So looked at a 87 Z28 today that has a great body, all the interior is there but took the tops off and there is rust under the tops. Car has sat outside for 15 yrs. For those of you that have dealt with this, how bad does this damage look to you and what do you think is an estimate on how much to fix it. I know prices vary from all over the country, just wanting educated guesses. Thanks!

 

If this car isn't yours then don't buy it. This is the biggest reason to get a hardtop if you don't have to have t-tops. I would just ballpark it at 500-900 dollars since bodyshops can't do too much work for 200 dollars or less. It could be massive amounts of rust when the headliner is completely out.

 

Actually, if you have plenty of money and you want to save some 3rd gens from being crushed, this is a good car to rescue since you said most everything else is ok. I know, I'm kind of going back and forth.

 

buy the car if the price is right, that is all fixable

 

It's fixable the same wy any rust is, but I would see if there are any floors under that carpet. I would call that rust a little worse than average, most t top cars I crushed had less rust on top than that, but always had horrendous rot in the floors.
The 86 TA in my avatar pic looks ok from 20 ft, no rust on top. You would never know it has NO FRONT FLOOR AT ALL! That's why it was fun for 2 summers, now it's razor bades.

 

I didn't buy it, looked like to much expense to get it fixed.