Well for starters it's a 1987 Firebird base model. 3.1L with a T-5. Car handles and drives fine. Well today my custom frabricator was doing some welding on the underbody and he was welding on the frame and he gave me some unpleasant news. He was saying as soon as he touched the frame it went right through it as if it were sheet metal. The car is from NY and is in FL now so it does have it's rust here and there. My question is, with that being said, should I junk the car or is it fixable? I always thought the underbody was fine but apparently it's rusted from the inside out. The car is beautiful. What do I do?

 

There is not much for people to base their opinions on here. All we heard was the second hand opinion of your fabricator. You can either post pics on here to give us a chance at determining the cars condition, or bring the car to someone else locally to get a second opinion. Otherwise, any replies here are just guessing.

 

if the car is worth it to you, fix it right

if it isnt then sell it and put that towards another that doesnt have as much rust

or your welding guy might have had it on the wrong settings, doubt it but human error and such

 

first id go get a second opinion and if it is in fact rusted threw well then you got to ask your self if you think its worth fixing or not, if not sell it, part it out, or use it as a parts car for another one

 

i would see how much it is rusted out. i come from a background of jeeps and all the jeep YJs rust out around the rear shackle and people often just cut out the rusted portion and weld in a new piece of rectangular tubeing. Rust in one spot does not mean the hole thing is rusty. definatly find out what you are working with before you progress into the project but dont give up yet!!

 

 

Not to thread jack, but I have the same problem. I went to get an estimate on body work for my 89 RS Camaro today and the guy said that the right-rear wheel-well is gone and that hes not exactly confident about working on it. And when he said its gone he ain't kidding (I knew this before I went), theres a hole through the wheel well and the sheet metal is all gone, he was able to put a pen through the rust.

Quick question, is it worth it to have the wheelwell fixed (I'm guessing about $5k) or just get another car?

 

Rule of thumb when it comes to rust, in most cases it can be fixed, while getting it fixed involves time and money, and a hell of alot of it, it can still be saved. Ever see a First gen camaro? Most likely one of them has had extensive rust removal, especially if its a northern car. It all boils down to how much you love the car, Now were not talking about a first gen here, where they are getting rarer by the day, were talking about third gens, where a decent one can be had for anywhere from 500$ to 5000$. If it costs 5000$ to fix the car, than i would personally say go find a rust free roller, and transfer all your stuff over, but if its something like it needs new floorboards, and some random parts of sheetmetal, than i would say keep it. it all boils down to how much you love it. But if you have 5000$ to spend on the body work, you better have a really good reason to be trying to save it, because just look at some of the thirdgens on here you can get for 5K, there pretty nice.

 

Well, I don't have $5k for a new car (and thats my guess with no experience). I live in Indiana, so if I were to get a beater that I could afford, it'd be the same problem just with a different car (the wonders of being a college student). That and several other reasons are why I want to fix my car. It has to be my DD for at least the next 3 years. Hopefully, when I call him tomorrow, his estimate is less than what I'm guessing.

 

I honestly think it can be saved with a little help from my friends, time and money. I love the car like it's my own child and I'd hate to see it go. Now I don't have the funds to have it all taken care of but over time I believe it can be done.

 

it doesnt all have to be done at once, i dont have to money to get new floorpans and have them welded in, so i patched it and riveted them till i could get the money, but i made sure to cut the bad spots out and por 15 everything and seal all the seams with seam sealer.

 

Good news, the body work estimate came back at $2850. I know thats alot, but its less than $5k. Now I have to wait on them to decide whether or not they'll work on it for me.

 

i know i saw an article in the gm high performance magazine a few months ago where they showed how to fix the same area that you are talking about. you may want to try to find that and see if it is somthing that you can do yourself. i cant imagine paying $3000 to fix some body rust.

 

Here it is. Thanks for the info. Hopefully this will help several people with figuring out the necessary tools and required materials for these types of repairs.

http://www.gmhightechperformance.com...ula/index.html

 

I know a guy who is scrapping an 87 IROC right now and it is a rust free car! (I live in AZ, Rust? What is "Rust"? Isnt that a color?). He could cut panels out if you like..... PM me if interested, I'll get a hold of him...
Hope this helps!

 

It depends on how bad it is and how much you want that car.
It is fixable. How much money you have to spend depends on how bad it is.

If you think yours is bad, this is my second project. My Camaro is my first.

 

Did you just show a rusty Ford on a CHEVY camaro forum? now what are you expecting?.lol ..just playing man, good luck looks like a long term project to me.

 

come on man... if you have access to a digital camera, show us the rusty area your fabricator was talking about. A picture of the front of the car doesn't tell us anying about how much work it would be to repair.

 

Are you talking to me or the OP? If you're talking to me, I'm interested. Specifically rear quarter-panels, trunk pan, and the rear wheel wells.

 

Wow, I never thought I'd see "Mator" in real life (insert Pixar "cars" reference here).

If you're at the point of thinking of your car as one of you're own or it means more to you than a ton of metal that runs on gas then you're in the same boat as a lot of us.
FIX IT. Projects take time,money,patience. I'm on my 4th 3rd gen. The last one damn near almost killed me, literally. My current car took 5 years to build and a substantial amount of money but it was spread over 5 years so the financial shock wasn't that bad. In the end I'd do it all over again because I hate seeing our cars in the junkyards like tossed trash when I know there are camaros and firebirds that could easily be turned into cars like mine and then some.

 

I agree with you AC. I hate to see these cars in the junkyard....It makes me sad (SNIFF!!!) With three Thirdgens of my own, I end up in the junkyards a lot looking for good parts, so I guess I'm a cannibal of sorts....

89_RS; If you need panels, PM me, I promise I wont sell your screen-name to the telemarketers... LOL This car is getting cut up anyways, It may as well go to a good purpose.....

Thanks, Guys!!