Being in the rust belt has it problems. One being rust on vehicles. Currently my worst vehicle is my current 2003 Grand Marquis. It has bad rust over the fenders and behind the front wheel wells. A close second was my Chevette that had a rusted out driver's floorboard. I found this out when I drove thru a deep puddle as high speed and a wave of water hit me in the face!
What is the rustiest vehicle you have owned?
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Its not something I strive for.
'76 Nova was pretty bad, although spending the end of its life in Dallas probably helped it hang around. Have only had small areas of rust since then.
The mid '70s Comets/Mavericks my dad had seemed to rust even worse than the Nova. We had a '66 Comet before them that didn't really rust out, I think the weak engine ended up being trouble and then my dad finally got to the point where he didn't want to bother fixing the brakes and sold it for nothing. Some guys showed up with cash for it and went to drive it away, my dad reminded them the brakes were shot and they didn't care.
The mid '70s Comets/Mavericks my dad had seemed to rust even worse than the Nova. We had a '66 Comet before them that didn't really rust out, I think the weak engine ended up being trouble and then my dad finally got to the point where he didn't want to bother fixing the brakes and sold it for nothing. Some guys showed up with cash for it and went to drive it away, my dad reminded them the brakes were shot and they didn't care.
91 Nissan Sentra freebie. Black RTV around the rear window. Front windshield frame was rusting in some places that when I had a new windshield installed (old one had a huge crack that won't pass safety inspections) that they would not issue a warranty.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
My Jeep is my rustiest car. Headed for the scrap yard soon!
All jokes aside, I had a 97 Camry that had the left rear wheel-well rusting out a little bit. It was from Colorado & Missouri.
Sorry guys, I had to post a picture of what 22 years and 147k miles does to a car out here! Oily-ness was from a leaky brake hose I replaced last year.
![[Linked Image]](http://i65.tinypic.com/35kvb5x.jpg "[Linked Image]")
All jokes aside, I had a 97 Camry that had the left rear wheel-well rusting out a little bit. It was from Colorado & Missouri.
Sorry guys, I had to post a picture of what 22 years and 147k miles does to a car out here! Oily-ness was from a leaky brake hose I replaced last year.
The sun has baked the paint off my f250. Hood especially. Most rust I have ever had.
I had an 83 Tercel. Wasn't too rusty. That's before I knew about rustproofing.
Originally Posted by Nick1994
My Jeep is my rustiest car. Headed for the scrap yard soon!
All jokes aside, I had a 97 Camry that had the left rear wheel-well rusting out a little bit. It was from Colorado & Missouri.
Sorry guys, I had to post a picture of what 22 years and 147k miles does to a car out here! Oily-ness was from a leaky brake hose I replaced last year.
Nick,
That looks pretty good to me.
My Jeep is my rustiest car. Headed for the scrap yard soon!
All jokes aside, I had a 97 Camry that had the left rear wheel-well rusting out a little bit. It was from Colorado & Missouri.
Sorry guys, I had to post a picture of what 22 years and 147k miles does to a car out here! Oily-ness was from a leaky brake hose I replaced last year.
Nick,
That looks pretty good to me.
Mazda was a pile off rust
Datsun 720 pickup.
Although my parents owned the vehicle. It was a mid 1980 Chevy Silverado. Floor boards had holes in them and much of the body panels were held together with duct tape.
74 Ford Maverick. So rusted you could see the pavement go by under the floorboard in many spots. Had to be careful about dropping any small items through the holes.
Too many joy rides through the salt water at the beach.
Too many joy rides through the salt water at the beach.
1996 318ti. I got rid of it when it was 18 years old and 250,000 miles, but it was showing it's age.
The final straw was when I used the designated jacking point to swap tires its last spring and the jack punched right through the body.
The year before, the front sway bar mount ripped away from the body. Pictured:
The final straw was when I used the designated jacking point to swap tires its last spring and the jack punched right through the body.
The year before, the front sway bar mount ripped away from the body. Pictured:
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Last year I had a 1995 Wrangler that was probably a death trap.
The frame had multiple holes and breaks in it. I had to patch it 4 times in my short tenure. The previous owners had done safe-t-caps on the whole frame and they had rusted through. It was bad enough that the transmission crossmember was bolted to the passenger seat bracket because there wasn't enough frame or floor left to bolt the transmission crossmember to anything.
The body folded in the center from the rust. The floors were long gong as was any body structure (channels / rigidity). The roll bar sat directly on the frame. The vertical rocker panel under the door actually ripped apart from the body flex. Because the body folded in the middle, the hardtop pushed the windhield forward and it was vertical. I also had to run ratchet straps between the doors to keep them shut since they had no chance of ever latching on their own.
