Hello all;
Sometimes the amount of rust in a car depends not only on where a car is
located but on what someone did with the car and how they treated it. A
friend of mine recently picked up a 58' Hilman Minx where the car was good
and solid in the front end and pasenger compartment but the trunk was
rusting out. What he found out was that the previous owner used to transport
his crab traps in the back of this thing the result being that the trunk lid
and floor was in far worse shape then those on a parts car that he dragged
out of the bush. This parts car, by the way, was laying on its side in the
dirt!
One thing that kills car bodies is people backing them down boat ramps, to
unload their boat, and not hosing the car down afterword. Another thing that
kills car bodies is people not washing them once in a while, all that mud
and dirt just sits in the cracks and crevesses against the steel soaking up
moisture and rotting it out. The point being of all of this is that rust out
isn't always the result of poor design or climate, sometimes it is the
result of outright abuse or neglect.
Best Regards
Arran Foster
1954 Imperial Newport
Needing A Left Side Taillight Bezel and other trim parts.
P.S Dan, the reason that you don't see many auto wreckers dealing with old
cars is not because the cars aren't out there so much is that they can sell
100 bits and pieces off a newer Subaru for every piece that they could sell
off a 56' Dodge. On top of that they can get more money for a newer car par
then an older one. Most auto wreckers that have old cars are of the pick
your part type for that reason.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel M Wing" <imp1983@xxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2002 10:05 AM
Subject: IML: Rusted old cars
> D^2 wrote:
> ========================
> Alan, I have not done any statistics or anything, but I think that the
> area you
> live is a much bigger factor than the car and its rust proofing. Where
> did you
> live in the 60's and 70's, and where do you live now?
>
> I visited Chicago and Detroit a few times, and I was shocked at the rust
> I saw
> in some relatively new cars. Even thick chrome bumpers had holes right
> trough
> them. Here in TX even 30 year old cars have little rust. Unfortunately,
> my 68
> Sedan started life in New Hampshire, so some of its 1/4 panel rust is
> probably
> coming from the east coast. Finally, I would think that the thicker
> sheet
> metal of older cars would resist corrosion better. And Imperials along
> with
> other expensive cars had generally better rust proofing than the typical
> car.
> D^2
> ==========================
>
> I will have to agree here. I am constantly amazed at the number of
> people on this list that act like you can just waltz on over to the local
> junk yard and grab some early 60s parts, or a tail light from a 53 or
> whatever.
>
> The junk yards up here in the Northeast do not have cars that are much
> more than 10 years old. If you need a part, it had better be from a
> relatively new car or forget it.
>
> I was in Florida on business recently, and was once again amazed at the
> older cars that I saw that were still on the road as daily drivers. I
> even saw a (70s) Ford Fairmont that looked in good shape. Those cars
> have been gone for so long up here, I can't remember the last time I saw
> one, and the last ones I saw were tattered rust buckets. I just looked
> and thought, wow, up in NY these cars would be in car shows!
>
> Question. Do cars in other states have a yearly State inspection to
> pass? Here in New York there is a whole book of things that a car must
> pass to be road worthy. For instance, I had to get another tail light
> lens for my Imp, because the original owner had put a half inch hole in
> one.
>
> Wondering out loud again.
>
> Dan Wing
> Marcy, NY USA
>
> imp1983@xxxxxxxx
>
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