ncplaya88

I dont know awhole lot about body work or what to look for when buying a car to restore. I am going to look at a 1970 model car and he says there is some rust. I will not be doing the body work but i will be paying for it lol. So what is to much? Maybe rusted floors, trunk, rust on hood, body...........When is rust not repairable? What to look for?

HGC

Technically, you can "fix" anything. However in your case cost is the deciding factor. Paying for rust repair is very expensive. Maybe you could actually do at least some prep work yourself...teardown, cutting out rust...etc. Then, pay for the parts and the welding. You have to fix things like floorpans and suspension and you have to do it right. Body rust is a different matter. If it is not bad you can patch it up, at least for a while. You can also drive a car with body rust. You can't really drive one if the shock towers or floors are swiss cheese. Paying for floor pan replacement probably won't break you if you remove the interior yourself. If you get into suspension parts you could be looking at big bucks.

ncplaya88

body rust is not repairable?

bluovalguy

It is repairable. He meant that you dont have to fix it right away. Floorpans and suspension mounting points are things that HAVE to be fixed to avoid things pushing through to places they dont belong (your backside pushing through to the pavement). Anything is repairable. Just depends on how much you wanna spend. Also, you can buy alot of reproduction body parts.

Bulldog66

A good rule of thumb on farming out any type of body work is just assume everything you get done is going to be 100.00 an hour -/+This includes materials.(Most "repairs (patch work) will be in the 10-15 hr range). That said - any "prep" work you do could save you a little money. It could also end up costing you more money should the work you do be in the wrong direction.

Unless you've got some basic knowledge of body work and understand how things go (from tear ddown, prep for new and new.) then I'd really leave that up to the body shop. They might be able to save you a few bucks from your own mistakes.

Pending your end goal - I'd get a budget set and strt doing a little shopping. You'll need to either find a shop that does resto work or find a shop that will take on a project between jobs. Body shops make their money on production work (wrecks, insurance and warranty work). They'd rather have a brand new vehicle with a toasted front clip in the shop than a 40 yr old bucket of rust that will end up taking more time than most shops will put on it.

Don't get frustrated - the best part about owning a classic is being able to see it progress and eventually sporting it around.

Take a bunch of pictures (try to get as detailed as you can) and post them here. We can atleast give you an idea of potental cost.

Take pictures of.

Floors ( from underneath and under the carpet - include toe kickers if you can ).

Body lines : IE: where the front clip meets the doors, trunk and rear quaters meet the roof lines, etc.

Engine bay: include shock towers, battery tray area and radiator support.

Truck: Inside - get as good of a shot as possible of the trunk.

Rear leafs, and rear frame rails. ( as well as front frame rails )

mustanglover66

The hardest and probably the most exspencive repair is also the most common check for rust in the cowl area. if the floors are rusted it probably is too.

jlp66stang

Depends on what you call restoration! Front clip rust is no problem, probably cheaper to buy new fenders and hood. Bottom ofthe door, rear quarter, rocker panels, floor pans are adifferent story. Look under the carpet, if you can for rusted floor pans. Bottom the doors at the rocker panels, behind the rear wheels at the bottom of the rear quarters. You might be better off buying one someelse has already taken the hit on. Bodyshops are expensive, and depending on the shop, ifthere primary business is late model insurance work, you may never see your car again.

crazyhorse

if possible get someone to go with you to look at the car who has experence in doing this repair work. good luck.

mjr46

rust repair is expensive and if you want a nice ride then when it's all said and done you will have way more invested than anticipated .....thst's what happened to my 66 and you'll never be finished with them...you'll always find something to do to it

palerider

Most expensive is probably cowl and shock towers. Both cases have to pull the engine and lot of time cutting out old peices. Also, don't assume all body shops do rust repair. Most don't. Go to local crusie night places and ask around for someone reliable that has their own shop.