Metal...body?

[wizard of ahs]

I believe Ziebart went out of business, but there are similar applications available, especially in Canada. This is supposed to be touched up annually, but still has limited ability to protect the painted sheet metal. It is better for protecting the under carriage and the bottom of your doors.

Ziebart is alive and well..........Ziebart Rust Protection

 

[Ekh]

I wonder how much experience Elio's contract engineering firm(s) have when designing for corrosion protection?

Galvanized steel construction delays corrosion, it doesn't prevent it. Welding destroys the coating in the heat-affected zone. Pockets that trap moisture and dirt will rust out. Voids that trap air during e-coating and/or can't be reached by paint will be trouble. This is not easy, which is why it took so long for the mainstream auto industry to get it mostly right.

I know Elio is alert to best practices in this field. We can hope for the best. Again, I recommend that all on this forum, and especially on this thread, read the eminently readable book Rust. Use the search button and one of the posts on this topic has a link to it on Amazon.

UPDATE -- here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Rust-The-Longest-Jonathan-Waldman/dp/1501231367

 

[AriLea]

I they use stainless it will look like a air plane that lost it's wings. I am wondering how many people will drive this in the winter anyway?

Some one else may have addressed this, but hey, let reinforce it.
As soon as they find out how well it does in snow and ice, they will be driving it quite a bit. Sure you 4wd will still be preferred, especially when snow is over 6in on the roadway. But the Elio has about 67% of it's road contact powered. This give it a substantial advantage over most 2wd sedans in the snow.
And being so light it will float above some hard pack snow conditions.

But, speaking of floating, on the issue of flood waters, which we haven't talked about much, heck no, keep the Elio at home. It's very light and could get washed away easily.

 

[wizard of ahs]

Should be about half the price of a regular car to do, too!

And then you woke up

 

[NSTG8R]

And then you woke up

Probably right there!

 

[Ekh]

Some one else may have addressed this, but hey, let reinforce it.
As soon as they find out how well it does in snow and ice, they will be driving it quite a bit. Sure you 4wd will still be preferred, especially when snow is over 6in on the roadway. But the Elio has about 67% of it's road contact powered. This give it a substantial advantage over most 2wd sedans in the snow.
And being so light it will float above some hard pack snow conditions.

But, speaking of floating, on the issue of flood waters, which we haven't talked about much, heck no, keep the Elio at home. It's very light and could get washed away easily.

When Volkswagens first came to this country many years ago their fit and finish were far beyond anything the Americans were doing.. People who owned them quickly learned to roll the windows down a little bit before they shut the doors because otherwise the pressure on their eardrums would hurt when you slammed the door, which you had to do if the windows were up tightly.

It didn't take long for other people to figure out that with doors so tight the car would actually float. And it did! I can remember seeing pictures of people driving around Lake waramaug in their Volkswagens. All they did was fit a length of hose to the intake and another length of hose to the exhaust to keep them above water and off you go. Most people use snow tires in my part of the world, so those were used instead of any kind of propeller. Very very strange to see, and I think it must have been very dangerous. I guess the point of my story is if Volkswagen could do it Elio might be able to as well.

 

[Frim]

When Volkswagens first came to this country many years ago their fit and finish were far beyond anything the Americans were doing.. People who owned them quickly learned to roll the windows down a little bit before they shut the doors because otherwise the pressure on their eardrums would hurt when you slammed the door, which you had to do if the windows were up tightly.

It didn't take long for other people to figure out that with doors so tight the car would actually float. And it did! I can remember seeing pictures of people driving around Lake waramaug in their Volkswagens. All they did was fit a length of hose to the intake and another length of hose to the exhaust to keep them above water and off you go. Most people use snow tires in my part of the world, so those were used instead of any kind of propeller. Very very strange to see, and I think it must have been very dangerous. I guess the point of my story is if Volkswagen could do it Elio might be able to as well.

Let's see, If the engine compartment were full of water and the small front tires did not provide enough flotation, the tail would stick out of the water like a buoy. That would make it easy to find your floating Elio if you weren't in it.

 

[bowers baldwin]

When Volkswagens first came to this country many years ago their fit and finish were far beyond anything the Americans were doing.. People who owned them quickly learned to roll the windows down a little bit before they shut the doors because otherwise the pressure on their eardrums would hurt when you slammed the door, which you had to do if the windows were up tightly.

It didn't take long for other people to figure out that with doors so tight the car would actually float. And it did! I can remember seeing pictures of people driving around Lake waramaug in their Volkswagens. All they did was fit a length of hose to the intake and another length of hose to the exhaust to keep them above water and off you go. Most people use snow tires in my part of the world, so those were used instead of any kind of propeller. Very very strange to see, and I think it must have been very dangerous. I guess the point of my story is if Volkswagen could do it Elio might be able to as well.

Can confirm, they float.

 

[AriLea]

Around here, well more like Tucson, there are such things as run-off streets or flood streets(much less of those now), these were actually built to channel water rather than dump it. And this would be combined and dump into 'washes' most often. Like all river systems, the washes tend to combine too. Anything solid could push up against a large bush or rock and get buried under a type of sticky (yet slick) red mud we have.
An uncertain number of people died back in the day, thinking their floating VW was safe to cross 4in of fast moving 'red' water. (read that as slick) If 'this one' crossing didn't work out, it would just float yes? Trouble is, 4in was enough to drag it into deeper faster moving water, and of course you didn't stay upright in it.

The process: roll many times, mash windows, fill up with water, get trapped by bush or rock, sink, 'turbolate' into muck, disappear for a week or more with-out a trace.

 

[Ekh]

View attachment 11108
View attachment 11109
Can confirm, they float.

I am shocked and hurt that you didn't believe me in the first place!