[difilippo6680]

I know the Swedes are notorious for their steel. Can any one explain why some classic saabs are rust buckets and why the volvo 240's I see on the road are rust free. Are they made of different compounds. Your insight is very appreciated in my curiosity. thanks much

 

[saab900turboguy]

I know alot of it depends on the type of paint that is used. For example, try to find a pre 95 subaru that isn't completely rotted out. Its because the paint they used was not up to par pretty much. And once they changed the paint and paint process subarus barely rust when they use to be notorious. Im going to take a safe guess and say its probably the type of paint or the way they paint as well as the conditions the car is kept- aka salt states. Best way to avoid a rusty car is keep it clean. Rust starts to form the instant water is applied to the salt on the metal causing a reaction. So in the winter as long as its cold and you car is dirty thats fine. But the minute the temps rise above 32 degrees and stuff starts melting, give the car a good washing. Applying fresh wax regularly helps alot too.

 

[TooMany2cvs]

Best way to avoid a rusty car is keep it clean. Rust starts to form the instant water is applied to the salt on the metal causing a reaction. So in the winter as long as its cold and you car is dirty thats fine. But the minute the temps rise above 32 degrees and stuff starts melting, give the car a good washing. Applying fresh wax regularly helps alot too.

Very, very little serious structural rust starts on the outside of a car. Sure, the odd bit of cosmetic around scratches, stonechips, trim mountings etc - but the vast majority starts on the inside of box sections. Pressure-washing known rust-traps will help remove the build-up, but there's no substitute for getting plenty of wax inside box sections etc.

 

[peva]

I got my first 900 in Spring 1979, a metallic blue 3 door turbo on Inca wheels - lovely. I had to wait 'till '79 while they sorted the RHD out. Anyway, within a year it was rusting, particularly around the hatch and door edges. Saab took it back under warranty and sorted it. However, the story at the time was that Saab had used a shipment of Russian steel that had sunk and been salvaged. Believe what you like, the rust did not return during the next year when I replaced the car with another Saab which was fine for three years.

 

[nutcase]

I've got the recall instructions on that one - it doesn't mention poor steel but it does mention they used a lubricant on the windscreen rubbers which turned out to be corrosive and also when they put the weather seals on the doors by the window the clips scraped the paint off causing rust there. The repair for that one was to repaint then apply a sacraficial bit of tape where the clips go.

 

[TooMany2cvs]

However, the story at the time was that Saab had used a shipment of Russian steel that had sunk and been salvaged.

There was a Europe-wide shortage of steel around '77/78/79 - and poorly recycled Soviet stuff was all that was available. It's why there's very few cars of that age of ANY marque survived.

 

[900t]

There was a Europe-wide shortage of steel around '77/78/79 - and poorly recycled Soviet stuff was all that was available. It's why there's very few cars of that age of ANY marque survived.

I guess Nigel was being lazy :lol::lol:

 

[c900]

I know the Swedes are notorious for their steel. Can any one explain why some classic saabs are rust buckets and why the volvo 240's I see on the road are rust free. Are they made of different compounds. Your insight is very appreciated in my curiosity. thanks much

IMHO, rust is mainly the result of three key things:

- whether or not roads in the area get 'salted' in winter time,
- whether the exterior of the car has been properly cared for all it's life,
- the type of body configuration.

For the third one, C900's with the sedan-style body have a fairly nasty habits of getting rust under the lower corners of the rear windscreen, and where the extruded aluminium 'tail panel' bolts to the steelwork of the car body since the seals for the rear light housings don't keep water out once they start to harden and shrink. All C900's have a habit of getting rust around the bottom corners of the front windscreen because of the way the structure and window rubbers trap dirt which in turn causes moisture to stay there.

Another 'classic' place for rust is the left side rear bulkhead between the outer and inner steel panels since that's where the power antenna usually goes and unless the little drain lip right at the bottom just inside the space under the false floor is always kept unblocked, water pools in there and due to panel joins, rust eats away from the inside.

Here in Australia there's no such thing as 'salting' of roads in winter even in the few parts of the country where it snows during winter.

Biggest cause of rust is lack of care for exterior of the car during it's life and unfortunately it's not always possible to stop rust as there's only so much of the car body that can be repaired with panel and structural element renewal.

I would bet that Ovlov's of the same era have just as much rust problems where panels join and water can become trapped.

Craig.

 

[16saabs]

here's my ten pence worth from hearsay,etc m
Metallic paints seem to be worse as they are nota 'natural' colour/shade , bog std blue green read white black etc seem better lasting than metalic types, but at the end of the day it's down to the undercoat and how well it was painted/coated/sprayed.
If you look at old triumph dolomites /2000etc they were dipped in primer/undercoat but the support pads for dipping hoist were placed under(top) of the front head lead and rear lens and so the paint/dip never got into these places as they were'covered', also a bit like JAG XJS rear window to rear wing bits, virually impossible to paint in the from inside so where do they rust. yes good waxing spray from inside will help or even spraying paint where there was'nt any originally. if it's on the inside it does'nt matter if it's not the right shade it all helps to protect, eg I have a metallic black vert but anywhere that is'nt seen I use a other makers black metallic as it's cheaper than using the Saab specially for it as it's expensive.
also our friends GM Vauxhall did have some bad Polish? steel in the late 50s' early sixties which was crap quality and the cars rusted thorugh very quickly and got vauxhall a bad name that they found difficult to throw off, but remember the Lancia's I think, that rusted through and the engines literally dropped of the mountings, ending the company.
But if your in any doubt of corrosion get those panes off boot flors up etc and give em a clean off and a good recoat, as I was repairing a window winder and noticed where the black soundproofing is inside the doors there's a rust line all round as it's only undercaot, so infor a spraying asap

 

[JeffCullen]

I guess Nigel was being lazy :lol::lol:

I think that song came out in '79, so perhaps "his future" is why the 80s cars are OK?

 

[grif900]

I think that song came out in '79, so perhaps "his future" is why the 80s cars are OK?

"Nigels whole future is as good as sealed"