You think you have rust issues?

Well, look at these photo's I found:

Of a poor, dilapidated 1983 Olds Ninety-Eight Regency:

http://th04.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE..._ghetto_ver_by_seberhuskys_photos-d556erp.jpg

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2..._ghetto_ver_by_seberhuskys_photos-d556ixm.jpg

http://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE...uch_the_car_by_seberhuskys_photos-d5rtd76.jpg

http://th07.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE..._ghetto_ver_by_seberhuskys_photos-d556j9y.jpg

 

Not bad for patina.
I once bought a 1956 buick 2-dr hard top from my superintendant at work. He had it since new and this was in the 70's. The car looked great inside and ran like a dream.
But from outside it appeared to be a 4-door ht with the rear doors missing!
It lived in central illinois.

 

Ouch. I can't even imagine living somewhere that this a harsh reality due to road salting.

 

I sure hope every one survived!

 

Oh Yeah, Fannie is looking really good now!

 

I saw this one after changing a tire for a lady in a south of Columbus trailer park...had to picture it because it's just like that Grand Am above...except a Cavalier and a couple years newer...

 

Natures way of re-claiming.

 

They need some of this:
Don't drive like my brother!

 

you hav to live somwhere where there is no state inspection. those cars dont stand a prayer of being road legal in Pa. to pass inspection in Pa you cannot have ANY holes. if the inspection station guy really wants to be a dick he can fail you for holes in your pickup bed.

my previous jeep comanche.....(not the one i currently own....i did tell you i bought one right?) had a crispy bed so i used a paint can size bondo ....the entire can!... on the bed to cover the holes so it would pass inspection. because they said aluminum tape wasn't good enough.

 

That does not seem right. Pa roads and salt caused the rust. Besides what's rust got to do with safety or mechanical ability? Grrrr!
If I had a rusty pick up bed I'd fill it with gravel or lumber before inspection.

 

They aren't too overkill on rust here, rockers on an old body on frame car won't get you much grief, nor will holes, my car has a hole clean through the spare tire pan and they did not care.

But you get holes in a unibody car here in VA? It's off to the scrappers or someone is going to have to bondo it or fix it right. They will almost definitely fail a unibody car with rust like that. If they find a unibody car with enough bondo work they'll fail it too. When everything is bolted to a body that is turning to dust, how long before you see your passengers side passing

Both that Pontiac and Grand am would've been squished years ago here, I find it sad people let the cars get in that shape. It's like those people who get out of their cars and all you hear is the trash being kicked around, sometimes it even hits the pavement. I don't get it, why own a car if you're just going to use it up? Even a Cavalier doesn't deserve that fate, those can be real loyal cars if you take care of them.

 

All I ever saw in southern California was surface rust and maybe a bad fender or two. Nothing at all like that!

 

That Olds looks like a survivor of a serious flood in sea water! That is what I would expect a few cars will look like in a few years, after being flooded by Sandy. That is rust from the inside out. Shoot it and put it out of its misery!

In Ontario, cars only need to be certified when ownership is transferred, but if the police see a car they suspect is unsafe, they do have the right to pull it over and inspect. Serious holes will result in the plates being impounded right there, right then. I have certified car, by the way, using Bondo and bed sheets. Cut the cloth a bit bigger than the hole, cover it with bondo, schmear it on, and let it set for a few minutes. Cover the top with more bondo, and then smooth the whole mess. Done right, it takes a cold chisel to remove it when the time comes for good body work.

 

I'm not sure if a car made of bed sheets is actually safer than one with giant holes, surely less drafty though!

 

Bondo and bed sheets.:confused:

When I bought my 55 Chevy wagon there were soft spots on both front kick panel areas of the floor below the windshield. Defective rubber drain tubes were letting rain go on the floor instead of outside.
I discovered beer cans cut and rivited on then covered with Bondo stuff.
I've found license plates and other pieces of metal used to fill holes then Bondo'd. Even some screen wire. But never bed sheets!
Personally I've used small metal patch panels rivited on or license plates. These were done at a body line or where stainless trim would hide the small crease that may show.
I did that on my 1987 Chevy van and it was still lookin good 7 years later when I sold it. I used fibre glass a lot and only a skim coat of Bondo to smooth things.
No wonder your bed is always "short sheeted Mike."