Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Aero 8, 2012< Plus 8, SuperSports, Coupe & Aeromax Salt on the roads - is it that bad?

Ok, so one of the reasons i sold my TVR Chimaera to buy my Aero 8 was because i thought the aluminium chassis and bodywork would be less "fragile" in regards to winter use in the UK, specifically because of salted roads.

I really only ever took the TVR out in winter after they started salting the roads if it had then subsequently rained a good amount, thereby washing (most of) the salt away.
I'd often come home from a drive and run a hose and garden sprinkler under the full length of the car to wash the (steel, tubular) chassis down.

Since the Aero is predominantly aluminium, is the salt really such an issue?

Do any of you use your Aeros all year round?

If you want a measure of how salty salted roads are, take a bucket of sea water and throw it on your frozen drive, it does absolutely nothing !
Road salt by comparison is very strong

I think the effects of road salt will initially be more cosmetic on aluminium but this in itself is a form of corrosion. You would need a less porous stainless chassis to be confident of use on our winter roads. Engine block and alternator housing show up the surface corrosion on aluminium as soon as the first winter of use with white flecks.

Land Rover developed an aluminum sheet variant they called Birmabright early in production which if my near 60 year old example is anything to go by survives well. No idea what MMC use. Galvanic corrosion near dissimilar metal fittings can be another issue probably increased by salt.

As Richard mentioned, galvanic corrosion should not be overlooked. If any steel or copper materials for instance, are touching aluminium in a salty environment, the aluminium will get “eaten”:away. So worth checking for exposed areas where bolts may be inserted through aluminium, without any form of electrolytic protection (insulating material to isolate the two metals from each other)
I keep hoping that with continuing council budget restrictions, that they will cut down on salt distribution. I understand that there is an additive to the. salt, (such as a form of molasses?,) to help it stick to the road…and to your car of course!
Hate the stuff! Happier to drive more carefully in slippy conditions.

One thing you do notice though, high mileage vehicles in constant use suffer less corrosion than seldom used and garaged which have been used in all weathers.

I know a few people who ride motorcycles with sidecar in the winter. Salt destroys everything in the long term. Every spring the winter-motorcycles are partially dismantled and cared for to prevent disintegration.

In Canada, where we have long winters (or used to), road salt used to be used liberally, too liberally. We found that salt merely turns plowed snow into ice..or worse and a concentrate of salt water is held against the car metal constantly. 30-40 years ago we could not expect a vehicle NOT to begin rusting after 2 years. It was a plague and kept getting worse as the metal manufacturers used became ever more cheap and tinny.

The nation switched to using sand on the roads with only enough salt to prevent the waiting sand from freezing into a huge rock lump. ALSO, our governments, after negotiation and scientific input, passed laws making auto manufacturers selling in Canada warrant their cars against different levels of rust for different time periods. For example, no perforation permitted prior to 10 years. That ended the plague. Ergo, for some time now, manufacturers have been able to produce automobiles that can resist corrosion. It merely means the UK government has not acted on it (yet).

My MMC-made special Plus 8, with which I had to fight like hell to force them NOT TO UNDERCOAT with the inexplicable goo they used to use (do they still use it on the CX cars?), is absolutely rustless for 21 years and counting. Which proves something I guess. Whether he meant it or not, Charles Morgan was right in declaring Morgans made for the life of the owner. Merely takes a dollop of owner input to assure that.

The re-created car arrived in January of 2003, leaving me months to change all the fittings to those (there were Morgan kits available) that would not cause the traditional galvanic reaction and I bought whatever was not in the kits from specials. On the discrete advice of, at that time, the Morgan Development and Compliance Director, which matched other experts, I treated every drilled hole that had been made in the wings or galvanized chassis (thereby breaching the galvanization and turning it to something that spreads rust rather than prevents it.) Other than that, I merely covered the underwing over spray with a thin impact protection. [i]My wings are Superform, but they were painted differently than they did the stock cars (under UK regs) back then.I still worried about them for a while, but they have not exhibited a single anomaly.

The only downside is that non-rusting, upgraded fittings will loosen, as they do not have the nature's "loctite" that rust provides. I became an expert in determining what method to employ to prevent loosening with non-rusting metal. (wryly)

gmg

I prefer not to use my 4/4 when salt is on the roads, however I do give the car a proper ‘oily rag’ rub over each Autumn to minimise the effects of Autumn and Winter driving, which I love.
My particular oily rag is soaked in ACF50
Excellent stuff, that has proved effective over many years.

Bud
4/4 - Stanley

I made 13 trips though Norway in wintertime with my bike with sidecar.
The result after leaving south Norway and entering the pure white parts of Norway was 2cm salt on some tubes.

I had to change the bike frame twice. Some parts of the frame tubes where rotten from inside to outside....

Next problem are alloys and other metals when wet salt acts as "a kind of electrolyte".
An aluminium plate under my sidecar looked like puff pastry...
On my KTM, wet salt has started to dissolve the magnesium wheel centre. The scar started to shame on the surface.

I used a previous S1 once when the roads were dry but salt dust was apparent.

When I next went to the car and pulled it out of the garage the nose cowl at the beading edges was all blistered and flaking. Became apparent that the lack of paint on the edges was minimal.


Wife has just taken delivery of a new Plus Four which she intends to use daily. There’s zero rust prevention on the underside so I sprayed it with dinotrol


My usual preference is ACF 50 applied through an air gun and compressor