Isn't that a bit drastic?

[Michael_]

Yesterday somebody told me he would cut those pieces out and replace them with new AMD sheetmetal.

Well im not a body man but it looks not all that bad to me?
So im surprised by that statement.

Do you guys think thats necessary?
Whats the alternative? (If there is any)

Consider the car is all original sheetmetal right now.

Im not disgusted how it looks but i get if you dont do anything it most likely gets worse.

 

[gkent]

Probably opening a can of worms ... you cut the lower quarters off then find the trunk extensions have rot - may as well do those too! Next thing you know the car is sitting untouched for ten years!!

Besides, its always easy to say "what you'd do" when its not your car !!

 

[dadsbee]

Spray it with Krown (inside and out) and drive the hell out of it..

 

[Nate S]

Tough to tell what’s there or not but it would seem that just a little piece of the patch panel and a tig butt weld would fix what’s needed and not more.

 

[Michael_]

Probably opening a can of worms ...

Thats also my fear.

The undercoating is factory or dealer applied. Its on the original invoice.
But i also do not really want to know how it looks under there right now. Hopefully not bad.

At least at this point i do not want to go from "repairing" to "restoring" which could potentially happen really quick if you dig too much.

Spray it with Krown (inside and out) and drive the hell out of it..

Sounds like a good idea, at least for now.

 

[davek]

Im not feeling it but then again its not my car. A decent metal guy can fix that but you never know what your going to find. I would not just let any yahoo touch my car,I want to see his work and talk to some people.

 

[1967coronet]

You start grinding on there and you know whats going to be uncovered. Wait till winter, You can work below that 1st body contour. Little body steel and a metal break. Thats not that bad.
Someone that can paint can blend up to that contour. You will need to replace the stripe though after welding & paint work

 

[440 4 speed]

It looks not to bad now, if I had the car I would spray a rust/preventer, killer, don’t know how well they work and enjoy the car especially if all of the rest of the paint is nice.
Are ever planning on selling the car, or is it just for you. And it depends on your expectations and age.

 

[Michael_]

Yes i also dont think it looks too bad and i WILL spray some rust preventer/killer on it.
I would also fix it but as has been pointed out bevor, i might find something i do not really want to see.

Well my plan is to fix everything mechanical/electrical that isn't working and then looking at the body/paint.
There are paint flaws all over the place but very little (at least visible) rust.
Im no paint/body guy but i think the paint is fixable for someone who really knows what he is doing.
At least i do not want to repaint the car. Because its not too bad and original.

I'm just a little anxious what's hidden behind the panels and undercoating.
Well maybe nothing, maybe a nightmare.

 

[dadsbee]

30.5 years now I've had the Bird and while it has got a bit worse in 3 decades, I have no intention of fixing it in my lifetime! I'm not opening up that $100K can of worms..

 

[gkent]

Well I opened a can of worms and this is how it came home a year ago and guess what ... it looks exactly the same today !!

 

[gdrill]

Don't touch it from the outside. Dump a 1/2 quart of trans fluid in each side and let it drip out........

 

[MarPar]

Spray it with Krown (inside and out) and drive the hell out of it..

Drive it and fall in love with it summore. If there's anything there, it'll be waiting for you. lol

 

[Ironbuilt]

30.5 years now I've had the Bird and while it has got a bit worse in 3 decades, I have no intention of fixing it in my lifetime! I'm not opening up that $100K can of worms..

View attachment 982224

$100K is a bargain to redo a real Superbird. I agree @dadsbee drive it like you stole it. Or let your lovely wife drive it like SHE stole it.

 

[66 Sat]

Mine was probably a bit worse than that. A local guy fixed it up, I think he probably treated the rust and filled the holes and painted it. That was 5 years ago and it looks just as good today. More importantly the car has been on the road and driven 1-3 times a week for the last 2 years. Everyone has their own plan. Mine was a decent driver quality car and that's what I've ended up with.

 

[brad 66]

Don't touch it from the outside. Dump a 1/2 quart of trans fluid in each side and let it drip out........

 

[brad 66]

i agree dump oil or trans fluid from inside and enjoy can repair later or not

 

[barbee6043]

I have a Pontiac bud from way back home he kept the trunk floor of his old 67 Firebirds coated with ATF!!! Never rusted!! Maybe messy but he is nt a show poodle kind f guy, !

 

[myk r sanchez]

Whatever you do, stop the corrosion now with some sort of rust encapsulator like Zero Rust. I had similar damage to your car and I knew it would be years before I could flip enough hamburgers to pay for the bodywork, so I grinded as much as I could to clean metal and then painted/treated it. Years later I finally got the metalwork done. It won't be pretty but it will buy you time.

In the meantime, i would take your car out and get as many estimates as you can, and see where you stand. Ignoring car problems is like ignoring the dentist: at some point you will have to face it and the longer you do the more it will hurt...

 

[Don Frelier]

If the car is all original paint I wouldn't touch it. Do the trans oil thing inside.