Festiva's in the snow, 2012-2013!

[2xclutchin]

We got our first snow today! So I decided to snap a picture of my Festy in it's blanket.

[PhoenixSHO]

wtf is over 20 deg C here in Canada.....

[2xclutchin]

33* F here! Lol

[Spike]

It's too early, I tell you! Too early!! :cry_smile:

Don't show lewd pictures like that outside of the arena.

[2xclutchin]

It's too early, I tell you! Too early!! :cry_smile:

Don't show lewd pictures like that outside of the arena.

LOL Sorry, if a Mod could move this to the arena it's appreciated. (JK don't do that, I'm not O.K'd for the arena yet, although I havn't asked for the O.K. yet either.)

It is to early, but it'll probably be gone next week. Heck this is as much snow as we had all last winter though. Kinda crazy.

[fastivaca]

Now I don't feel so bad... we didn't anywhere near that amount yesterday. Did have to scrape the frost of the car windows this morning though.

[sketchman]

It was 78 today here.:eeeeeek:

[Flw Sock]

75 here. I WISH I WAS YOU I LOVE THE SNOW!!!


On a completely different, serious note:
Don't Festies rust really easily because their metal really isn't that thick?

[TheresGabe]

I've got 245k on my Festiva body. It spent its first 12 years in Washington. And it's spent it's last 10 years on the Salty roads of Utah. I have a few "specks" of rust, but nothing underneath, and really not much rust at all!

[sketchman]

I've always assumed they came pre-rusted from the sweatshop. Never had one that I didn't have to beat into submission to work on.

[Flw Sock]

I've got 245k on my Festiva body. It spent its first 12 years in Washington. And it's spent it's last 10 years on the Salty roads of Utah. I have a few "specks" of rust, but nothing underneath, and really not much rust at all!

Do you know if it got rust proofed? Mine was in Ohio for a little bit (if I remember correctly) but then spent then came to Wisconsin a few years ago, and it has rust on the rear quarter panels, and plenty of rust underneath!

[KingFish]

The bodies are galvanized steel and most had had rust inhibitor form the factory. Really way above the standard for the time.

[Bert]

75 here. I WISH I WAS YOU I LOVE THE SNOW!!!


On a completely different, serious note:
Don't Festies rust really easily because their metal really isn't that thick?

It's not so much the gauge of the metal but the quality that dictates longevity. Kia must have been using much better or more consistent steel than Suzuki (Geo Metro, Pontiac Firefly, Suzuki Swift) because those cars dissolved twice as fast as Festys in and around here. 40 years ago, for instance, when Fiat started selling cars in N America their products showed rust perforation on average within the 2nd year. To get 10-12 years out of a Festy under the same circumstances is pretty impressive.

[drddan]

Its not so much the snow, as it is the salt that is put down on the roads during the winter snows. Salt will destroy a car.

Washing a car frequently helps to. It washes salt away, and dirt/mud in cavity's hold water and eat at metal.

A clean Festy is a less rusted Festy.

[Bert]

Its not so much the snow, as it is the salt that is put down on the roads during the winter snows. Salt will destroy a car.

Washing a car frequently helps to. It washes salt away, and dirt/mud in cavity's hold water and eat at metal.

A clean Festy is a less rusted Festy.

And as I did mention in a previous post, grade of sheetmetal does help considerably. Domestic Ford used poorly mixed recycled steel in the mid-70s and those cars developed rust very soon in the most bizarre places likely because of proximity of dissimilar metals. Rust oxidation is a strange phenomenon that is accelerated by the hydroscopic (water-attracting) properties of salt, whether that be sodium chloride or calcium chloride.
Washing your car is a mixed blessing in that it also washes off whatever oil coating you have applied. I don't wash my cars at all for that reason.
I have been dealing with salt-encrusted cars for a very long time; 40 years to be specific. Moisture-displacing oils are the easiest and most effective protection agents against rust. But in much the same way water heaters and ships use sacrificial anodes to address galvanic action (ever wonder why aluminum pop rivets and 70s aluminum bumpers etc on cars disappear so fast) I have been experimenting with zinc rods bolted to my vehicles during the past 2 years. I really can't say if it makes a noticeable difference at this point and ideally I would have a control group and a treated group out there over a period of 5-10 years.
British cars used positive ground electrical until 1970. Everyone else had negatively grounded systems. Each and every ground wire on a British car (each receptacle and electrical fixture had one) corroded away the steel upon which it was attached. If you wonder why British cars often have lights that are non-functional, unreliable ignition systems or why Lucas Electrics was un-affectionately referred to as "Prince of Darkness", now you know.