Jarred Horent

Hey guys, I just bought a 92 RS Thursday.

its my second thirdgen. My first was an 84 Firebird which was my first car.

fast forward 17 years and I know have my second.

The car I purchased has a GM performance crate engine 350HO and a 5 speed trans with aluminum radiator and flexlite fans. Also has Crager wheels and rear air shocks.

Anyway The car is in rough shape and I was planning on either restoring it or using it as a donor car for the 24hr Lemons or ChumpCar racing series.

The exterior is a bit rough and showed signs of cancer upon purchase. The A pillar and roof have rust that have a previous attempt at repair that failed miserably. I also noticed a few spots of rust on the fire wall on both the passenger and driver side firewall.

Today I Pulled the seats, Console and Seats.

What I have discovered is a firewall that is severally rotten. both driver side and passenger side have so much rust I had to rush home and drink brandy and beer to reassess the situation.

My question to the forum is what is anything have we as a collective been able to do about this situation? I can still par the car out and make a nice profit but I would really like to see this car back on the road or perhaps on the high banks of daytona in april. I have spent a fair bit of time searching for available sheet metal and I cannot find anything other then floor pans.

Any info on what my options are other then running away " which I am ready to do" would be greatly appreciated.

PS I am a technical by trade and not afraid of time and labor, I also have many connection to body shops. Just not sure I have deep enough pockets to treat this like its a rare gem.

TylerSteez

iTrader: (3)

pics would help. the firewall rot is usually caused by the space underneath the wipers collecting with leaves and dirt which blocks the exit so water builds up and rots away the metal, just about the worst spot to have rot honestly since it's a tricky repair.

If you post us some detailed pics, I'm sure we could help assess your situation better.

Billgluckman

If you can weld its probably fixable if you can find a parts car on the cheap. You just have to decide if it's worth it.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

The only sources for much of the sheet metal that isnt reproduced is to fab it yourself, or cut it from a donor car. But ask yourself this... If a car is bad enough that it's become a donor car, how good will the panels likely be? If the donor car is enough better than the project, why not build the donor car instead?

W.E.G.

Get access to the problem.

Pull the motor.

Pull the dash.

Its a firewall.

Cut the rust out, and weld in new metal. Nobody will ever see it from the passenger side. Do what you have to do in there. Seal it. Button it back up.

But one thing is for sure, you won't likely ever get it fixed right unless the dash and the motor come out so you can get access.

Jarred Horent

Dash will be pulled this week/Weekend. This will give me full visibility from at least the inside. After that if I'm still considering repairing it, I will pull motor and trans as well as everything from engine side of firewall.
I've started to look into the idea of a good rolling chassis that needs a motor and trans.
Sorry I still haven't posted any pics. I will take the time to do that tonight.
Also does this Forum have a mobile platform? It would be a lot easier for me to post pics that way instead of having to do a file transfer.

Jarred Horent

Here are some pics of my initial rust assessment. its much worse now that the interior is out.

ZsTransAm

Thats really bad rust... theres nothing left of those A-pillars If it were my car I'd make it into a donor. These cars are so cheap that theres really no reason to fix rust that severe.