74 Rust Problem
well guys no help. didnt pay a dime for it and its alctualy less of a rust bucket than you think. I wanted to make a plan so it dosent go to waste but your right. Its not worth anything to you so ill scrap the shinny girl. Thanks for painting with your wide brushes. I'm far more inclined to take on a restoration like this than you. Came here for specific A-body details but thats not happening. Usless old people!
Here's the problem with a "free" car. If it will take $5k to put it back on the road, its not a free car anymore.
Here are some ballpark figures for your rust repair...
Floorpan- $450
Torsion bar crossmember- $335
Rear frame rails- $685 (pair)
Inner fenders- $430
Front frame rails aren't reproduced, but usually sell on eBay for 175-200. So lets call that 350.
So far, you're at $2,250. And that doesn't even include installation, that's just parts. And that's just the structural stuff, that doesn't even cover the rusty fenders and quarters. Even if you do all the work yourself and you already have a welder, you're looking at well over $2,500 just to get the car structurally sound. If you can't do the work yourself, the labor to install all of those parts will probably exceed $5k.
Maybe everything you listed doesn't need to be replaced, but since you didn't show us any pictures, that's what we have to assume. Most of the "old guys" on this board have seen cars like the one you described, and typically they end up having twice as much damage as they appear to. Which means if you already know it has that much rust, it realistically has a lot more.
Most folks on here would rather see you save your car. But they're trying to help. You basically told us your car needs over $2,500 worth of metal. And since you can buy a pretty nice running, driving 4 door for $2,500, that's the advice you got.
