[Vwdiesel] Rust belt RUST

[William J Toensing]

I used to live in Minn. & being a car nut most of my life, (I am now 73 years old) I moved to LA in 1969 to get away from the upper midwest rock salt with resulting rusted out cars & the then severe (before global warming) Minn. winters. Cars out here just don't rust out unless they are a quarter mile or closer to the ocean. The worst cars for rusting out in Minn. were 1957 & '58 Plymouths & Dodges which would start rusting thru in less than a year. Out here those cars are still rust free. In about 6 years in Minn., 1955 & '56 Packards became rust buckets. I have a 1955 Packard Clipper I have owned since 1970 with 56,000 miles that I won't sell but a 1956 Packard Patrician in no rust high #3 condition or a rust free #3 condition Hudson Hornet 4 door that I will sell or swap for a VW TDI Jetta 5 speed wagon. The hot sun destroys rubber weather stripping & upolstery out here on cars left outside but cars back in the great white north often have good seats & upolstery in them when they are so rusty they have to be junked. I would suggest if you are junking rust buckets with good seats & upolstery that you are junking that you save the seats & upolstery as well as good mechanical parts & swap them for good sheet metal that often goes to the crusher out here.