Hello!

I have somehow only just spotted these 2 bits of rust inside the engine bay, I was gonna send the car off to get the sills sorted as they’re rotten but I'm now worried about this. Is this common?

Would it be worth applying krust? I’m not fussed about the looks as nobody will see it.

Ignore low coolant it’s topped up now.

Remove the plastic inner fenders and you will most likely find a lot more corrosion.

However, this seems to be surface rust which can be easily removed and properly treated. The only downside is that quite a few parts need to be removed to get decent access.


Since the sills are also rotten I recommend to perform a full bodywork inspection first to determine if repair is worth the effort at all.

2 hours ago, JW1982 said:

Remove the plastic inner fenders and you will most likely find a lot more corrosion.

However, this seems to be surface rust which can be easily removed and properly treated. The only downside is that quite a few parts need to be removed to get decent access.


Since the sills are also rotten I recommend to perform a full bodywork inspection first to determine if repair is worth the effort at all.

Hello! I’ve had a fair amount of work done and been told the underneath is solid it’s just the outer sills that are rough, sick of finding rust 😭

I'd be more worried about where the coolant is going. Perhaps it's time to consider a different car?

1 hour ago, orangecurry said:

I'd be more worried about where the coolant is going. Perhaps it's time to consider a different car?

Gonna keep an eye on over the next few weeks, it does do around 500 miles a week though. Could have a slight impact

Fingers crossed for you. But I'm suprised there's so much rust. Did the car live by the sea early in its life.

On 4/15/2026 at 2:10 PM, JW1982 said:

Remove the plastic inner fenders and you will most likely find a lot more corrosion.

I was told a long time ago about that area going rusty, I coated the areas in old engine oil & grease to stop it from ever happening 'but' never thought of removing the wheel arch liner, I think I should after reading what you've wrote.

1 hour ago, Ian Lanc said:

I was told a long time ago about that area going rusty, I coated the areas in old engine oil & grease to stop it from ever happening 'but' never thought of removing the wheel arch liner, I think I should after reading what you've wrote.

Possibly, I know SG is Glasgow so it’s spent a lot of time up there. Trust me to buy the rustiest MK7 out there

3 hours ago, Cory Brayshaw said:

Trust me to buy the rustiest MK7 out there

I'm seeing dozens of rusty even holed Fiestas about, oddly when I see Fiestas I go looking at them, see how bad the rust is, once saw a 09 plate Titanium X in maroon with the grey & maroon interior, it still looked lovely, then saw the huge holes in the rear of the sills, near the arches, surely this is an MOT failure ? could fit my fist through the hole.

42 minutes ago, Ian Lanc said:

when I see Fiestas I go looking at them, see how bad the rust is

Yes, me too. I think we've discussed this on another thread.

There are quite a few early Mk 7s in my area which I've walked past regularly over the years, and thought "thats doing well" but in the last 12 months or so they seem to be going in 2 main places.

One is the rear of the sills, the other is the front of the wing, where the metal meets the plastic bumper section - which takes us back to "what's lurking under the arch liner?"

It's absolutely no comfort to current owners of course, but they've still fared better than how Fords were when I first started driving. I still recall my cousin being rather upset when her new Mk 1 Escort started showing bubbles on the wings at 18 months old!

18 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

It's absolutely no comfort to current owners of course, but they've still fared better than how Fords were when I first started driving. I still recall my cousin being rather upset when her new Mk 1 Escort started showing bubbles on the wings at 18 months old!

My old 1979 Escort was lousy with rot, even in 1985 it had serious signs of degrading on the chassis rails & inner wings, in 1989 I decided to let a mate attack the car, I ordered brand new genuine ford inner & outer wings - front slam panel - full chassis rails - full floor pan - rear repair arches.... He literally tore the car apart and it resembled a car that had got blown up by the IRA!, a year on after a total respray and she looked glorious.

Also talking of rot! Had a Rover 216 Vitesse, the outside was gorgeous but the whole floor was rotten, went for new tyres, trolley jack comes through the floor and straight through the carpet, missus was sat in the car at the time, made her scream in fright....lol, That car went to the scrap yard as there was no hope in saving it.