of the rust I see is at the outer edge. I suppose I might be able to wick some rust convertor under the rubber by capillary action. I intend to grind off the visible rust off and paint it with Rust Bullet. GM cars from the 70s were known to rust out windshield frames on the top, resulting in leaks when it rained, so i want to do SOMETHING to forestall that possibility.

 

I amvery familiar with that infamous GM cars windshield frame rust. It was very usual in lete 70's and 80's Opels too. My father bought a new white Opel Ascona in 1979 and after three years there was visible rust all around the windshield. My experiences with stopping the rust without removing the windshield are not promising. But it is of course worth trying. May I suggest that after you have done what you planned, you try to inject grease under the rubber. Basically fill the cavity with grease, as it can stop the rust, which you are not able to remove. But use a grease, that does not melt away in hot summer days. For example a grease made for high speed ball bearings might work.

 

Good thought. In fact I just spoke to a tech rep from Eastwood.com. She said rust convertor or dissolver would make problems down the road. She recommended this chassis internal spray they make to keep air and moisture out , but I used it before and it's only in spray form, thus hard to contain in a small area. Perhaps something like Silicone caulk (bathtub sealer) might work.

 

Any silicone is bad idea as it creates nice shielded environment for corrosion, and bathtub silicone is even worse as it contains acid, which accelerates corrosion. Grease or some anti-corrosion agent is best solution. Altoug it doesn't stop the corrosion, it slows it.

 

Good points. Well, first I will sand out what rust I can see. Then perhaps I could cover the area with rubberized undercoating or a similar product. More research...

 

Rubberized undercoating has same problem as silicone when you cannot positively remove the rust. It does not penetrate the rust and thus it does not prevent corrosion. And moisture finds its way there anyways. I would rather look to products used in car restoration in structures where the rust cannot be completely removed.

One solution, that I have only short-term (~1 year) experience yet, is an iron oxide linseed oil paint. I am not any hippie or organics character, but from pure theory linseed oil is very penetrating and inhibiting further corrosion, and iron oxide has been used in anti-corrosion paints for centuries. Therefore I do believe, that it would be a decent solution for your purpose after removing rust as much as you can. Linseed oil paint takes a long time to dry and it requires heat and light for the process, and below the rubber it will not dry completely for very long time. But on visible surface in warm and sunny summertime it can safely be overpainted after one week with you car color. When you cannot rub it with your finger, it's good.

 

Interesting idea. I am trying to speak to the 3M tech rep to see what they have to say, since they so many auto repair products.

 

Please share their suggestion with us. It'd be really interesting to read what they would offer to stop rust, which cannot be removed.

 

Well, just got off the phone with the 3M tech lady. She said they made such a product some years ago but discontinued it. Seems they came to the conclusion it really didn't help, and the real solution was to remove the windshield and refinish the sheet metal underneath. I know that's the best way but I don't have the money to do that, considering I don't have a job at the moment. Still searching...

 

These or could be something worth trying. At least they doesn't make things worse. But you cannot paint on them and they both need to be redone every now and then.

 

The CRC 06026 is a possibility. There's also what the Eastwood gal recommended-internal frame coating (her idea was to lock air and moisture out):

This stuff I've used on the underbody:
https://www.amazon.com/Fluid-Film-11-75-Spray-2-pak/dp/B008T8CXGY/ref=pd_sbs_263_4/145-7036433-1621718?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B008T8CXGY&pd_rd_r= 7758dffc-90c3-4cd4-86f2-e5019ad641f8&pd_rd_w=cvgM5&pd_rd_wg=vAaiO&pf_rd_p= d28ef93e-22cf-4527-b60a-90c984b5663d&pf_rd_r=ZX7HZASN7G339SFW2XSN&psc=1&re fRID=ZX7HZASN7G339SFW2XSN

Then there's this, which reminds me of Boeshield T9:

 

They all seem stuff, that can help and are not making things worse.