A visit to the Polo underworld
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RUM4MO
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Re: A visit to the Polo underworld
Veteran, the pads inside the wheel well, I think that they are just there to pad the spare wheel maybe to stop it squeaking against the steel floor? That would also explain why one grommet area is missing one, ie it is not exactly where the spare wheel's tyre will sit.
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veteran
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Re: A visit to the Polo underworld
Derkie54,
Many thanks for looking at your's and taking the trouble to photograph it and post it here. It sorta proves I've not been imagining things. But it begs the question, "Why pink (beige)?" doesn't it? And why are they those special shapes? Or are they just random shapes?
Whilst the edges of yours have a good deal of pinkish remnants on them, on mine the edges are much more defined and indeed they seem to be very thin pads that have been applied to the underside and then sprayed over. But unfortunately, whatever that pink stuff is, it's at least partially water-soluble - meaning that, if you put a hose over it, some of it comes off and ends up being splashed over other components underneath the car.
As can be seen, unlike the rest of the underside of the car, most of the wheel-well exterior appears to have been left with either a thin Hammerite finish or just a grey powder-coating - hardly an appropriate guard against stones, grit and eventual rusting. As I said before, I wonder whether VW's avoided using the usual underseal on it simply because of the proximity of the final exhaust box.
As for the interior of the wheel-well, Rum4mo, no I can't believe the (again) oddly-shaped black bituminous pads that you find there are to stop tyre-squeaking. In fact, in mine, the one grommet that's left uncovered by a pad butts right up against the tyre wall when the spare wheel's put in there. No, I think the black interior pads (and possibly even the pink exterior ones as well) must be something to do with VW's approach now to tuning out resonances and quietening down panel vibrations.
I must say that, owing to the general bareness of the wheel-well exterior, I'm inclined to want to apply some underseal to it, come the Spring, not only to stop the 'pink splashing' but also to more generally protect the wheel-well exterior. I'm not a huge fan of Finnegan's black underseal, though, which is the de facto product for that kind of thing. Maybe there's a better product on the market?
As for the presumed rust spots on derkie's rear box, those could well be dried splashes rather than surface rust. In my experience, rear boxes fail mostly because of the pipe weld at the input end failing and encouraging rot to start there, rather than the box itself rotting right through. The condensate that always gathers in the exhaust pipework and inside the various boxes, especially the rearmost one, must be quite acidic. Long, hard journeys will tend to boil off the condensate, whilst short journeys (particularly in cold weather) will cause more of the condensate to remain in the pipes and boxes.
Many thanks for looking at your's and taking the trouble to photograph it and post it here. It sorta proves I've not been imagining things. But it begs the question, "Why pink (beige)?" doesn't it? And why are they those special shapes? Or are they just random shapes?
Whilst the edges of yours have a good deal of pinkish remnants on them, on mine the edges are much more defined and indeed they seem to be very thin pads that have been applied to the underside and then sprayed over. But unfortunately, whatever that pink stuff is, it's at least partially water-soluble - meaning that, if you put a hose over it, some of it comes off and ends up being splashed over other components underneath the car.
As can be seen, unlike the rest of the underside of the car, most of the wheel-well exterior appears to have been left with either a thin Hammerite finish or just a grey powder-coating - hardly an appropriate guard against stones, grit and eventual rusting. As I said before, I wonder whether VW's avoided using the usual underseal on it simply because of the proximity of the final exhaust box.
As for the interior of the wheel-well, Rum4mo, no I can't believe the (again) oddly-shaped black bituminous pads that you find there are to stop tyre-squeaking. In fact, in mine, the one grommet that's left uncovered by a pad butts right up against the tyre wall when the spare wheel's put in there. No, I think the black interior pads (and possibly even the pink exterior ones as well) must be something to do with VW's approach now to tuning out resonances and quietening down panel vibrations.
I must say that, owing to the general bareness of the wheel-well exterior, I'm inclined to want to apply some underseal to it, come the Spring, not only to stop the 'pink splashing' but also to more generally protect the wheel-well exterior. I'm not a huge fan of Finnegan's black underseal, though, which is the de facto product for that kind of thing. Maybe there's a better product on the market?
As for the presumed rust spots on derkie's rear box, those could well be dried splashes rather than surface rust. In my experience, rear boxes fail mostly because of the pipe weld at the input end failing and encouraging rot to start there, rather than the box itself rotting right through. The condensate that always gathers in the exhaust pipework and inside the various boxes, especially the rearmost one, must be quite acidic. Long, hard journeys will tend to boil off the condensate, whilst short journeys (particularly in cold weather) will cause more of the condensate to remain in the pipes and boxes.