Hi all:

Thank you all for your replies. The ironic part of this whole thing is. The damage is only confined to this area. Believe me, I've poked and scraped all over.

It's so bad that I wont even attempt to repair this, as I concider it unsafe. I've got an 83 760TD, made in Sweden. And an 86 745 B230FT made in Belgium and they don't show any signs in this area. Of course they have superficial spots here and there. But nothing structual.

One clue, it came from upstate NY. They use a tremendous amount of salt in certain counties, up there. Also I found some drain holes, that weren't rotted out. To be completely plugged. All you 700 series owners: It might be worth your while to get down there and look around. I aleady ran a water hose through the frame channels on the 83 and 86. Alot of dirt came out but nothing was plugged.

Just think, if I didn't use a floor jack on those frame sections. I would never had know. That's how well camoflauged it was by the undercoating.

Yeah, I too hate to send a Volvo to the Boneyard. But it's contributing alot of spare parts to my other two before it gets there.

Thanks
Warren