Why do some Mopars rust all to hell, and others go for decades with no major issues?

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MILO said:
Northern cars rust from the bottom from salty roads southern cars from the top from salty ocean also 100 thousand miles is high miles on a northern car a n 200 on a southern car
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IN the South, unless you live awful close to the ocean, it is the humidity and rain and LEAVES that kill them, unless you have a climate controlled garage. IMHO.
You are right about the mileage, the North has always been the place top hunt engines/parts and the South for sheet metal but that is aging OUT!!!! Makes a lot of difference in Tx of the car sat west of I35 or East, in general. East is humidity and west is drier. But hail also gets bad IF not under a roof!!!!
 
Some cars just surface rust and are like that forever. It's like a protective coating.
 
Rust IS a burning reaction just like fire
 
harrisonm said:
When i was stationed I Sacramento CA a long time ago, I knew a guy who bought up rust free California cars and trucks and shipped them up to a business up north (Michigan I think). He made a very good living doing that.
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Years ago, I sold a '69 Dart to a guy from Wyoming, Michigan. (thought I was selling to a local - he didn't tell me until the deal was done it was being shipped to Michigan)
He and his wife would "Vacation" to various parts of California to buy cars then send them home to be sold at his classic/used car dealership / ice cream shop.
 
barbee6043 said:
IN the South, unless you live awful close to the ocean, it is the humidity and rain and LEAVES that kill them, unless you have a climate controlled garage. IMHO.
You are right about the mileage, the North has always been the place top hunt engines/parts and the South for sheet metal but that is aging OUT!!!! Makes a lot of difference in Tx of the car sat west of I35 or East, in general. East is humidity and west is drier. But hail also gets bad IF not under a roof!!!!
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Yes, leaves and pine needles get in the hood and trunk gutters.

...and stay wet.
 
I would thinking you negatively or positively (I can't think which one) charge the car would stop the destructive electrons from attacking the car.
 
Cars in SoCal don't rust unless right next to the ocean. I bought my 1965 Chrysler in 1991 on a sales lot at Edwards AFB from an Officer who inherited from his grandmom and couldn't take it when relocating. It spent most of its life in San Luis Obispo. I don't know how much time it spent garaged. There wasn't even a spot of rust inside the rear bumper. The nuts looked like new. Newer cars actually do better, even though thinner sheet metal, it began being galvanized in the 1980's and they fully painted inside rather than just the hopeful quick pass inside the doors in our 1960-70's Mopars (especially at the top inside surface).

My 1996 Plymouth minivan spent 5 yrs in Atlanta and 25 years in Central CA. Very little rust even on unpainted suspension parts. On owner's forums, owners in the mid-West show horrid body panel rust-thrus. Even in the snowy Sierra Nevada, California doesn't salt the roads, more for environmental reasons than care about vehicle longevity.
 
I had bought a 66 Charger from a guy that had it in N Reno, Ca. (mountains, SNOW!! ) its whole life. He moved to Mo. when I bight it. Not a spec of rust anywhere.

But, this car no doubt sat in a nice garage and never under a pine tree!!!
 
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In 1978 I bought a 7 seven year old Duster that had holes in the quarter panel big enough to see into the trunk. Midwest car it's whole life. This was back before front wheel and four wheel drive were common, so the solution was to salt the hell out of the streets.
 
My Dad had a 69 Barracuda convertible in his garage in Florida when a hurricane came through with driving winds off the Gulf of America. He said he found dried salt inside the distributer under the hood inside his closed garage.
 
Alot of good points mentioned here.
My opinion is that moisture and humidity, are the two main reasons, that vehicles rust badly. I have bought two old Darts, in my life..a '69 Q5 turquoise slant six, in the mid '80's...and later, a beautiful Bronze two door
'68 318 Dart Custom in the mid 90's..both were original Arizona cars, until I bought them. The '69 came out of Phoenix, and the '68 came out of Tuscon. BOTH cars were the cleanest most rust free cars ,( especially the '68 Dart) I have ever owned. I live in the upper Midwest. And I wanted clean, no rust cars....in my opinion... gotta go to the desert area of the country, to find the best cars...clean metal wise.
 
TX9Duster said:
Alot of good points mentioned here.
My opinion is that moisture and humidity, are the two main reasons, that vehicles rust badly. I have bought two old Darts, in my life..a '69 Q5 turquoise slant six, in the mid '80's...and later, a beautiful Bronze two door
'68 318 Dart Custom in the mid 90's..both were original Arizona cars, until I bought them. The '69 came out of Phoenix, and the '68 came out of Tuscon. BOTH cars were the cleanest most rust free cars ,( especially the '68 Dart) I have ever owned. I live in the upper Midwest. And I wanted clean, no rust cars....in my opinion... gotta go to the desert area of the country, to find the best cars...clean metal wise.
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I agree! Unless the guy lived in Mi. for years, and then moved to Az!!! :thumbsup: :BangHead:
 
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