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First of all, thank you for welcoming me to your excellent community.
I grew up tooling on cars on and off but I'm no expert. Long story short, I purchased a 3rd gen Camaro from my neighbor who has now passed on. I didn't expect to, but I became attached to the car and began doing some work, bringing it back to driving condition. Or at least, that's what I thought.
In my excitement I just didn't look, I kept telling myself this was for educational purposes and something to do with my hands while I quit a nasty nicotine habit, by the way, this really worked for me!
The frame is rusted, but I don't know a damn thing about modified uni-body and what is reasonably repairable. I would never forgive myself if my negligence caused injury to another person or my wife (who would realistically want to take it out or to the beach or whatever).
What i'm looking for is your honest, educated opinion. Can this frame be restored to a state where I can feel comfortable knowing that it's structurally sound? If not, then I'm probably going to let it go or part it out. It's worth noting, I'm not a person with a lot of money. I have no interest in putting an enormous motor in it or taking it to autocross events or anything like that. A T-Top car that I can wrench on, that I can take to work in the summer is basically what I'm looking for.
It's a 91 305 TBI T-Top car and I am the second owner. Unfortunately the man next door left it un-garaged and it sat in his driveway for probably 15 years in Michigan. I have ALSO included a picture of the rust hole in the A-Pillar. It should also be noted, I paid a very small amount of money for this car, and I'm not upset about my investment to THIS point. Please don't respond with messages about how things should be checked out before hand. I understand that, when I bought the car, It was mostly emotional and something my neighbor and I could chat about while he was living. Given how long to the ground the ground effects go, I couldn't get my jack under the vehicle without causing more damage to the pinch welds, which have been damaged from him.
It's cool, I have a piece of history. He was the first and only owner. I have the original window sticker and his original financing documents. I REALLY wanted to keep this car, but I'm not sure I can do that while being a conscientious member of society with concern to road safety.
Hood when I purchased it Driver Side when I purchased it Look Ma! No Frame! Rusty pan A- Pillar damage
Also, I'm new to this sort of messageboard. If this is in the wrong place or i've broken TOC's please just remove the post and I'll figure out how to post it correctly when I'm next around my computer.
Thanks all for taking the time to read. I look forward to your responses.
Buckle up for 2 different answers from 300 different people. Answer A: Anything is fixable regardless of condition. All depends on how much time, skill, and money you have. - Don't listen to answer A.
Answer B: That car's rotten far beyond what would be reasonable to save, especially considering the amount of clean rollers that are out there. The interior looks nice, the panels look solid, it looks like an excellent parts car. If you made a promise to the previous owner that you would keep his car forever, buy another more solid base that drives but needs a heap of cosmetics e.i. paint, interior, etc etc, and swap all of your good stuff in to it and go have fun. If it's just a car that you happened upon and ended up tinkering with just for the sake of it, part it out. Regardless of which route you choose, those few pictures alone are enough to confidently say that she's past being worth saving.
I totally agree with the above three posters , that's a parts car at best .
Ya know what they say about mice , when ya see one there are 10 more hidden that ya don't see ?
Well it kinda sorta works like that with car rot , the rot you see is nothing compared to the rot going on in places you can't see till you take the car completely apart .
I sincerely appreciate the responses. I will treat this as a parts car. Now the decision is whether or not I go hunting for a roller or not. Decisions, decisions.
I have my daily up for sale, so depending on how well that goes, I might be able to pick up a roller.
Again, thanks everyone. If it weren't for you all I'd have had to get it to a hoist and deal with a headache of sinking more money into this before realizing it was a lost cause.
Absolutely, this was my biggest concern. My next plan was to pull the interior and remove the floor pans and see how bad it is... but again... it started to feel like a wild goose chase. I'm glad I posted pics when I did.
I concur with the opinions of the others whom have responded this far. The body rot is too far gone for that particular body to be worth saving. It would be a money pit in that regard. However, these cars have numerous parts that are hard to come by, or if they are reproduced, are at scalper prices to obtain. If at all possible, I would park it somewhere on your property and keep it for parts. Like others have suggested, find one that has a solid body and drivetrain, but has a busted up interior or something like that and make one solid cruiser out of two incomplete cars. Having all those parts available to you will be a huge help. I have a solid 84 Z28 that I am the second owner of, but the interior has a screw here, plastic piece there, plastic clip or fastener missing. Trying to find some individual parts like that can be a real hassle sometimes. I would really like to have a parts car to just grab and go from sometimes. I highly recommend that route, as that will save you a lot of time, effort and ultimately, money on a car that is worth bringing up to snuff. If you use enough of the good parts from the car that was your neighbor’s, it is like you’re keeping the passion alive with a “combo” car that is both yours and has parts from his. Best of luck to you.
Mine was pretty bad too when I got her for $500....but she was a mechanically fit car for the most part that I wouldn't hesitate driving around all over the place. I have a video of her from start to finish...it took 6 weeks before I got her back.
If you can get the floorboards from a donor, and pull the interior, and weld in the floorboards, and do all that work yourself....that or if you have a friend who would work for some lunch and dinners.....
Otherwise Id have to say parts. Pull hat you can and save them for another.
That trans is being held in with that one bolt / tiny self made bracket!
Ya know what they say about mice , when ya see one there are 10 more hidden that ya don't see ?