It came with floor patch panels. I attempted to weld them in but there just wasn't enough body left. The longer I ran the flapdisc, the less Jeep I had. I ended up using an old bed frame and self tappers to get the body somewhat off the frame and then cut up parts of an old XJ roof for floors. It worked okay, ish. Until the one day I was driving and hit a bump and the body colapsed on me. That was fun. Then there was the time that what was left of the driver's seat bracket went through the floor (while driving). And on one of the wheeling trips the firewall body mounts rusted completely through and the frame came up through the floor and my friend's foot got jammed against the heater box under the dashboard. Once we got that sorted out, about 10 minutes later I snapped the frame (again). The last off road trip I had it on, some of the other folks were really enjoying how much of a rotbox itwas. If I hit bumps in the trail , the body would actually bounce around off of the frame.
The brakes worked great. The parking brake worked until the assembly and the part of the firewall it mounted to rusted away and broke.
I never attempted to have it inspected for obvious reasons.
It actually ran okay-ish. The AMC150 ran smooth but if it went above 4000 RPM it would pop off the oil cap or the PCV hose. I suspect this is because it didn't have an air filter or air box for who knows how long. The transmission didn't shift great (usually had to double clutch into 2nd and hold the shifter there). And I had to rebuild the transfer case. But with the 4.88 gears and lockers , it would go anywhere!
here is a picture:
https://i.imgur.com/HlL8ck4.jpg
Right now it's my Dad's old F-350.
The frame is still solid, but there's tons of scale on it and the axles. The bed floor has multiple holes where the crossbars were. The bed crossbars have long since rusted away and the bed has started to colapse. And the right side wheel well hasn't existed for about 10 years now. The drivers side rocker panel is gone and the drivers side running board is an extra cheeseburger away from breaking off. I think after another winter or two (if I were to drive it) the cab would colapse.
The frame had multiple holes and breaks in it. I had to patch it 4 times in my short tenure. The previous owners had done safe-t-caps on the whole frame and they had rusted through. It was bad enough that the transmission crossmember was bolted to the passenger seat bracket because there wasn't enough frame or floor left to bolt the transmission crossmember to anything.
The body folded in the center from the rust. The floors were long gong as was any body structure (channels / rigidity). The roll bar sat directly on the frame. The vertical rocker panel under the door actually ripped apart from the body flex. Because the body folded in the middle, the hardtop pushed the windhield forward and it was vertical. I also had to run ratchet straps between the doors to keep them shut since they had no chance of ever latching on their own.
It came with floor patch panels. I attempted to weld them in but there just wasn't enough body left. The longer I ran the flapdisc, the less Jeep I had. I ended up using an old bed frame and self tappers to get the body somewhat off the frame and then cut up parts of an old XJ roof for floors. It worked okay, ish. Until the one day I was driving and hit a bump and the body colapsed on me. That was fun. Then there was the time that what was left of the driver's seat bracket went through the floor (while driving). And on one of the wheeling trips the firewall body mounts rusted completely through and the frame came up through the floor and my friend's foot got jammed against the heater box under the dashboard. Once we got that sorted out, about 10 minutes later I snapped the frame (again). The last off road trip I had it on, some of the other folks were really enjoying how much of a rotbox itwas. If I hit bumps in the trail , the body would actually bounce around off of the frame.
The brakes worked great. The parking brake worked until the assembly and the part of the firewall it mounted to rusted away and broke.
I never attempted to have it inspected for obvious reasons.
It actually ran okay-ish. The AMC150 ran smooth but if it went above 4000 RPM it would pop off the oil cap or the PCV hose. I suspect this is because it didn't have an air filter or air box for who knows how long. The transmission didn't shift great (usually had to double clutch into 2nd and hold the shifter there). And I had to rebuild the transfer case. But with the 4.88 gears and lockers , it would go anywhere!
here is a picture:
https://i.imgur.com/HlL8ck4.jpg
Right now it's my Dad's old F-350.
The frame is still solid, but there's tons of scale on it and the axles. The bed floor has multiple holes where the crossbars were. The bed crossbars have long since rusted away and the bed has started to colapse. And the right side wheel well hasn't existed for about 10 years now. The drivers side rocker panel is gone and the drivers side running board is an extra cheeseburger away from breaking off. I think after another winter or two (if I were to drive it) the cab would colapse.
1987 Ford Bronco II, I was new to living in Ontario, and thought I could protect this truck-let that I got from new with Zeibart, I was WRONG !! after 4 years this thing was a mess, big blisters of Zeibart coming off to reveal the red rust underneath. The front sheet metal under the grill was almost completely perforated, despite regular waxing and washing. In 4 years ! Sold it, got a 1991 Honda Accord Coupe that I kept for 13 years without rust, using Rust Check and Krown.
Here is the under side of my truck
Originally Posted by Chris142
Here is the under side of my truck
This is cruel punishment !! There ought to be a law !!
Here is the under side of my truck
This is cruel punishment !! There ought to be a law !!
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