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I like rare and unique cars. I am in the middle of putting one back on the road, but the repairs are only mechanical - no body work needed. After I finish getting this car back into daily driver condition, I am thinking about finding and reconditioning a late sixties/early seventies car that may need a new floor pan and rockers.
Anyone here ever done a real restoration that included cutting out rusted panels and replacing them?
Did you finish the restoration?
How bad was it when you started, and how long did it take to complete?
I have done a good bit of body work on my old 65 GMC pickup, a Georgia vehicle for it's working life. It had some relatively benign rust from wet mud being on the fenders for years at a time. Rust repair is mostly by cutting out and welding in patches, and/or (not the highest standard) applying lead body filler.
Don't volunteer to work on a rusty northern vehicle that needs rockers and floor pans. This is a lot of thankless work, you work harder and generally the car turns out not as well.
If you are going to do a body-off resto, you need a big, good garage, with plenty of room, that you can dedicate entirely to the project car, for at least a couple of years. You need to know for damn sure you are not going to have to move, or lose your job, or have any other spit-ups.
You need to be organized during disassembly, take pictures, bag and tag things.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blktoptrvl
I like rare and unique cars. I am in the middle of putting one back on the road, but the repairs are only mechanical - no body work needed. After I finish getting this car back into daily driver condition, I am thinking about finding and reconditioning a late sixties/early seventies car that may need a new floor pan and rockers.
Anyone here ever done a real restoration that included cutting out rusted panels and replacing them?
Did you finish the restoration?
How bad was it when you started, and how long did it take to complete?
How much did it cost?
Would you do it again?
I have done one with a lot of body work including welding, a 1963 Ranchero. After an engine swap, all new mechanicals (brakes, suspension, rear axle bearings) new leaf springs and tires, and all of the body work, it was in primer when I sold it. The interior was original and still in decent shape at that point. When I bought it the body had surface rust on about 80% of it, but then I discovered an old 30" crease on the rear side that had been fixed with 1-1/2" of bondo. I had to take it all off, bend it back and weld it. The whole thing took me about a year working only weekends but I was able to drive it much of that time. I would guess that I spend about $1,000 doing all the work myself. After that I bought a 1972 El Camino driver with a decent body and fairly recent paint. The only problem with it was wandering on the freeway at high speeds, and at 330 hp it could be scary. I ended up spending about $1,100 to do a front disc brake conversion, all new suspension and front end steering parts, and another $4000 for a new oversized dual exhaust with Flowmasters. I sold that one at a loss in the recession when times were tough. About a year ago when I decided on another muscle car, I almost bought a 1967 Chevelle, but it was overpriced for the amount of work it needed, and I ended up with a 2013 Challenger. I still plan to do another restoration, just for fun in 3-4 years when I retire. I don't know what yet, perhaps an early 50s pickup, 68-72 Nova, or even something really fun like a Morris Minor Woody. When it comes to restoring classic cars, just be aware that you rarely can sell it for what you have into it, unless it's extremely rare, very popular, or numbers matching and all original. The greatest value is in the fun of the work and sense of accomplishment.
Its been years sine Ive done one, and what I did didnt need to awful much bodywork. I tore down a 72 Mach 1 Mustang, front to back. all new suspension work, for the time, rebuilt the orginal engine and trans, new paint and interior. I was fortunate that it had almost no rust, and what rust it did have was easily fixed. I had right at 15 grand in it, and sold it for 25 grand. God I miss that car. Ive been helping my buddy with his resto-mod of his 67 Mustang. So far, the body has been done, new floors and some minor body work, We built a nice little 289, and have a Tremtec 6 speed bolted up to it. Not sure yet whats he is going to do for a rear end yet. He had a custom subframe built, and is waiting on front suspension parts. He has right at 13 grand in it now, and still has paint and interior to go.
Aside from mechanical/electrical, i'll do paint and some body work but I wont even bother with projects that require major rust repair. Major rust repair is time consuming nonsense that should only be reserved for very rare vehicles worthy of the labor and time; avoid projects that require it, many don't so your in luck just make sure you thoroughly inspect for it before buying!
Aside from mechanical/electrical, i'll do paint and some body work but I wont even bother with projects that require major rust repair. Major rust repair is time consuming nonsense that should only be reserved for very rare vehicles worthy of the labor and time; avoid projects that require it, many don't so your in luck just make sure you thoroughly inspect for it before buying!
