Finally got the car down off the lift which allowed me to get to the bottom (bad joke intended) of several things.
I think car had some rust issues which inspired a previous owner (PO) to take the car to a rust treatment specialist. This would explain:
- Square patches in the longitudinal
- Red primer found on drips and in cavities
- Black “overspray”
- The white boxes mounted to the firewall, which were wired to a Rust Buster device
Wow! Lots uncovered. Lots to process. While some of the repairs are not pretty, we should grateful someone made some effort. It probably saved the car.
