there was a federal law about 'body and fender perforation ........
that certain body areas had to resist corrosion for whatever it was - 15
years or so,
In the late 80's I believe.
Porsche even had a 911 body shell, that they had treated with their process
to meet the requirements of the law, sitting outside in the elements in
front of their factory for a while to demonstrate the effectiveness of their
process.

so all 90's cars will do better than many mid-80's cars.
I also notice that some 70's era cars have nooks and crannies that retain
salty mud quite well.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Allan Streib" <streib@cs.indiana.edu>
To: "Scott Daniel - Turbovans" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Cc: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 7:03 PM
Subject: Re: Adding Power Steering

> Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM> writes:
>
>> Someone should point out to the Insurance institute of America or
>> whomever, that salt on the roads costs millions of dollars in car
>> repairs, if not even loss of life now and then.
>>
>> In Oregon, fortunately, we have red volcanic cinder material to put
>> on the snowy roads. Works great, and is totally non-corrosive.
>
> Where I am in Indiana, years ago they would spread sand.  Then it was
> sand and salt, and now it's almost pure salt.  And they put it out at
> the slightest THREAT of a POSSIBILTY of ice.  It's really crazy.
>
> I must say that modern cars, with some exceptions, are MUCH more salt
> resistant then older ones.  My '91 Jetta weathered MANY salty
> Chicago-area winters with no corrosion, while my '72 Super Beetle
> rusted in sunny dry weather.
>
> Allan
> --
> 1991 Vanagon GL