Well heres the thing, I just got this car back in october to swap my drive train into (330hp 350tpi w/ 700R4 shift kit w/ 9bolt posi disk rear) well I stripped the interior today to put in my SFCs and my roll cage and find a perfectly straight line of bondo across the floor from behind the drivers seat across the car and more bondo on the T Bar where it meets the hatch.

Car was totaled and clipped to repair, Im going to put it on a frame rack and see if its striaght. The rest of the car looks good except some dents in the door and it needs a front bumber cover.

I did do a CarFAX but it did not show anything. Question is should I part this one out and go search for another shell or with the SFCs and roll cage will this be fine?

 

heres the entire car still in good shape

 

Damn that sucks. I'd remove the bondo, clean up the rust, and check/repair the seam. A cleaned up seam, SFCs,and a roll cage and that shouldn't be a problem at all.

 

Worcester, MA thats not too far from here, any good junk yards up that way

Matt

 

My brother bought a trashed 88 IROC Z to take out the L98 and put in his v6 camaro.

The guy that had the IROC before spun out hit an embankment going backwards and rolled a few times. The car was totally smashed in the rear and had roof damage. We tore it down and noticed the car was actually two different camaros welded together just like yours.

It went through a VIOLENT crash and still held together.

just FYI.

-bill

 

just examine all the work around that area and if it seems like its good, with spot welds in the proper place and the body lines up good, i woulden't hesitate to drive it as is.

 

Not really, there are two large ones right next to each other in Worcester (one's called Standard auto). The guys are total jackasses though. I've been there a few times, they usually hassle me about going in the yard to get parts, maybe 10 third gens- mostly stripped. Standard has acres of cars and they told me they didn't have a single 350 block that I could buy.

 

Sectioning a car is a factory approved repair method in some cases and as long as the work was performed by a competent shop and repair man it should be just fine. However your feelings about it and doubt could be more of a deciding factor than anything. You are wise to have it checked on a frame machine and to visually inspect the entire repair area. Depending on the use of the car (show car, drag car, beater) and the results of the frame measurements will determine your cars fate. Good luck.

edited to include the fact that some state laws DO NOT approve of sectioning an entire car. Check and make sure by calling a body shop. You could have a legal case on your hands.

 

I'd clean it all up and give it the surgeons light, it apparently cant be too bad of a job if you didnt notice it in the past, with a cage and sfc i think it will hold together just fine

 

hey sorry for the delay, just started my new job so i havent had much time to work on the camaro.

My buddy had it taken to the body shop, the frame is still straight and they said minus the bondo sealing, the job was done right.

heres my plan: going to sand off all the bondo over the welds double check the entire seam, re-seal it with something (anysuggestions) then POR 15 the entire inside of the car, install subframes, then cage, and reinstall the interior


sound good?

 

First things first. The picture of the floor probably does not tell the whole story.
While sectioning IS approved in SOME cases, (not only by GM, but by ICAR, ASE, AND TEC-COR...) I don't know of anyone who would go as far into the floor as they did. I'm not saying it's wrong, but I wouldn't...
Second, If the shop you chose says you're ok, then you may be...
Third, Crawl underneath yourself...If the frame rails are cut and spliced in any way, (especially if you can see a weld directly below the one in the floor, like they hacked through the whole thing and spliced the rails as well...), GET OUT NOW!!!! If it looks like they installed the rear rails complete and cut the floor, then it's probably good.
Fourth, did you not know it was totalled when you bought it? This IS a disclosure issue...Check the laws in your state. In Michigan, any damages over X ammount of dollars HAS TO BE disclosed. Was it a clean title when you purchased the car? That's the giveaway right there, most builder's or salvage titles are a different color.

 

well it was a clean title, i bought the car out of state, and the person i bought the car from did happen to say it was in an accident, but from underneath you couldnt see anything. frame rails are perfect and the floors from under the car look mint.

The story of the car from a few other members on the board who knew the kid i bought it from, said the car was brought up from down south to new england area, sold twice then now i have it, honestly i could see any sort of damnage from putting the car up on a lift and inspecting it, but from tearing out the interior the car use to be 2 different camaros the rear has been sectioned on to the front clip, its cut behind the front seats and also where the TTop bar meets the hatch.

im just trying to figure out what i should do before i put any of my parts into it because i already have my cage and SFCs that were suppose to go into my last chassis plus my 350tpi that has 0 miles on it, and a 9bolt and rebuilt tranny all layin around. getting fustrated with my 3rd gen luck up here in the north east, i finally find a car with ZERO rust and this is whats underneath it