A friend has this shell that I am considering purchasing to replace my car that needs a bit too much work for me...
My car needs a full strip to metal, the floor/tunnel needs a huge fix due to a drive shaft incident, the spare tire area needs to be rebuilt from the bottom and up about 6", A pillars are bubbling at the bottom corners of the windshield. And the bottom of the a-pillars in the kick panel area was rebuilt inside and outside both sides. It has a new floor front to back both sides and I replaced the frame rail on the drivers side that the trans mounts to.
I believe my car has had some type of front end hit, as there is a gap between the strut tower and fire wall on that passenger side that is NOT rot related. That fender was a bit wonky, but I assumed it was due to being jacked up wrong, but the passenger door has never closed right even though it has new pins/bushings and is well adjusted.
For me to really enjoy my car it needs a full resto, so I can just enjoy it.

Here are the pictures of the typical problem areas we have, from this shell I am looking at.
Drivers side inside quarter panel. Perfect.


Drivers kick area. Looks like some wire wheeling, sandblasting and treating will fix this up. If not, I have a perfect replacement section in my T/A


Rear section of the drivers floor. Pretty clean. Should clean up easy.


Drivers side bottom of A-pillar, essentially rust free.


Engine bay... I'll replace the upper core support with the one from my car. The bottom support just needs some light clean up. I thought I had a picture of the cowl areas, but I don't. It is spotless, as well as along where the fire wall meets the strut towers. Strut towers also appear perfect.


Only shot I took of the floor, as it was raining pretty good. That spot in the passenger rear seat pan is an easy fix. everything looks good, even the forward torque boxes haven't been jacked up improperly.


Bottom of passenger A-pillar. Also solid. That rust is just the door, which I have a replacement for on my car already.


Passenger kick panel area, this is the worst of it. Another spot that should just be clean, protect and paint.


Rear of the passenger floor. Needs to be cut out and replaced... Of which I have a perfect reproduction pan already in my T/A to use (provided it isn't too destroyed after my drive shaft incident.)


Spare tire area. Perfect. This area on my car is essentially in need of full replacement, from the bottom up about 6" in to the wheel well, and the brace further up behind the quarter is also rusting on my car. On this car it is perfect.


Keep in mind, where I live, 5 year old cars can be rusty, and a 10 year old car is essentially usually junk due to the rot we get.

Only thing holding me back is I have to cut the hard top off to do my t-top install... Which, technically is not out of my ability.

This gives me the opportunity to do a full resto, without purchasing a car with potential rot hidden behind panels, carpet or interior...

 

Pass it'll cost you a lot more than buying solid car to start with.You can get a roller pretty cheap.

 

Is that a Ford Solenoid I see ?? , If ya DO buy it , that poor car is gonna be needing an electrical exorcism ........

 

I don't know what is required to import/ ship a car to Canada, but look in the Southeast or Southwest US for a solid body. I see about a dozen in Georgia between Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. It might be worth the extra time and money in the end.

 

Ha, I noticed some odd wiring but I'm not concerned about any of it, my LS swap and engine bay wiring is almost completely tucked away and is what would be going in this car. Would actually take the opportunity and stream line my LS harness a tiny bit more and remove every single un-needed wire throughout the car, just because that's the sort of stuff I do.

I know I can't go down and look at cars and I have no connections with anyone down there that is car savvy enough. People do import cars, I know certain paper work has to be filed a certain time before the car crosses over. I literally need a shell, I have everything else required to build a very nice car. I'm petrified of getting a car, restoring it and then in a few years some hidden salt slurry rust pops out of a pinch weld somewhere. I guess I can scan craigslist down there and see what comes up and then try to find a person that does this sort of stuff... And then have them somehow come across the border with it. I was hoping to go down to the Carolinas with work this coming winter but that is absolutely not happening now!

Almost every one of these cars in Canada has seen winter, and one winter is enough to kill a car eventually. It's criminal the amount of salt and brine they put down, it eats our vehicles from the inside out... And we pay them to do it. A huge part of my job is finding, preventing and fixing corrosion on aircraft so I'm always afraid of it.

