It's pink, and from about 50 feet away, doesn't look too shabby.. Ofcourse, this is from the road, going 80km/h.. Anyways, to my question! What rots out on these cars? What should I look for that would be a weak point in the car. And if it is as rough as I am expecting, what should I offer the guy?

BTW, I'm new here, I only remembered this site because my brother was always on it, you might remember him his handle was 'ROCHEAD'.

 

floor pans, rockers, and quarter pannels. those seem to be the places that get the cancer the worst. as for an offer, can't really help you there without seeing the car. if it's a V6 or hardtop...or both, it definatly reduces the price. also, if it is has t-tops check the tbar for rust.

 

Hmm, It's definatly a hard top, that's what I did see. I don't know about getting underneath it, but I'll definatly try. These Windsor cars rot out like nothing I've ever seen..

 

do your best to get under there. the floor pans in these cars rust faster then anything else. push down on the floor in the driver carpartment and see if the carpet gives in a lot. sure sign there is massive rust.

 

Ahhh.. Thanks, what about the wheelwells, do they corrode like the floor? Or are they plastic like in some cavaliers?

 

check every part of the quarters. behind the flare, behind the tire, everywhere you can. quarters go almost as fast as the floors.

 

Does this stay the same for Camaro's too?

 

yup. same rot in the same places.

 

I'll post pics of what I find tommorow, thanks!

 

awesome. I've gotta see this car.

 

don't forget under the hood..strut towers go like no tomorrow...also driver rocker\floor near fuse block another spot for severe rot...

 

What about the trunk, does it rot away in there at all?

 

not that I have seen..and I had some roy-boxes...the trunk areas on these cars have no area for mud and salt to hide and never come clean......that is how rust starts

 

the trunk will take the most damage in the spare tire well...not so much in teh bottom of the trunk itself

 

Yea, true.. The '76 Torino my dad is fixing up is like that... So many places for mud to hide and cause havoc..

 

Sometimes the hatch lid on the underside. Usually near the bolts to remove the spoiler can sometimes rust if water gets underneath the spoiler and into the mounting holes. Deffinitely the strut tower (wheel wells). I've had some bad experience with those... and am in fact dealing with them right now on my car. Some of you may have read the thread.

 

Well, it seems that I can't tell the difference between Camaros and Firebirds at 80km's... But here's what I found in one parking lot. An RS, which was in decent shape, about 1000$.. The other a Berlinetta, with a mint interior and T-tops. What should I offer?

 

privided that they run well and drive nice and have nice interior i would say 1K, don't go above 2K. if they are in as bad a shape everywhere ewlse as on the outside... 2-400 $$ no more then 300$ if it does not run.

 

I'm sure I can bring the guy down to 650. It's got some very rough spots, and then again, it's got some spots that are immaculate. Like the floorpan is perfect. The white berlinetta I posted is for 1000$, but the quarters are gone, and so is the floor most likely gone, but the interior in it is perfect. The red RS has an OK interior, but the shell is nice. Still can't decide whether to wait, or to just offer the guy money and drive it home..

 

make him an offer on both the cars together. seems like if you put the 2 together you'll have a nice ride. then you can sell off what's left and make some money back. but if you're going for just one, go for the one that needs the least body work. interior is easy to come by.

 

Maybe he would take 300 for the white, it's got no ownership, so it would pretty much be a strip and salvage type deal..

 

Looks like ud have a lot of good parts if you got both but if not get the one with the good body since that can get really expensive if u dont do it yourself.

 

The problem with EITHER of those cars is there nothing more than either a V8-4bbl (White one) or a V8 LO3 car, neither of them are "desirable" by most means. The Red one has the nice ground effects from 91 & 92, but beyond that its nothing of special note. I hate being that way but I will not even look twice at anything less than TPI any more.

IF you really want a 3rd gen look for a nice TPI car 5.0L at the minimum. There out there but becoming more unusual as we speak.

