I know that it seems like Seattle, and Western Washington in general are places where cars would rust. I used to think the same thing until I purchased my neighbour's owned-since-new '69 Dodge Dart in 2003 with 200,000 miles that had never been parked under cover, much less waxed or really cared for, but did come with the full service history, right down to the hand-written receipt from the day the car was purchased new off the dealer lot. The Exhaust system was original, but I removed the nuts at the manifold to down pipe without penetrating fluid and reused them after I was done replacing the gasket. Every bolt on the suspension was the same story - it came right off and went right back on. Believe me, rust is not a huge issue here. Even my '77 W123, which is from a year range famous for rusting out, is extremely solid after a life in Oregon and Washington.

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- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread