Date:         Wed, 9 Mar 2005 09:50:51 -0700
Reply-To:     "Gary Lee, Vanagon Racks" <gary2a@TELUS.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Gary Lee, Vanagon Racks" <gary2a@TELUS.NET>
Subject:      Rusty eastern engines
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              reply-type=original

>  Is this the engine you found on a Cousteau adventure?
>
> I have never seen an engine that looks this bad. Just
> needs head gaskets, no?

>That thing looks like an artifact from the Titanic.

>"this is also what you get when you never power wash the
>drive train when you live in the rust belt.  i wash my cars at least once
>a week to avoid this, and not just the top side."

When buying a used car in Alberta, people try and avoid "eastern" cars
because of the rust.
Eastern cars have a bad reputation out west.  Used car prices do seem
cheaper in Ontario than in BC though.
I had a 15 year old passat with 300,000 kms on it, spent it's whole life in
alberta and it didn't have any rust.
It had lots of other problems but no rust.
I've seen 89 - 91 vanagons here with no discernable rust.
 It snows here, and some rain, but we don't get the kind of rust they see in
the east.  We put some salt on the roads here, but I'm told it's not the
same amount as in the east.

It must be miserable working on an engine that is so corroded, all the bolts
are seized.  Labor rates should be higher to compensate.

Gary Lee
Calgary, Canada