[T3] Missing Messages....

[J. Jonik]

A few messages I sent in the last month or so didn't make it to the list.  Maybe that was because I used an obsolete address?  If so, the mail didn't bounce.
 Or maybe the problem is about Rich Text vs Plain Text?  Will use plain here.  Can't use hyperlinks though.

Anyway, to briefly recap some messages:

1)  Rattlesnake type rattle in engine area is back.  It went away for a while after simple distributor clean-up and re-setting timing. Coincidence?  Rattle happens at idle and sometimes between gear shifts. Goes away with just a little rev.  Using special stethoscope, cannot find rattle anywhere.   Can't listen to the spinning fan, of course.  Fan pulley seems fine...no warp wiggle, just that tiny Barely-No-Play in and out, checked with big screwdriver.
  If this is the death sound of a valve rod, wouldn't the stethoscope hear it at valve cover area?

 Could this be a clutch problem?  Throw-out bearing?

2) Have heard rubbery squeal from engine area, just once in a while.  What else but fan belt?    But, belt is proper tightness, and no signs of old rubber cracks or chips...and no oil or grease around.  But, again,...is the contact surface supposed to have a high-gloss, almost glassy sheen?
What should it look like?  What is recommended life-span of a belt?

3) While changing steering damper, adjusting tightness of a front wheel bearing, and checking ball joints to deal with intermittent front end wiggle, I happened to spot a rust spot in the wheel well in the metal between there and the trunk.  A little scraping and probing found significant rust damage, all hidden by a tough layer of black tar undercoating on the wheel side, and hidden by the trunk liner on the inside.  All fiber-glassed and fixed now...but the reason for this rust turned out to be that a section of the rubber trunk seal was loose above just that rusted area.
  This let mystery water onto driver side floor...which explains a rust hole there that I fixed two weeks ago....another hidden one, with rug and mat over it.

So, this is a cautionary tale.  a) Peek behind trunk lining once in a while, b) look under rugs and mats once in a while, and c) make sure trunk seal actually seals.