When I lived in Houghton, they didn't use salt at all, but now I think
they do use it some.  Of course, it's warmer up there these days too.  A
couple of years ago, I was able to walk around during winter carnival
without a hat or gloves.  That would have been impossible when I lived
there in the early 80s.

For those who don't know where Houghton is, it's very far North, near a
very big cold lake (Lake Superior).  I remember weeks of 10 inches of
snow per day.  If you didn't dig your vehicle out, each day, you would
need to have someone tow you out of your parking spot.  But, driving was
fine because they plowed every day, starting at 4 am or something.  They
put sand down for traction, then swept it up in the spring to use it the
next year.

I've just had a re-built Boston Bob engine put in my '89 Westy.  Still
tweaking a few things, but I've put about a thousand miles on her so far.

I've got bubble rust around the hook-ups, some seam surface rust, and
actually a couple of small holes on the driver step.  What should I do
before winter?  I'm willing to spend some money fixing some of this
rust, but a local body guy says I can probably wait until spring without
a serious structural problem.

Currently, this is my only vehicle, so it gets driven to work daily.
I'm hoping to get 3 or 4 more years out of it.  I'm thinking that I
should try to seal up some of the rust somehow.  What's my solution?
Looks don't matter much, just want to keep things together.

Thanks!  - Duane

David Brodbeck wrote:

>On Tue, 7 Oct 2003, Joel Walker wrote:
>
>
>
>>don't know about the difference, but when i lived in chicago, the
>>salt was murder.
>>
>>
>
>In Michigan it actually varies from county to county.  The general
>variation is that in the southern parts of the state, which see snow less
>often, you see massive quantities of salt used.  The farther north you go,
>the more sparing they are with it, both because it's expensive and
>northern counties are poor, and because people up there know how to drive
>on snow.  When I lived in Houghton, they rarely used salt on the streets.
>They put sand down instead, and reserved the salt for the last fifty feet
>or so before major intersections.
>
>Salt isn't just a problem for cars.  It also attacks the steel reinforcing
>rods in concrete bridges, shortening their life.
>
>
>David Brodbeck, N8SRE
>'82 Diesel Westfalia
>'94 Honda Civic Si
>
>
>

--
Duane Fahey
Visual Automation, Inc.
http://www.VisualAutomation.com
517.622.1850  517.622.1761 fax
--
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