How much is to much Rust?

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Train

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Keep in mind this all completely new to us, but we aren't afraid to try anything. And please, correct me if any of the terminology is wrong.

So I'm looking at the post by GreenDart72, scary stuff. So before my son goes ahead with his 72 I figure we better check it out real good. My main concern is of course, how bad are the frame rails. Well at first glance everything is rusted. The floor is really bad. There's places where you can break through with a hammer but others that seem totally intact. Trunk is the same way but not as bad. So the thinking is, check out the trunk a little more and more than likely it can be patched. We'll see. For the floor, buy a replacement. The frame rails. The rust really seems to be surface. There's nothing loose to scrape of and I went over them all, taking a pointed body hammer and striking them hard. Nowhere did they seem to be week at all.

The rest of the car is just what I'd expect from an old car. Needs a new interior, rusted rocker panels, etc. The doors and front fenders seem to be in pretty good shape. The rear quarters have bad rust spots on about the bottom 2 inches. It's not missing much. The chrome emblems, front signal light lenses, and a couple trim pieces. So what do you think? Carry on? The boy really wants to give it a go and say's he wants to do it right. He knows it'll take a lot of time and "money", but he seems to realize what it will take. Knows things like "bondo is for smoothing out imperfections, not filling holes"

Opinions please.
 
Bear in mind alot of parts are available both new and used,father son projects are fun and you will never have trouble picking out Christmas or Birthday presents again and finally this is a perfect skill and charactor building opportunity as well as an opportunity to re- cycle.Everything about this is positive.
 
greenhornet said:
If your son is a rookie builder, I'd find a more solid project car...
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I agree, but I'm sure it's tough to find a solid project car up in your area....I'd look real hard for one though if it was me, just from what you've said about the condition, your talking about some major restoration.

Rickster
 
rickstershemi said:
I agree, but I'm sure it's tough to find a solid project car up in your area....I'd look real hard for one though if it was me, just from what you've said about the condition, your talking about some major restoration.

Rickster
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A few extra hundered of even a thousand spent for a good "solid" project car will save you a whole lot of labor, parts and money in the long run... I didn't think my 66-Valiant floorboard was that bad just looking at the pics, after I tore into it the reality was that 95% of the floorboard had to be replaced... Now I figured out why the guy gave me such a good deal on it, It was over his head and ability...
 
This is the question, if he has the ability then go for it replacing metal requires fab and welding skills. If you have to have someone do it for you find a better car, that kind of restoration work ain't cheap.
 
Purple Haze said:
This is the question, if he has the ability then go for it replacing metal requires fab and welding skills. If you have to have someone do it for you find a better car, that kind of restoration work ain't cheap.
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X2.......... You're looking at 5-pounds of mig wire and countless hours fabbin' and labor right here.. And I'm still not finished.... I'm not saying yours is as bad as mine, but getting rid of serious rust problems can be a pain... My frame, quarters etc have no rust at all...

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Oh yeah;For a first project dont go crazy on the rust.I have seen loads of people get tired of a big project.Find a non rusty 4 door,get it going,have some fun with it. After a while you can see where it's going,then maybe try a bigger project.Too many disappointments on a rusty car for a first project.GOOD LUCK
 
No pictures yet. Yes, it's hard to find cars of that era in our area. The boy already owns the car. He inherited it from an uncle who passed away. He fully understands the tremendous amount of work, money, time and frustrations that will go into the project. We have the room in the shop, the car can be disassembled and left indoors for as long as it takes. Welding isn't a problem. We know the motor and trani are OK. Greenhornet, that looks pretty much like what we are expecting to do with the floor. The question is, is it doable on a unibody? Like I posted, the frame rails seem to be solid. The floor rust appears to have started on the inside as the windshield was missing and the car saw a hell of a lot of water sitting on the floor for many many years. The floor looks like crap inside, but underneath doesn't look so bad. That's why I think it started from the interior. It wasn't untill we stripped out the floor liner and water saturated sound deadener that we eve noticed how bad the floor was.
 
How much is too much? Depends on how much work you want to do.... simple as that. Technically there isn't a "too much". Just a too much for you!
 
My floor rusted from the inside out also.. Since the car means something and he already owns it I'd fly in on it.. I was thinking your son was looking for a project... If you have a welder and it sounds like y'all have the drive, I'd start cuttin' the rust out, ANYTHINGS do-able its just metal....
 
If you have the space to store it inside, why not try to fix it? You and the boy can learn together :-D
 
I'd start by finding a decent cheap semi rust free parts car or hull.. Heres what mine started out as, I removed all the orange area and tranny tunnel, I just left parts of the old floorboard to use as referance points then I cut it out because I pretty much build my floorboard with good scrap...

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If it's doable then we'll do it. Thanks everyone for all the comments. Two questions for Greenhornet. What's your tool of choice for cutting? Cut off wheel, sawzall? Also how is the sheet metal attached to the crossmembers, spotweld?
 
You and your son have the place and the time I'd say go for it. Floors are the worst part of the build get past that and your on your way. Get prepared to get burned,cut,flash burned. It's fun, i bought a car from Florida expecting not to do floors but nope i had to fabricate a front left pan.
Here's a couple pic's.
 
Train said:
If it's doable then we'll do it. Thanks everyone for all the comments. Two questions for Greenhornet. What's your tool of choice for cutting? Cut off wheel, sawzall? Also how is the sheet metal attached to the crossmembers, spotweld?
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I use the cut off wheel a lot, for precision cuts I like using a sawz-all if I can get to it with a blade.. Factory floorboard is just spot welded in even at the crossmember, I solid welded all of mine.. My build is a gasser thats why I enlarged my tranny tunnel so much, repo floorpans for a '66 all looked like cheap tin so I made my own, most of the floorboard at the rear and seat area I cut patches from a '73 four door valiant...
 
greenhornet said:
A few extra hundered of even a thousand spent for a good "solid" project car will save you a whole lot of labor, parts and money in the long run... I didn't think my 66-Valiant floorboard was that bad just looking at the pics, after I tore into it the reality was that 95% of the floorboard had to be replaced... Now I figured out why the guy gave me such a good deal on it, It was over his head and ability...
Click to expand...

Train said:
If it's doable then we'll do it. Thanks everyone for all the comments. Two questions for Greenhornet. What's your tool of choice for cutting? Cut off wheel, sawzall? Also how is the sheet metal attached to the crossmembers, spotweld?
Click to expand...

Pick up a few spot weld drill bits....makes removal much easier....I also use a cut-off wheel....the thin ones cut like butter.....best of luck with your project 8)

Rickster
 
I agree with the guys who say that your project would be a great learning experience. Everyone has to start somewhere. Like the guys said, it is only metal. It can be bent, cut, welded, and all redone again. No reason to be afraid of tackling it. There are a bunch of us here who have done it, some many more than once.

There are literally hundreds of years of experience here on this site. Get yourself some basic tools and start looking for the rusted areas. If you have questions about which tools are best for particular jobs, just ask. There are some replacement panels on the market today that did not exist 20 years ago. If you have any questions, just ask. People here on this site have a propensity to help others - that's a fact.

Let the fun begin! :cheers:
 
the first one, thats a really good looking solid start it looks like, the second, im sorry to say, looks like its gonna be alot alot of work.
 
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