Hidden Rust or Faded Appearance? Pick the location.

[volvolugnut]

In reading many posts about our Volvos (and other brands), there is a recurring theme of northern vehicles with rust and southern vehicles with appearance problems. In the north, salt eats the under body and makes fasteners and fittings crumble away. Often this damage is hidden unless you know where and how to look for it. Repairs can be expensive and difficult.
In the south, intense sun can fade the paint, blister the clear coat, and crumble the interior plastic and upholstery.
Considering the distance between Northern and Southern areas, it is generally not feasible to buy a vehicle or major parts from one area and deliver to other area.

What do you think is the better long term value or what do you think is a good strategy for these contrasting problems?

volvolugnut

[abscate]

We can mitigate a lot of shipping problems with “ milgram shipping”

Members willing to drive an hour or two with a “ too large to ship “ item by point to point to get something from Point A to point F

[scot850]

That is the rub. I would add that often the warmer dryer states are also hard on rubber components to for dry rot and hard on interior leather, especially the lighter colors,

I would say in my opinion, I would rather deal with faded paint over rust and rusty components. With rust you just never know har far it has gone, and working with severely rusted parts and bolts is a lottery.

With paint, yes it is unsightly but can be dealt with or just left.

It is a no win situation. Best is to hole out for a garaged car from a southern state with dark interior. Finding rocking horse poo might be easier!

Neil.

[volvolugnut]

We can mitigate a lot of shipping problems with “ milgram shipping”

Members willing to drive an hour or two with a “ too large to ship “ item by point to point to get something from Point A to point F

This is a new concept to me. It might work for a group as large and well mannered as MVS.

volvolugnut

[abscate]

Stanley milgram 1967. He designed an experiment which explored measuring how connected people are, arriving at the the concept of 6 degrees of freedom.

Earlier research in 1961 was a bit more controversial.

[Sveedy]

I agree that rubber and plastic are the things that suffer the most out here. Even tires are replaced before the tread is done, due to heat induced cracking in the sidewalls. But having come originally from the east coast, and seeing first hand the damage rust can do, it's no comparison. I think one can mitigate the sun/heat issue with garage, carport, cover, tinted glass, new types of exterior protectorants etc. But the rust is often located where you can't do anything about it, like rocker panels, torque boxes and the frame. You think guys are being cool, hopping over the door of their convertible to get in and out, but the reality is that the damn door won't open or close due to the rusting sagging frame. I remember having to use a small jack under the rocker panel of my '65 Mustang convertible because it sagged so much. So I'll take the dry heat because ....... Rust never sleeps.

[FireFox31]

I am confident in the P80 platform because I feel it is resistant to body rust. Recent work with Geronimo, the neglected 350k mile Canadian / New England 2000 V70, revealed that rust attacks replaceable parts but leaves the body alone. The bodies on my last V70 (20 years in NJ) and current V70 also look great. That's better than my 2002 Mercedes E320 with rust through a wheel well which would cost too much to fix so I must get rid of the car.

Many rusty replaceable parts need replacing due to age/wear before rust kills them, such as shocks/springs. Others have a patina which I may be able to clean and protect with paint, such as control arms and steering knuckles.

I'd rather replace/rehab rusty wear parts than deal with damaged paint, broken plastic, and ruined seats. These are non-wear parts which should last a long time, aren't designed for easy replacement, and may be difficult to obtain in new/good condition. I am terrified of having to paint a car due to the work and cost.

Rust is worse than sun damage, but I think the irreplaceable parts of the P80 are more resistant to rust than sun damage.

[Sveedy]

They don't call rust cancer for nothing. Not too many folks will take their car to their junkyard because of faded paint or torn upholstery. Frankly the amount of rust I've seen pics of posted here is far from minor or replaceable for most people. Smacknabs (?) rebuild comes to mind. Another fellow was dealing with the rot around the windshield a few days ago. These are not minor nor replaceable parts. Put simply, rust can be structural - paint / interior is cosmetic.

[shegarty]

Coming from the Great White North where we use copious amounts of salt on the winter roads I would vote sun all day long. While I agree that the P80 chassis is one of the better cars I have owned in terms of rust damage to the frame everything else just gets eaten away. I am so jealous of the southern members on here who get to wrench on rust free 20+ year old cars. Every time I need to do a big job on my S70 I have to mentally prepare myself days ahead of time for the inevitable stuck rusted fastener(s) that will double, triple or quadruple the time the job should take - not to mention the small fortune I have spent over the years on fuel for my propane torch and penetrating fluid. Give me faded paint, cracked plastic and rotted tires any day!

[volvolugnut]

I have a 1977 Ford F350. It has body rust in some places and rust under the battery. In general, fasteners are not much of a problem. I am grateful.
volvolugnut