It is never a lost cause. Most of what I saw in the pics is surface rust, easily taken care of. I'm surprised you didn't strip the entire car down before taking it to be sandblasted. That way everything could have been blasted, or did I misread?. Anyways, it can be redone, look at my photobucket pics, my 67 was in bad shape, now all the rust is gone. Been there, it can be done and it sounds like you're on the right path with buying your own welder. With that, you can replace anything that needs it. Most if not all the parts are available and most are pretty decent quality, but the fit is hit or miss. It will take time but not impossible. It's in your hands brother.

 

Totally pay to have this car completely sandblasted down or do it yourself. The last thing you want/need is to restore this car only to miss a spot that will haunt you later.

Now for my $.02. I agree with the others...it doesn't look that bad. If you are wanting a restomod, you're good. If you want an all orginal concourse car and you have all matching numbers, you're good. If you want concours and nothing matches, with the rust you have in other areas I would personally cut my losses and find another ride.

 

Thanks for all the advise, wisdom, and encouragement guys.

zmetalmilitia, It hasnt gotten blasted yet. I figure I would replace all the sheet metal that would need to be replaced before blasting. sschanz, I plan on making it a restomod.

I was mainly concerned with the areas I wouldn't be able to reach. I plan on investing in a sandblaster and doing it myself though. Ill keep you guys updated.

Thanks again

 

I think i'd do it the other way around. I'd much rather have the car stripped and in primer before I started cutting and welding. the primer reflects more light and you'll get to see rust and pinholes that are covered in 4 decades of rust and gunk. plus it'll be easier to weld since the rust is gone.

 

Long time no see, the Pit of Despair points and laughs at the so called rusty hulks in photobuckets!

Some surface rust on the inside isnt a big deal, knock it off and hit it with a rust converter, then protectant. Do yourself a favor and dont use a sand blaster on any exterior sheetmetal, even if its on the inside of the panel. Only use sand on the parts of the car nobody sees, like door jambs, under the rear end, and heavy parts that wont bend or warp. Quarter panels and especially hoods look horrible when improperly blasted, the worst one I saw was a 57 Chevy hood, you could see where all the bracing under the hood was before and after it was painted.

Its better to remove it chemically or with sand paper on the exterior metal. A while back HOTROD magazine had an article on rust removal using chemical means that is worth looking into. It caught my eye because the lead car was a Cougar. Check it out here:
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/b...ide/index.html

Some of the stuff they use is surprisingly simple and non toxic, other stuff not so friendly. Getting sand out of the car takes forever even when its a bare shell like the PoD. Wet caked on sand will be even more fun to remove, and you dont want it billowing out while you are shooting base coat or clear, thats for sure.

 

Oh and yes they can be too far gone, trust me on that. Obviously few who said that live in Michigan, land of salted roads for 8 months each year.

 

Just about anything CAN be repaired.... your Mustang CAN be repaired and repaired well.

Whether it SHOULD be repaired is a question for debate.

I think that you should do AN EASIER project FIRST, and then decide whether this project is something that..

a. is something you WANT to do...
b. is something you SHOULD do....
c. is something you can AFFORD to do...

there is no way anyone on this forum can answer your question without YOU being able to answer the three questions above...

I think the best way for you to answer this question is a little personal experience on a much more simple and less extensive project before you try to tackle a big project like that 67.

Personally, I do not see myself starting a project car so badly rotted, but I am from the desert and spoiled. My 39 had some bad rust, but no where near as extensive as your 67.
It is a fastback, and they dont exacly grow on trees, but still, restoring that car is going to be a huge project... on the plus side, if you take this project on, by the time you get done you will be one hell of a shetmetal guy...

 

The framerails as in the front frame is rusted all the way through? The front frame and the unibody, floorpans, and sub-structure is the backbone of the car. If that is all rotten, you are looking at an extremely big project with very little of the original car that is usable or not needing to be replaced. Surface rust and spot rusting is one thing. Having big parts of the car rusted through is another. I certainly see surface rust, but you have not shown us the vital areas and their rust.

Something to consider is saving for a dynacorn body and transferring the usable stuff and VIN to that. It will be easier and probably cheaper in the long run. The car will not be original, but from the sounds of it, you are not going to have much left that is original anyway.

 

Take the pointy end of a body hammer and start at one corner and work your way all the way around. Hit the rails every 2 to 3 inches with a good solid smack. Where it goes through you need to replace! You'll quickly find those bad areas with the very sickening sound of the point ripping going through. I found 3 areas on our front rails which were small enough to be patched. 2 of these sections I'd have never found as they were bad from the inside out (front outside rails where the bumper brackets attach).

 

Well he was the vice president of the Pit of Despair club for a reason... At least the frame rails on the PoD are in good shape, otherwise I would have found another one or just cut everything out and made it into a big tire pro street type ride. That is always an option, but it is a HUGE undertaking, not for the weak and not for anyone who cant measure, cut and weld efficiently. Doing it that way will also cost you more, mainly because you will need to buy the entire suspension system front and rear, plumb all the lines, make a floor/firewall, and then figure out what to do with the interior since nothing stock will fit it.

Otherwise its cut and paste while measuring 5 times before cutting and then again 5 times before welding, replacing almost everything under the car.