Denny, that is what the rag bag is for! I'm sure that somewhere in your house Dollie has a rag bag hidden. Then again, she may well be afraid you'll raid it! The bondo and bedsheet idea was strictly used on things like front fenders and rear wheel wells, as a temporary fix to get a car legal to drive so I could get proper repairs complete. Still, for a quick fix, it did look half way decent, and it kept the car below the radar of the local constabulary. Of course, Bondo doesn't show up that well on radar anyway.
Even Illinois where I'm from cars rusted very badly. Mostly the salt and other ice melting junk they used. Bodies don't look so rusty here in Florida but they rust from underneith very badly. I bought a used 81 Camaro for the subframe. It almost fell off. The few bolts that hold it on were almost rusted thru while the body didn't look bad except for the dents. MikeT what you call a rag bag is where Dollie keeps my clothes. I wear those old rags.
When I lived in Cape Canaveral, a neighbor had a Fiero. She worked at Morton Salt Co, in the port. She parked in the shadow of a mountain of salt every day. Plus, the salty sea air is hard on anything made of metal. (it ruined my Fairmont) While her car looked great because of the plastic body panels we used the same mechanic and he told me that all the metal parts under the body were rusted out. He had to replace all the brake lines and other parts because of rust.
Only when I'm in Kansas with Dorothy! And no on maybe in a flood. I've seen many cars in the midwest that bad and worse. I don't remember any oceans there.
I used to live in Illinois.......I hated it for what it did to cars there. Buy a new one, and by the time you make the final payment, rust is showing..........
My younger brother lived in Phoenix for years then moved back to central Illinois. Now they live in the Bull Head City area. We considered it but at least Florida is a shorter drive to visit family. One of the first things I noticed as we got nearer central Illinois was the rusty cars. Here they rust from the bottom up if left on sand. We are 30+ miles from Gulf so don't notice the salt air problem but have seen it on cars on both coasts. When they had stainless trim it oxidized badly. At least cheap plastic only hardens and deteriorates slowly.
I'm just grateful rust doesn't really take hold around here, only reason my tire pan and quarter are rusty is because the damned rear window leaks, and that weld at the bottom of the spare tire bracket tore loose when I pulled a redneck on ice maneuver into a light pole. I thought I'd caved in the side of the car based on how hard I hit, barely a dent I couldn't push out with my feet, but the light pole was crooked. Needless to say, exit, stage any which way that I can get traction and not slide into another pole!
Wow at the rust! I am glad cars around here (that are originally from here) don't have that issue. I can take you in a nearby junkyard... that I can see from my grandparents front driveway unfortunately and you don't see rust on any car... even on the 80s models. We get snow, but not much and salt is used, but again, not much. lol. We average about 12-13 inches of snow per year.
Be glad it's there! One day a wagon like yours might pop in with just the part(s) you need, never complain about a junkyard, even ones that only have new cars. You might one day regret complaining about it. Anyway, cars here seldom rust, I've seen cars left in a field for 30 years that don't even need floor pans.