Hi, I am new to the forums, and I have a question. I have a '91 Firebird with some bad rust. I was hoping I could spend some time fixing up the car to run like it did when I got it. I sorta let the car go for a while, as you can see, both mechanically and body-wise. What I was wondering is, looking at the pictures here, does anyone think that this rust is fixable and is this car worth putting a lot of money into mechanically? I would imagine that this rust is worse than just sanding and repainting, but tell me if I am wrong. I just dont want to put a lot into brakes, radiator, and such only to have the body fall apart less than a year later. Also, if it can be fixed half way decently, I dont trust myself to do it, not knowing anything about body work, so in your estimation, how much do you think it would run me to fix? I was hoping some day to get a full paint job, but cant do it now, so just to fix the bad rust, what would I be dealing with cost wise? Thank you for your help.

 

its pretty rough surface rust, doesnt look like it went through. It can be sanded, the rust neutralized, filled an painted.

What does the underside of the car look like? thats where the rot starts

 

Well, I was just underneith last night replacing the rear sway bar links, and to me it looked pretty decent. What do you think a body shop would charge, average, to sand/paint?

 

A good shop would cut the metal and replace it with unrusted metal. As for the cost, it can vary from what they charge for labor.


I would atleast go garb a rust stripper from Autozone/Oreilly near you and grind as much as you can off with it which most likely like the metal as a dimpled surface. Then apply some epoxy primer over it and stop it from getting worse.

 

Ok, sounds good, thank you for helping.

 

i would need better pics, bit it looks like just bad surface rust, not rot, no need to cut it out really. Yes it would be a better job, but it can be fixed without going to that extent

 

Theres no real way to tell the severity until you start working on it to attempt to clean and see if theres solid metal or if the rust has done its job already. If its at the spots where he showed, its probably already badly damaged under the gfx. You can also see in the rear quarter a small spot starting to bubble the paint.

Hopefully its just surface rust and would grind off easily, I had similar rust and used Autozone # 03172NA to grind all of mine off then used some rust spray or Rust remover I am guessing from my neighbor that he uses at his shop and left that overnight and then put a coat of epoxy primer and body filler to smooth it out.

Like you said, you can't really tell unless you see it for yourself or look at it better.

 

Yes I agree, its hard to tell until its worked on, I just wondered what people thought just by looking. I have emailed a body shop with the pics and asked them if I could bring it in for them to asses. I read that by the time the rust is visible on the outside, its probably not just surface rust anymore as more often than not, rust starts on the inside of the panel and works its way out. I guess I'll have to see...
Thank you all for replying.

 

Hey, just outta curiosity, does anyone know if there is a place online that sells remanufactured/used/aftermarket Firebird doors? I checked today and the whole door is scrap, I'm sure. Its really weak. I have been looking online via google, and I see nothing. I would like to price, again not exact, but get an idea of what the cost for just the part would be. Thanks.

 

http://thirdgenranch.com/-strse-786/...oor/Detail.bok

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http://thirdgenranch.com/-strse-785/...oor/Detail.bok


I would give Denny a call/email if you are looking for anything specific, if its not on their site it does not mean its not available.

Also, try local Junkyards first.

 

Thank you so much, I will look into it. I really appreciate it!

 

There is a dude on the classifieds selling a bird with no engine. It does not look bad in the pictures. Look at the distance between you and him. It is cheaper to get another car and swap stuff and probably less work than fighting rust. I bought a Chevelle on a rainy day and after I put headers and some other stuff on it, I got a sand blaster going in the trunk. I sold the car at a loss as it would never have been worth the cost of repairs. I know we bond with our cars but ponder finding a roller...there seems to be a lot of them around.

 

Yeah, thats a good point, but I am just starting out with auto work, didnt grow up with that sort of back ground. I dont know that I could replace a whole engine myself, not to mention that I dont have the facilities to do so. I have loved these cars since way before I got my license, and used to think that I would never be able to own one...Well that was when I was a kid, but now I have owned 2 of them, the first one being a V6 that I rolled on a slippery road about 11 years ago. Now I have a V8 and am sorta scared that I'll end up losing it too. Especially now that the Firebirds are gone and the whole Pontiac line now as well. I am just weighing my options carefully!
I dont really know how many of these cars are left either, and they will dwindle eventually, I would think.

