Not in rain but on the wet road when I pulled my car around for the last time. It's in the garage till spring.

 

If I remember correctly, the rear wheel wells are 2 layers of sheet metal with a few holes in them (drain holes??). Water gets in there and is caught in between the two at the lowest point(bins) and rusts like am **** from the inside out. My wiring behind the driver is all shitty the whole connector is corroded, so I had to cut and re-join the wires to get my brake lights to work, now they are out again so I have to run a wire from the brake switch all the way back. Hence, why I'm looking for a rust free RX-7 to put money into.

 

Maybe it's because I'm in Southern California... but my GS is rust free. Wheel wells and all. Maybe it was rustproofed by the previous owner?

 

For a car to rust, it has to be exposed to water. SoCal is too dry for that

 

Or salt. Salt on the roads up north (and salt near beaches, to a lesser extent) is a major contributor to rust.

 

That southern CA climate bragging makes me sick! I've been there and came across early mustangs and other vehicles in orginal condition and ORGINAL paint and rust free with hundreds of thousands of miles.

The only thing you guys need to worry about is the higher crime rate, smog, traffic(which is unbelievable for anyone who has ever visited there), and car interior fading from a much stronger amount of sun light. Some of those disadvantages of CA..particullarly LA ofcourse make me feel pretty good about living in Minnesota, except for the salt, snow, and bone chilling january temps.

 

I used to annoy setzep with my storage bin pictures. The only cars that rust here are ones from out of state.

 

My '80 spent it's life in the Kalifornia desert, so no rust anywhere, but it did have a lot of sun damage, as well as the bottom of the car being coated with a thick road tar build-up. No storage bins in the '80. In fact I didn't even know they existed until recently when I saw them on a car at the junkyard. Is that an FB thing? -WG

 

rust is a way of life in the UK ... its what kills off most cars ... I'd say most older cars never made it past the 100'000 mile mark before they were scrapped.

If you buy a car thats nearly 2 decades old or older you've got to expect rust (unless you live in California or somewhere as dry ) and 1st gens aren't nearly as bad for rot as many other cars

 

Mike, are you going crazy??? What cars are you talking about??? Look, I know in england they made some horrible cars, that rust while you watch them, but let me tell you: a 1st gen is a rust bag!!! Overhere we have a very rainy climate too (more liters of waters a year then in the UK, actually) and most 1st gens are completely rotten away :-(
I do not know many cars that are worse... Maybe the old Rovers, or Jaguars that rot while the still stand in the showroom. Or yes, now you say: all french and italian cars were bad, too.
Anyway, we have rear seats overhere, and they all collect rust underneath them. The rust starts at the inside of the car, and then works through to the outside. My Mariah 1982 was rebuild seriously about 4 years ago, and it's bulletproof from the ouside, but starts to get rusty under the seats again! I'll fix that this winter...

 

Maybe I'm biased as mines quite rust free (appart from the rear arches!) appart from that rust trap 1st gens are pretty good ... I can think of many cars that are worse and only a few that are less rust prone
try to find a mk2 escort with no rust, or an 80's toyota celica, or ... you can't find many and then they've been restored and they made way more of them then 1st gens

 

before

 

durring

 

after

 

Hey setzep where did you get that rust free peice???

 

I bought a rolled over parts car that was rust free. It was pretty sad cutting out those perfect wheel arches to put them into my "good" car.

 

Here's the plan guys...

Take the fb's out into the driveway and run em for about a week straight, keep a gascan handy. If we can all do this, the pollution given off by our cars will contribute to the the global warming which will lead to a worldwide climate change. Sooner or later, we'll all have a Southern-California climate, and there won't be any more of this horrible rust.

 

LOL I think I will just fix the rust. Anyways I guess it's time to start looking for a parts car...

 

Speaking of which... where do you fellas find these parts cars, and how much are you payin for em?

I'd pick up a poor rx that didn't run for parts... and a friend wants to buy and restore one (13b or TII conversation perhaps...)

 

Junkyards, people selling them online, and you can usualy find neglected rex's for sale in your own town.

 

Nice, BUT...why didn't you match the body paint?

 

Probaly because no one can see that anyways.

 

You can find pictures of my rust here....

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/...593&uid=635219

 

I bought my rust free '84 GSL-SE off the autotrader for 275 bucks.

 

I didn't use spray paint, it's some kind of undercoating thats supposed to keep water out. I also sprayed the wheel wells with this stuff to try to keep road noise down a little. And yes, no one will see it because I put the storage bins back in so I wasn't worried about the color.

-Cam