JOhn

 

man those both look nice i doubt tey have much if any rust

how those looki n the pics are worth a nice chunk up here way too nice to part out

but it all depends on where you are and what you see around

someplaces consider ones this old junk no matter what condition, and simply because they are old

its crazy out there

those two are way cleaner than you find up here just by the paint looks let alone looking under it

/me moves there*


good luck

 

Haha, I live in Canada buddy, they rust out faster here than you can imagine. The floor was clean on the red one, but that's pretty rare to find in a car here. I'm going to check out an '82 firebird tommorow, guy wants 850, but I'm sure I can heckle him down to 500....

 

You need to buy the red car. the white car is a donar car. The red car has most of the parts you need for a good car restoration. I rape berlis for parts only.

 

What's the options with a berlinetta?

 

I like the berlinetta the best. You can guess why LOL.
----------

 

Berli's come with an option for power everything, cruise, digital dash ect. They aren't much engine wise, but they are certainly comfortable and unique. I would rather have my car then an IROC, just for the uniqueness.

 

The white car appears to be in better shape.

 

Naa, the quarters and bottoms of the doors were gone. I can do body work, but rust is never friendly, especially when it involes welding

 

LOL

 

what does it say on the front windshield of that white berlinetta?

 

Alpine.

 

1982 Firebird, T-top car, with a 4 speed. 6 cyl, and the left shock tower is pretty much pooched, but other than that and a left quarter the car is in pretty damn good shape. I offered the guy 650 because it's been garage kept, the floor was good enough to eat off of, and it just ran so damn nicely. But my question is, without a left front shock, how does one get a Firebird on to a trailer?

 

Where abouts are ya?

 

Windsor, 17 minutes from the Detroit border.

 

Fork truck?

John

 

Can shock towers be changed?

 

Can you by chance get some pics of the damage

 

I'm going back Thursday, with my cousin who knows these cars well. I'll take some pics then. But for now all I can tell you is that it's about 6" by 6" wide. Pretty thin, but like I said, my dad's friend is a god with a MIG welder.

 

i dont know about you but where i live in ohio we try not to buy whole cars from junk yards. I just buy parts because it would have a salvaged title with it and it makes it harder to get anything done.usally if a car has sat in a junkyard for very long it is not wortj trying to repair it because its so rotted away.

 

Its a hit or miss... Junk yards can sell clear titled cars or salvage/Rebuilt titled cars. I bought a wrecked 83 Camaro from a junkyard and it came with a clear title. Of course they are a part of the City Impound... As a rule of thumb however I would agree with you.

John

 

The red car was the mechanics newphew's. I'm sure he would take 500$ at this point, but the firebird with the rotten shock tower guy won't take less than 650, which is pretty bad because the car is in decent shape other than that.

 

I bought my RUNNING (BUT RUSTED) 83 T/A for $250 in 1999, and I bought my running 83 SC CAmaro that had an 87 TPI installed for $600, the Camaro is an incredibly solid car from MO. Too bad its crunched in the front.

JOhn

 

I just found another car.. I have no clue what year it is, but I'm guessing in the timeframe of 1988-1992. But it was in much better shape then some of the other cars I've seen, the bottom of the doors was a little bubbly, but the quarters were so clean that I nearly cried. The hood had a pretty nice rust hole in it though, I have no Idea what the shock towers look like.. I'll get pics of it tommorow on my next trip to find a Firebird/Camaro.

 

i got mine 4 500 and had no rust at all and i lived in ny try to find a deal like that

 

1983 Firebird, Guy want's 500, I put 240 down. Got some cancer on the bottom of the doors, but thats about it. Shock towers are mint. 6cyl needs a distributer, and maybe a new hood as there's a hole worn into it.. I found an 87 near my house that's just rotting away.. Sunroof car with a 5 speed, I might buy the hood and tranny. If anyone knows of/has a hood they want to get rid of, I'm open for suggestions.