Alright, I need some insight.

I have a 1967 coupe that is in fairly decent condition. I am hoping to do a complete restomod on it. In the long run, rear end conversion, engine swap, suspension upgrade, brake upgrade...basically i want this to be my pride and joy. There is the typical rust for a 30 year old car on the rear quarters and the front fenders. Also the inside of the cowl, which im told is a pain to repair, is shot straight through...yeah, that means the floors need to be replaced or patched.

My question to you all is simple. Where should I start?

This is a father son rebuild and we seem to have different views on how to approach this. I would prefer to start with the drivetrain and hardwear like suspension, brakes, break lines, and rear end. I want to get it in great running order. Right now it is drivable, but with the I200 engine and 3 speed on the floor...so nothing to sexy.

My dad seems to be purely aesthetic. He wants to keep the current engine, the current transmission, the current rear end and drop all his time and effort into the body. Starting with the floors is the only thing we have been able to agree on. I have been given several quotes from body shops that say it will be anywhere from 3-6K for rust repair and paint. I see that as a new engine and transmission.

Please help me out and give me some guidence
Thanks for reading and for your help in advance.

Foxrider

 

Welcome Foxrider,
The cowl should be high on the list. All the work on the floors is useless with repairing the cowl. Most of the older cars have the same problems. What is your budget and plan accordingly. Do mechanical work and body last as not to damage it from themechanical restoration. Just my opinion.

 

depending on how intense of a restore your gonna do....i don't see the point in installing all this new mechanical stuff if its gonna come off to replace metal and do body work and paint the car and what not....

i mean who really wants over spray all over their new suspension? interior? new rim/tires? etc? sure you can say your going to mask it off....but a lot of times paint finds its way onto things u accidently missed or it leaks through or something happens...

its stupid to install a new engine and tranny only to pull the engine to paint the engine compartment....etc...things like that....i think getting the body all set first isn't a bad idea....just have some care putting stuff back together, and also just lay down some cloth/pad things if your afraid of scratches or something.....

 

+1

 

Another vote for starting with the cowl and the floor. How you want to modify it is up to you and another topic altogether.

 

this is a good argument

this is the way i look at it. i finished building the motor, tranny, rear end, suspension. had to do some grinding and cutting on certain areas. disk breaks are going in this month. i would have hated to do all that with with a real nice paint job already done to the car. when i finish the build it is not hard work to pull the motor and then off to the paint shop. put the motor back in and your paint and body work is untouched.

 

What kind of shape is the engine and drivetrain in now? Does it run and drive? I would start with the sheetmetal first, and any framework etc. that will require welding. Get the car structurally sound and as rust free as possible. Looking asthetically pleasing is not as important as being rust free. In my opinion, if you get the new floors and cowl panels and quarters installed, you will be more pleased with the car, regardless of the I6 engine. Replacing the I6 should not be a priority as long as it runs.

I vote for tackling rust and sheetmetal issues first...engine and drivetrain can come later.

 

That's the route I'm taking. Im still pulling off fenders right now, but my intent is to finish the body first. I'm going to pull the drivetrain and set it aside while I work on the body.
I have do do the cowls and floorpans as well.

 

What I would decide is what youwant from the car. Do you want a driver very soon and then do it again later? Or perhaps you want to do it right and completely the first time,


Cowl first. Dont do anything untill you repair the cowl area. You need to find out how extensive te rust is there before you can continue. Cowl repair, and floors are the type that even a novice welder can get good enough for a driver. The welds dont have to be perfect, and they dont have to be ground completely smooth. you can leave a bit and not worry about the seams as long as they dont leak water. Quarter panels are a completely different animal. You gotta get that right or you will have a surfers delight, it will be so wavy people will call it the friendly car. Quarterpanels are not for the novice welder to try. too much heat, a hole from blowing though the metal, and you have problems.

Under the quarter panels are the wheelhouses, they are probably rusted as well. you can patch or replace them depending on how badly rusted they are. If you dont find and repair all the rust currently there, you will just end up doing it again. If its a driver that needs to be running soon, that isnt an issue but if its more than a driver then you only want to do it once.

Concerning the debate with paint or mechanical first, it really depends on what you want from it. If you want a show car or a very nice driver, you need to paint everything under the car and then install the parts to it, that way everything is repainted and there wont be any surprises coming back. the inner fenderwells are a source of rust, and if they are rusty it detracts from the entire car. you can fog them black, but that doesnt help if they are rusty. painting the engine bay and front suspension area needs to be done with everything out, otherwise its just a face lift and a temoporary improvement. The dirt and stuff under the paint will chip it off in no time. Doing one way is cheaper and faster, but starting with the basics and rebuilding it ends up with a nicer car, although it is more costly.

If you want a basic driver and dont care about how nice looking it is, then just leave the suspension stuff on, the engine in it and paint around everything. But getting more stuff clean will result in a better job and more value if you decide to sell the car later. It doesnt take as long to do the paint with everything still attached, so you can be up and going soon. We did that with my brothers 68 Coupe. We painted the body, put wheels and tires on it, new gaskets in the engine, since the engine had recently been rebuilt before we bought the car. I went through the C4 and replaced the seals, it was fresh before we bought it too. Then the interior was replaced after the floor pans were done. We didnt touch the suspension or paint the underhood area. its a decent driver but it still has electrical issues and it doesnt qualify as very nice. Its more function than flash you might say.

 

X2