Advice needed

[carson]

Hi all,
I need some advice to move forward. I recently got my car back from media blasting, and while I am not overly surprised, it's worse than I thought.

From what I can tell, it needs

the full passenger quarter, and maybe the drivers.
roof skin with drip rails
rear trunk filler panel
deck lid
passenger door skin
tail panel
upper dash
both tulip panels
full floor?


I need some input from people that know more than me on how best to proceed. I see that the Dynacorn are $13.5K and come with doors and truck lid, this seems like it would be a cheaper/faster route than sentencing the car to either body shop jail for years, or having me hack at it until it is minimally acceptable. What level of quality are these bodies? Can I just swap my VIN/body tags over?

I am also a little afraid of the squareness of the whole body after seeing the floor pan around the transmission tunnel. Are there any known points that can be measured to confirm square, or should I just pick some repeatable locations?

Thank you all in advance for your help.
Pictures:
20345320345420345820345520345720345620345920346020 34582034552034572034562034592034602034622034612034 63203462203461203463

[andrewb70]

As I understand it, you can get a new body and simply use your old VIN tags. With as much work that your body needs, a new shell makes a lot of sense.

Andrew

[dhutton]

If the rockers and frame rails are decent it can be fixed. A body jig is essential to doing a good job. Camaros.net has a lot of threads from guys fixing worse. Here’s my body jig.

Don

[raustinss]

Those new bodies aren't anywhere close to being ready for paint either from everything I've heard. Obviously it would require less work vs your car now .

[carson]

Thanks for the feedback. I know that the body can be fixed, I have seen some amazing transformations from way worse beginnings. But this is not anything special, just a base model car and in the interest of savings (both time and money) I am just wondering if I would be ahead starting with clean (er?) sheetmetal? Does any body have any first hand experience with the aftermarket bodies?

[NCSU68]

When I checked on a new body last spring they were a year out on delivery. Does anyone know if it has been improved?

[79 Camaro]

I second the new body route. But I would contact Texas DMV about switching the vin tags. In MN that would be a big time no no. Good luck either way.

[dhutton]

If you don’t want to fix it I recommend you sell it and find a better one.

Anyone who has been through a Texas VIN inspection would never consider trying a VIN swap on a Dynacorn body. They are going to look for the hidden VIN numbers and they won’t be there….

Don

[CSG]

I have not looked at the camaro hidden vin places but are they just stamped like a lot of other cars? If so I have seen that duplicated. Also have to completely cut that old body up and dispose of like a corpse if going that route

[carson]

Just out of curiosity, what is a VIN inspection? I have done a lot of car deals in Texas and never encountered that.

[dhutton]

Out of state cars and bonded titles require a VIN inspection. They can be a painful experience depending on who is doing it. Cars have been impounded.

Don

[79 Camaro]

Again not TX but in MN a bonded title doesn't require an inspection. What the bond protects is the state against some one coming back with the "real" title and says the the car is mine not the guy with the bonded title. The bond from an insurance company has to be worth what the car is worth. In MN the bond insurance has to be paid for 2 years. The title will be stamped bonded.
Having said that above I've have couple of car buddies that have built street rods. Bodies and frames from the aftermarket. The bodies had a number from the supplier that the state used as the vin. The state required the builder to keep all receipts for all parts. Then when they were complete they submitted all to the DMV for a title. No issues and no bond.

[carson]

Made an, at least temporary, decision to try to repair as much as I can myself. Starting with the cheaper and less visible areas. We'll see how it goes.

Wish me luck...

As I progress I'm sure I will have a lot more questions about my process, and about a body jig.

Thank you all for your input.