I have to keep the heavy body parts on my Monte SS ‘cause I have no excuse to tell my wife why I want to replace ‘em with fiberglass!  

No...most cars I've seen in the rust belt, theres nothing to replace. Youre lucky like me. I live in Long Beach and I am assuming you live somewhere in the southwest. We are blessed with good, rust free project cars, and also with beautiful weather in the winter so we can work on our cars without a freakin' snow suit.

I still dont get how living next to a large body of water doesn't equal a rust problem.  

Lucky?  I had to put 4 patch panels in my car to get it solid again.  I'll never buy a rusty project again unless I'm making 3 times the wage I am now.

I was trying to be funny about the fiberglass.. guess not! :-)

Yep, I live in Mesa, Arizona.. was born in Long Beech California.

Answer to the question of rust near a large body of water: Yes, right near the beach you have to keep your car washed off.. I'm talking real close.. close enough so the salt water spray hits the car. My Uncle in Florida lived right near the beach and he had a rust-bucket daily driver.. he had a 1967 Chevy 2 that he kept fairly clean and that car was solid.
Also, the salted roads has dust and dirt that holds the salt right against the metal.

i get the joke,but man it sucks here being a car guy(southern connecticut) short car season long cold season.about 6 years ago i got my 71 camaro split nose as a rust free very straight roller with good enough paint and interior needing a full suspension rebuild and engine for 3500 bucks,people look at me like i struck oil in these parts.with a good buffing and a 350 h.o. crate engine and a poly-suspension kit and sway bars i got a nice street car for $7800.my dilema? convincing the wife that a hot cam full roller upgrade is as important as diapers,food and electricity!!  

Around here even the SN95 mustangs are rusted to hell!  

yup. the rusting issue near the beach is a problem. i live in Norwalk, which is just north of Long Beach so its not a problem here, but i bought a car from Sunset Beach once. the guy lived less than 1/4 mile from the water and the car was CRUSTY. rustiest thing i ever owned. it was a 67 Cougar that earned the nickname Sharky. the hood was so jagged and rotted that it looked like a set of teeth. it was cheap though, it ran well and it paid for itself when the time came to part it out.

heres a pic of the destruction : http://www.mercurycougar.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/1654/size/big/password//sort/1/cat/500

Wow, that is one rusty couger, bet you had a hard time convincing people that it was a California car!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in this thread or not but someone on another site said they had a truck that was so rusty that when he and his dad went into a store they left the dog in the vehicle and when they came out he was there waiting for them he went out through the floor!!

my 74 Nova's at least a little lighter thanks to the rust...and breaking it off...

suxors that the Junk Yards up here all have long since gotten rid of the older iron...cant find *** fer my 68 F250 up here...lol

Redneck Engine-uity...You CAN do anything with a Plasma cutter and a Welder...  13.81 at 98.2 mph on a hot humid day @ 4330lbs...1.90 second 60ft... 3100 V6 AND a 3800 V6...425 ci-4 wheel drive-2 (twin) engines = 4 4 2 "Son of Hairy"

Psychotic Gearheads UNITE!!!

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Edited 2/21/2006 10:18 am by Turbocharged400sbc (1Turbocharge)

rust does make it easier to fit 60 series tires under a nova.  

The rust belt is call as such because we use salt on our roads in the winter and it leads to an acceleration of oxidation of metals because of chymistry, dude.  Water + metal does not always = rust.....  

yes, i know this. but those cars are so close to a big source of salt water, it just seems that some of it would make cars rust.  

Nothing makes a car lighter than a rust hole in the fender!  

hello

Ever buy a car from Hawaii?,my stepson did, you don't know rust until you see his car!!!!!