Here's a tip on how to avoid having your hatch back rear gate rust out on you.
Here in Canada, the Ford Fox Body Mustang was known as the Ford "ROT Body RUSTang" and I watched as corrosion claimed all but a few well preserved examples.
A problem area was the bottom of the rear gates on hathbacks, where the two little license plates lights are mounted. You can seen them when you lift up the gate. It was common to see a hatch fox body driving around with the gate so rotted that at least one of the little license plate lights was just dangling by the wire, which was quite noticable at night.
Even cars that weren't too bad otherwise often displayed this type of corrosion.
HERE'S THE TIP: Lift up the rear hatch (gate) and, along the same surface at the bottom of it (where the locking mechanism is and the license plate lights are), at the outer corners you will notice these large (about 3 inches wide) rubber body plugs.
GET THESE PLUGS THE HELL OUT OF THERE. They seal up the inner area of the gate and trap condensation in there, which runs down to the bottom and rots out the area we have been talking about. You don't have to live in a winter climate to have this happen - all you need is the right kinds of temperature changes.
Remove the plugs and fog the inner space with a rust preventer, such as Krown. This allows the gate to breath. This type of rot happens from the inside out, so by the time you notice it on the outside it's WAY too late.
Here in Canada, the Ford Fox Body Mustang was known as the Ford "ROT Body RUSTang" and I watched as corrosion claimed all but a few well preserved examples.
A problem area was the bottom of the rear gates on hathbacks, where the two little license plates lights are mounted. You can seen them when you lift up the gate. It was common to see a hatch fox body driving around with the gate so rotted that at least one of the little license plate lights was just dangling by the wire, which was quite noticable at night.
Even cars that weren't too bad otherwise often displayed this type of corrosion.
HERE'S THE TIP: Lift up the rear hatch (gate) and, along the same surface at the bottom of it (where the locking mechanism is and the license plate lights are), at the outer corners you will notice these large (about 3 inches wide) rubber body plugs.
GET THESE PLUGS THE HELL OUT OF THERE. They seal up the inner area of the gate and trap condensation in there, which runs down to the bottom and rots out the area we have been talking about. You don't have to live in a winter climate to have this happen - all you need is the right kinds of temperature changes.
Remove the plugs and fog the inner space with a rust preventer, such as Krown. This allows the gate to breath. This type of rot happens from the inside out, so by the time you notice it on the outside it's WAY too late.