 

I would not go that route, unless the floors are really bad and you can flintstone it. Even then if your love for the car is that good, you can fix it or have it fixed for you.

Yea I understand your love for these cars, I like having fun in my Camaro and when getting on it, I would always have the thought of what if this goes wrong and something happends. I had the car do a 180 on me during a cold day and I accelerated through a corner which was not that high of accelerating. Bald passenger tire I suspect is the culprit . Just take care of it and keep it well maintained and it should be ok. Head to the track when you have the urge to have fun with it.


They should last, and will if the owners are like most people on these boards.

 

that doesn't look terrible, but you gotta check underneath the ground effects since if it's exposed like that, it probably means that there's crap under the plastic parts. And just remember, if rust appears there, it might be also in less convenient spots... ie holes in your floor. Jack it up and take a good look, and take off the plastic pieces and get back to us.

 

Hey, sorry I haven't been back lately, but First, I have not had a chance to get the plastic pieces off, actually I just read that post now before writing...I will try to do that sometime. Also (please don't hiss or boo me here, but) we have decided that in a year or so, when my wife gets her car paid off, and I can get a loan for a newer vehicle, I am going to put my Firebird into storage and try to do somewhat of a restoration. I am planning to do body work, which means all new paint, clean up the wheels, new interrior, and much more. But I have to wait untill I can get a newer vehicle, because right now, my Bird is MY only transportation, and I also have no garage, so I would need to rent a work space.
Now...where the hissing and booing comes in is, I have no real experience in body work, or interior for that matter. This car is going to become my project car. Anything I try to do will be a learning experience for me. But if I have another vehicle, I can take my time. But, I will take my car into a body shop and have them asses it first.
When I replaced the rear swaybar links a few weeks back, I looked at the underside the best I could, and to me it looks alright, but I will have that checked closer as well.
Sorry I've been long winded, but I have now turned this from just a "how can I repair the rust spots" to an actual restoration project.

By the way, Carlos, I wasnt punching it when I rolled the first Firebird...it was black ice! I was on my way to tech school one morning, and went around the corner too fast- which was 50 MPH but even that was too fast for conditions. I have been more carefull in the winter time since

 

Haha no hissing and booing here... in fact I'll praise you for restoring this Bird.

 

Thanks! The planned start date is still probably over a year away, but I'm using this time now to research body work; sanding, priming, painting, what tools and parts I will need, how to get a good finish...etc. And then there is interior, wheels, -- oh god, what am I getting myself into LOL?!?! But I think it will be fun, and for my lack of experience, One PITA! I'm looking forward to it!


BTW, because I've never done this before, I hope I dont annoy people here, but I will probably be asking a LOT of questions!

 

Ok, I just went outside and took some pictures of the undercarrage. I didnt have the car jacked up or anything, so it may be hard to tell the condition from these photos. Some day I will take better ones.

Tried to upload another one but constantly failed...??

 

That's what this board is for!

And your under carriage doesn't seem bad from those pictures... try jacking it up and taking some more if you're able to but they actually seem better than mine were. If there are a few tiny pinholes or non at all you can get away with just wire-wheeling the loose rust off and then just coating the whole floor with Chassis Saver or POR-15 to kill the rust and prevent it from happening again. That's what I did.


But I would DEFINITELY check out those fuel lines... they look like they might need to be replaced especially considering that this is your only car.

 

Ok, thanks, I didn't even really notice that. I'll check on that.

 

Hey, sorry I havent been on for a while, we havent had internet for a couple months... I have been planning out the restoration though. I decided to model my car in Blender 3D so I can plan out what I want to do to the car, and compare before and after. This way, if I want to add decals, etc, I can model it and see what it looks like ahead of time. I put a picture of what I have so far, but the model is a work in progress. Much cleaning up to do. I just thought this would be a good way to plan out what I want to do.

 

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