What Body Areas to Check for Possible Rust/Bondo/Etc.?

[Steel409]

Hello all,

Happy to be making my first post on this site! I've spent hours upon hours reading and learning, and I'm close to making my first project purchase.

http://lasalle.craigslist.org/cto/4699475455.html

With that being said, the car I'm looking at is a 1967 Camaro. I'm curious to know, what areas of the body should I inspect to confirm that I won't have any rust/body issues in the future?

Based on my research, I've found the following:

External floorboards/trunk
Trunk internal under the rear window
Behind each wheel well

Any other suggestions?

Thanks so much in advance for any tips!

[Rick D]

Looks like a nice car, buuut looks arent the only thing your buying.

Couple of places to look are, rear inner wheel tub seam to rear floor, this one is over looked by the fliper when he's making it all shiny on the outside.

Lower rear of fenders, look ALL the way on the bottom where the bolts go, this is another area that if done correctly should be nice and crisp not all filled with filler.

Look inside of the front fenders, are they coated with undercoating that was just sprayed from the front opening. Are the painted real nice, this will tell you if they were off the car or not.

Ask him if he has a lift or is there a repair shop close by to take the car to and check out the underside. Then call around to see if you can rent the lift from a shop for a 1/2hr?

The last thing, this one could be the difference between buying a nice car and a flipper, if you don't know these cars well, ask someone who does to go with you. This could be a friend or someone from your local car builder or close by resto shop. When i had my resto shop I would do this all the time, mostly is was for current customers but I would get calls to check out stuff all the time.

Also don't be in hurry to buy the first car you see because its shinny!! The price range your looking in (not sure if this is your top end or low end" has ALOT of good cars and ALOT of flippers or worse JUNK!!

I se your in IL or at least looking at a car in IL, lots of old rustout cars that have been slaped together and lots that are nice, wait for the nice one!

Good luck and dont be in a hurry, its almost winter here anyway!

[Steel409]

Rick,

Thanks 100 times over. This info is invaluable.

I agree with you 100% that this price range can harvest both great cars and crappy cars. It's at the top of my budget, but I've also been looking for 12-18 months. (I'm not saying I'm getting impatient, but I might be getting impatient :-) )

I haven't gone out to look at the car yet, but unfortunately, Madison doesn't have a strong collector car presence (liberal town), and I surely don't know many "body guys" / restoration gurus. So I'm kind of on my own with this one. I definitely haven't looked at enough cars to know which ones have had great body work completed, and which ones have not. Maybe I should look for a resto shop in that area and see if I could pay for their services for a 1/2 hour. Great recommendation.

Was just hoping to be armed with a list of spots to scrutinize.

Thanks again, Rick. Really appreciate it!

All the best,

Jack

[dirty rick]

I'm not a Camaro guy but can the VIN be decoded to discover the original model? Not sure it's an SS or an original black car.
Does any of this matter to you? It certainly affects value. It might be a Green 6 cyl 3 speed car in drag.

I don't like the lift kit that has been installed.

Which rear axle and brakes?

If the car is everything you want as is this might be a fair deal, if you will need to make a lot of changes you might be better off putting one together.

[Rick D]

No problem at all Jack, thats what these sites are for!

If your looking in the Chicago area let me know, I'm in the north/west burbs and I'm willing to lend a hand or eyes. I've been building cars for a long time and have been in the resto and collision business my whole life.

Rick,

Thanks 100 times over. This info is invaluable.

I agree with you 100% that this price range can harvest both great cars and crappy cars. It's at the top of my budget, but I've also been looking for 12-18 months. (I'm not saying I'm getting impatient, but I might be getting impatient :-) )

I haven't gone out to look at the car yet, but unfortunately, Madison doesn't have a strong collector car presence (liberal town), and I surely don't know many "body guys" / restoration gurus. So I'm kind of on my own with this one. I definitely haven't looked at enough cars to know which ones have had great body work completed, and which ones have not. Maybe I should look for a resto shop in that area and see if I could pay for their services for a 1/2 hour. Great recommendation.

Was just hoping to be armed with a list of spots to scrutinize.

Thanks again, Rick. Really appreciate it!

All the best,

Jack

[Steel409]

Rick,

Thanks for the offer! I'll definitely take you up on the offer if I find something in that area!

If you're a body man, what's your opinion on "Picture 11" (top of the headliner pic)? If there is no rust or concern of rust (as the seller stated), what's with the trim fasteners? If it were me and I had taken the trim off for paint, it would make sense to me to install new fasteners. Would you have any concern?

Here's the abridged version of the first conversation:

Real SS or re-badged base model? "Not sure." (That tells me it's not an original SS. Not a huge deal to me, but if it were me, I'd want to know if it were a real SS so I could price it appropriately.)

Why are you selling the car? "Too much power. Looking for something more mundane I can drive long distances now that I've sold my business and am retired." (He said he also has an orange w/ with stripes '67 convertible he'll never sell.)

Who did the body work/paint? "Don't know, previous owner. I had a body guy take a look and he said it was beautiful and laser straight." (That's what I'd say if my friend "the body guy" took a look at my car, too!)
Any concerns with rust/bondo anywhere on the car? "Nope. None. It's beautiful." (Lots of reiteration that the car was 'beautiful'.)

Who did the engine work? "Don't know, previous owner. It has a lot of power." (Subjective, I know.)
2-bolt or 4-bolt mains? Compression ratio? "Don't know."
What transmission? "A 4-speed." I mean, Muncie? T-10? Richmond? "Don't know." (Not a big deal, I'd like a TKO-600 down the line anyways.)

Anything not work? "Some window weatherstripping needs to be replaced, but otherwise all the gauges work. No power steering. It just needs the pump." (Obviously a straight line cruiser, but shouldn't be too difficult to install.)

10-bolt or 12-bolt rearend? "10-bolt."

Drums or discs? "Discs on the front."

Any suspension mods? Subframe connectors? "No. Actually, it might have those subframe connectors."

DirtyRick,

I'm with you, not a fan of the stance at all. But, that can be changed without too much trouble. Interestingly enough, I was going back and forth with this guy in Detroit:

http://www.autotraderclassics.com/cl...tityId=1637951

Color scheme a complete coincidence! But, he made a lot of mods that I would do to this '67, He wasn't interested in budging on price, and wanted to get his "appreciated" asking price. I figured if I could get this '67 for $19k/20k, and make the ~$3k-$4k of mods, I'd come out a little ahead and won't have to spend 14 hours on the road, and $400 worth of gas to get to Detroit and get the car home to Madison!

All part of the hobby, I suppose!

Thanks again Rick(s)! Hope you're enjoying your Saturday!

[Steel409]

Just got off the phone with the seller, he won't be around to show the car tomorrow (unfortunately at the weather is supposed to be crappy this week), but I did ask him how long he's had the black '67 and he said a few months.

This makes me somewhat more concerned that he's trying to flip it after a quick paint job, as you said, Rick.

Will still try to get out and take a look as quickly as possible.

Cheers!

[socalfandabodys]

Just a quick note the car does not seem to have weather stripping installed per the pictures. Leads me to what else...