So after work that day (was Wed, but had 4 days off starting Thurs) drove into the under-house garage (split-level house) and the next morning began a four day trek through Rustville.
Found takza's very helpful post about Mr Rust, and discovered the rear wheel well strut tower seam problem right away. Here in the lower mainland of B.C. we get very little snow (=no salt on the roads in the Winter), but we do get a LOT of rain, which had taken its toll over 19 years ('87 2WD wagon).
So, much rubberized asphalt material and 1/2 a roll of asphalt-backed flexible roofing aluminum later, I now have leak-free rear wheel wells. Took the time to check out the car overall for rust, but the main problem area was the rear wheel wells. Will post some pics later to show what I found. Had Toyota used plastic rear wheel well liners as they did in the front wheel wells, I'm sure much less rust would have occured. I did find that the side with the gas tank filler pipe. etc., which has a plastic mini-liner to protect the gas filler pipe and lines (I assume), was in much better shape on the rear half of the strut towers, as the pics will show.
Some pics ('87 2WD wagon) of what you don't want to see.
This is the driver's side front of strut tower. Note the ugly rusted seam area. Strangely, very little water had come in on the driver's side. I attribute this to the mini plastic wheel well liner which is in the rear part of the wheel well on this side, I think, to protect the gas filler pipe and lines on the driver's side.
This is the passenger side front of strut tower. This is the side where I found a ton of water had come in. You can see 'streaky looking lines' coming down the body metal from the rusted area. These 'lines' are the path(s) the sand-laden water travelled from the rusted seam down to the carpeted rear floor area of the car. Even though the rust looks no where near as bad on this side, there is no plastic wheel well liner of any sort on the passenger side, and lots of water got in through the rusted seam.
This is the passenger side rear of the strut tower. Rusted, but no indication that any water had come in through the rusted seam (yet).
This is the driver's side rear of the strut tower - close to rust free, especially compared to the other side. Plastic wheel well liners obviously work, even if only 'mini' liners. The big 'hump' in the sheet metal is where the gas tank filler line and other gas tank lines go.
This is a shot of the gas tank filler and other gas tank lines, looking from the rear and under the chassis. Cleaned up this area really well and sprayed it super mucho with rust prevention/moisture-displacing stuff.
Shot of the rear bumper taken from under the chassis. This wagon has never been exposed to road salt anywhere or anytime, but just good old water can have a field day all by itself. Rear bumper can be replaced - will be dealing with this next Summer. The remainder of the car was in quite decent shape, rust-wise, with exception of some moderate rust starting on the lower rear rocker panels and lower rear quarter panels (that good mud flaps would have prevented, I'm sure). Did some preliminary rust prevention treatmenat of those areas at the same time.
After the external treatment of the rusted/leaking seams with the asphalt/rubberized stuff and roofing asphalt-backed aluminum, all the rusty seam areas were sprayed on the inside of the wagon with a lot of the same stuff I used in the gas tank and lines area. Before any work was done, the areas were dried out thoroughly using a 1500 Watt 110 Volt portable fan/heater, and thoroughly cleaned as well. Also used the same fan/heater to dry out the soaked/soggy carpeting on both sides. Will see how it all looks next Summer, and will definitely be keeping an eye on it over time.
