Body Plugs

Back in 1976 I purchased a '76 B200 van. They came from the factory with plastic plugs in the cavity holes. On the advice of an older friend I removed the plugs with in a few weeks of buying the van. I was living in Clifton, NJ back then, so one of the things we dealt with was salted roads during the winter.

Each time I washed the van I also ran water through the cavity holes to clean them out (regularly). In 1986 (10 years later) when I sold the van, it had absolutely no rust or rot on the vehicle, anywhere. Such was not the case for most vans in my neighborhood or my area at the time. Most, of the vans showed traces of rust or rot in the lower kick panels, around the rear wheel wells, and below the driver's and passenger's doors, after only a few years.

I can only attribute that to the friendly advise of a knowledgeable neighbor and the constant cleaning out of the cavities regularly.