I'm trying to figure out how to save this car, and not part it out. My younger brother has a 1982 Camaro that saw a hard life (and several NY winters), and then has been sitting in my parents' back yard for the last 5 or 6 years. I popped the hood yesterday to check things out, and I found that the battery tray had rotted and collapsed. And of course, when it disintegrated, it took about an inch and a half of the strut tower with it.

Naturally, that'll mean that the rot goes up another two or three inches higher, and that's if I'm lucky.

The inside and backside of the strut tower looks okay. Has anyone here ever repaired a rusted strut tower before, or know of someone else's repair? I'm just wondering if this car can be saved (assuming that the unibody isn't wasted when I try jacking it up later this week). Even though the body is rough, the car only has 82,000 original miles on it. It's just a base model sport coupe, but I really hate to see these thirdgens go to the crushers. Here in upstate NY, most of the junkyards don't bother with parting them out...they just crush them for bulk the second the title's signed over.

 

The battery tray on my 84 SE also disintegrated while sitting at the chicken farm for the last 8 or 10 years. IMHO, it was not a structural part of the car and a new one can be fabricated and welded in. Then again, in my car, the part of the battery tray that attaches to the strut tower is still there.

 

You can get aftermarket strut towers or good ones from a yard, or maybe Hawk's.
The thing to do is search for where the rust is and evaluate.
I've seen a whole replacement floor pan shown somewhere.
If the car is fixable, the knowledge is all around us here, a good place.
Good luck, I hope it is a keeper.