 

If you're able to convert from hard-to-T-Top,.................. you already know this body is perfectly fine to start building on. IMO: Saving yourself the work converting to T-Top is more of a reason to find another body compared to the surface rest pictured

I don't see any cutting and welding required to fix anything in those pics. Sure; it needs some real effort to clean it up, but all those pics seem to show is minor surface rust. The GTA I'm workin' on right now is in worse shape; got a hole in the spare tire well and another in the cowl. ( That cowl hole is gonna be a PITA ! )

I'm in the northeast USA and the pics show that this body is in better than average condition of any 20 year old car from around here. Just about every 'new-to-the-junkyard' Thirdgen I've seen in the last 5 years has been "Swiss cheese". I was 'saving' worse Thirdgens than this 15 years ago; so I'd be just fine with beginning a build with that body. ( This is not my GTA; it's an 86 I built back in 07' ! )

 

Here's my two cents worth... If you're like me and enjoy the mechanical work, but not body work, then find the cleanest shell you can. It looks to me like you have a fairly solid shell in front of you that should fit the bill quite nicely and I would buy it.

When I started my current build thread I had an '86 Iroc that I thought was great, but turned out to be a rusty monster with more issues then I could handle. I tinkered with that car for two years before my current '87 Iroc fell into my lap. I paid $2500 for the '86 and $750 for the '87, swapped all the good off of the '86 to the '87 and then sold the '86 for like $2250. The '87 was a basket case, had a blown engine, was covered in mouse poop, stunk like a litter box, but it's rust free! I don't have any sentimental ties to these cars so I just keep buying and selling them and stockpiling the good parts until one of two things happens. I finish a car, or I die lol!

 

The shell looks like a decent starting point, but no doubt will still be a lot of work to clean up, paint and assemble. If you like doing that stuff, then have at it.

What did the shell come from (i.e. what will the vin say it is/was?).

 

I just can't believe what people are asking for these cars up here now that are only in so-so shape... And I've learned that unless a seller is willing to let me pull some kick panels off to check for rot, lift the carpets up a bit, or pull the big plastic pieces in the rear 1/4 areas, I'm likely not spending what they think the car is worth as we know how rust hides in these cars. Plus New Brunswick is sort of lower income so people really try to get every single dollar they can out of junk. I don't think at this point I will ever stumble upon a deal for a rust free shell... And who knows how long this quarantine stuff will last, I can only look for cars in our Maritime provinces, which really is not a large population.

The shell is a 91, but the registration has been lost, which is fine with me as I will be swapping VINs and stamping the proper vin on the passenger side upper rail as well. Even if I buy a shell, the province will tax me 15% on what they think the car is worth, which would be a few hundred bucks in taxes! Even if I bring in pictures with me they will still charge me the tax so I'm avoiding that as well... I'm generally a straight shooter with this sort of thing, but in this instance I'm not playing their game.

Some lighter surface rust is no big deal... And a roof swap, while a challenge is more preferred than rebuilding half a car from ROT.

 

I would imagine the laws in Canada would be similar, but here in the U.S, swapping a VIN number to a different body is illegal.

 

Most people I know would pay a few hundred bucks to avoid a felony charge ---> never mind conviction). Just ask any felon: would they have been willing to pay a couple hundred bucks NOT to have a felony of their criminal record.

That no paper-work (AKA: scrap metal) is NOT worth the trouble swapping VINS could to get you into. Do the car - & yourself - a favor and don't "save" it; just let it die and find a legit body to wrench on.

 

I know it's a bit of a drive, but here in AZ, a wrecking yard near me has an '88 T/A that is totally rust free (AZ car, it's whole life) for something like 350-400 USD. No motor, trans, and most of interior is gone. It is a T-top car and tops are included. If you have a Bill of sale, for, say $400 USD, what would import fees be? I can take pics, videos of the car for you ( I know the yards owner, and live just a few miles from there. If you want, I would help you with whatever you need, free of any charges (Just to help out a fellow thirdgen fan.)
DR.K.

 

I hear what you're saying. I got in to some minor trouble nearly 20 years ago (kid being a stupid kid) and I've been one of those by the book, a solid handshake and a man's word is all you need type of person ever since.

Just sort of hit a point of frustration with this project I've had for 7 years and haven't fully enjoyed.

 

Wow man, I super appreciate that. I'm going to send you a message.
With the vehicle being over 15 years old it apparently makes it really easy to get it across the border in comparison to a newer car. Since it's an American made car there are no duties and I think it would only be like a 6% tax on bill of sale price or something along those lines.

Hardest thing right now is with this border shut down, but there is an auto recycler not too far from me who sources their cars from the states, (they are super close to one of the border crossings in ME) they may be able to shuttle the car across the border for me and I can pick it up in their yard.

 

Right on! Glad to help, any way I can.
DR.K.