I've never done any painting. After I finish repairs on my current stable, I plan to buy something I can practice on while doing a restore.
I've been building hot rods and rebuilding cars pretty much all my life, so I might be able to offer a few suggestions. The first rule is that you will ALWAYS have more money in a car than it is worth, if you were to sell it. Rarely do people recoup all the money they have in a build when it is sold.
That being the case, it is far better (and less work and faster) to find the very best candidate you can afford, and buy it, then make it your own by making little improvements.
Rule number two. Avoid as much rust as you can. It looks like you are in SC, so there should be a lot of very rust free cars down there. When I lived in NC there were a lot that had zero rust on them, so SC should even be better in that regard.
Right now I am in the middle of doing a street/strip 04 Mustang for myself, and will have about 2 or 3 times the money in it that it is worth. But I like building them, so I justify it that way. I started with the very cleanest one I could find and am doing a complete "frame off" on it, new suspension, engine, drivetrain, etc. However, if I were simply looking for one to fix up a little, I would have looked for a low mileage one and did a few mods to it.
Trust me, you will be much happier, and be on the road much quicker, if you spend a few extra bucks up front, instead of trying to fight rust and other problems.
Yeah, my (ex) wife bought her secretary's daughter's old VW Bug for our son when he was about to turn 16. I told her that I could look at it the next day, but she couldn't wait -- and bought it for $300 or $400 iirc. When I got home that night I looked under it. OH MY! The front axle was about to fall off from rust! Floor boards were basically gone.
I bought a new belly pan and hired a body shop to weld it in, then my son and I spent our nights working on it in the garage for a little over a year, including rebuilding the engine with bigger jugs, high lift cam, 4 bbl carb, etc., replacing fenders, wheels, tires, recovering seats, removing/repairing all remaining rust, then gave it 5 coats of lacquer. (I don't trust myself with any of the new paints, so lacquer it was.)
Not counting our time worth anything, I had about $4,500 in it when finished. It looked great and ran great. He only drove it for 2-3 months, however, because we bought him a new car for college. We sold the car for $2,500, and I felt lucky to get that.
I have done a good bit of body work on my old 65 GMC pickup, a Georgia vehicle for it's working life. It had some relatively benign rust from wet mud being on the fenders for years at a time. Rust repair is mostly by cutting out and welding in patches, and/or (not the highest standard) applying lead body filler.
Don't volunteer to work on a rusty northern vehicle that needs rockers and floor pans. This is a lot of thankless work, you work harder and generally the car turns out not as well.
If you are going to do a body-off resto, you need a big, good garage, with plenty of room, that you can dedicate entirely to the project car, for at least a couple of years. You need to know for damn sure you are not going to have to move, or lose your job, or have any other spit-ups.
You need to be organized during disassembly, take pictures, bag and tag things.
It is a hell of a lot of work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by don1945
I've been building hot rods and rebuilding cars pretty much all my life, so I might be able to offer a few suggestions. The first rule is that you will ALWAYS have more money in a car than it is worth, if you were to sell it. Rarely do people recoup all the money they have in a build when it is sold.
That being the case, it is far better (and less work and faster) to find the very best candidate you can afford, and buy it, then make it your own by making little improvements.
Rule number two. Avoid as much rust as you can. It looks like you are in SC, so there should be a lot of very rust free cars down there. When I lived in NC there were a lot that had zero rust on them, so SC should even be better in that regard.
Right now I am in the middle of doing a street/strip 04 Mustang for myself, and will have about 2 or 3 times the money in it that it is worth. But I like building them, so I justify it that way. I started with the very cleanest one I could find and am doing a complete "frame off" on it, new suspension, engine, drivetrain, etc. However, if I were simply looking for one to fix up a little, I would have looked for a low mileage one and did a few mods to it.
Trust me, you will be much happier, and be on the road much quicker, if you spend a few extra bucks up front, instead of trying to fight rust and other problems.
OP, these two can give you lots of good advice on doing the build you want. listen carefully to what they have to say, and dont be afraid to ask questions.
rust repair can be nasty work to deal with, and many times when one starts with a rusty car, by the time they get all the rust eliminated, and new floor pans and inner fenders, etc. put in, they tend to lose interest in the project, in part because it has so much down time, and they have put so much sweat equity into the project without it seemingly going anywhere.
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