[neilied]

Had some work done at my local Indie, and was just reading the report. noise off side rear, i think a bearing is on the way out. knocking front which i attribute to bushes. but worst of all floor pan rusted through in two places

On the ramp you can see outside of the support beams pretty much under the front seats 2 patches that seam to have bottomed out maybe on speed ramps?? but this has stripped the underseal and gunk and led to rot. so before the next mot in december i'm going to have to get it welded. also note that bottom of rear wing under the pinin sign there is also the signs of bubbling.

I thought these didn't do rust??

 

[driver33p4]

Alfas are reasonably good for rust protection but there are a couple of weak/vulnerable areas. Floorpans are the worst because people do not realise that they are not galvanised. They need protected against our winters so waxoyl/underseal or a coat of paint is required each year to keep them in one piece. Also worth doing the front crossmember/radiator support and all of the rear end.

Body panels are usually good but the paint is not always the strongest - seems to be worse for some colours. Bubbling is not usually a problem - could your car have had minor repair work previously.

 

[Dave Brand]

Floorpans are the worst because people do not realise that they are not galvanised.

Floorpans are made from galvanised steel sheet. Unfortunately when the panel is pressed the steel is exposed at the edges, so if the underseal fails rust can take hold & spread inwards under the galvanisation.

 

[driver33p4]

If the floor are galvanised then they have been very mean with the zinc! Its a weak spot on every Alfa using the Tipo chassis up to the 156/GT/147. Ask anyone who has a 145... (Plenty salt on the roads up here in winter so all of my Alfas get a going over with waxoyl each year)

Alfa are funny about galvanising. My last main daily driver was a 2004 156 sportwagon which did not have a galvanised roof and every stone chip turned red. The 2000 X-reg one we have has no rust on the roof at all - which seems to suggest a galvanised roof... go figure

159/Brera/946 Spider chassis is completely different so no knowledge of these as yet