<VV> Dumb Question

[Sethracer at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/23/2005 1:01:08 PM Pacific Daylight Time,  
emills5 at cfl.rr.com writes:

Why is  it that cars that come from Arizona or California are always 
considered to be  the most rust free vehicles around, and the ones from the East coast 
turn into  rust buckets if near enough the ocean. I can understand any state 
that uses  salt on the roads due to inclimate weather causing rust. (Been 
there...done  that).  Why is East coast salt air more corrosive than West coast 
salt  air.  I can understand Arizona with their extremely dry climate and no  
ocean, but why California.  I live within a few miles of the Atlantic  ocean, 
and rust is always a problem.

Cecil Mills
Cocoa,  Fl.
 
My take - 
 

Along the California Coast is a series of Coastal Mountains - Not high  
enough for snow, in many cases. Those mountains act as a curtain for the Salt  air 
from the ocean. The Southern California  Coast is a desert, with little  
regular rain (This winter excepted) Certainly, the "damper, foggy" coastal  areas - 
Like Santa Cruz and Monterey in Northern California, have surface salt  
problems. I had a friend with un-coated aluminum dish mags. They were fuzzy and  
white after one winter in Monterey. The chrome on his car (A 240Z) was pitted  
badly after two years. Some Coastal cities, like San Francisco have areas which 
 get the salty fog, and some that don't. California Corvair cars still get  
windshield rust but no salt and almost no snow (every 20 years we get about an  
inch!) keeps the undersides of the cars pretty clean. You still find cars 
that  have been sitting for decades. They have windshield rust and worn out or 
broken  drivetrains.