Yeah sorry for the rant but its getting on my nerves lately with barret dumbass jackson auctions telling 16 years olds their SS is a fake and maybe they can find a sucker to buy it because it doesn't have the original engine and is therefore useless and all 60's built cars had 3mm door gaps and blah, blah, blah...it goes on and on. More and more the hobby is about money and less about the cars, quite sad. I just sent you 5 pics that I quickly grabbed from my files. If you need better next time I go to the farm I will take some good close up shots from that 72 GS 455 parts car I have. If the rest of your car isn't too bad then I'd give it a shot, but that cowl area is a huge job , be sure of that. Might want to farm that section out. And thanks for the words on the website, I am glad someone visits!! later Tim
the rest is good...besides the front floor pans & core support....othersise the car is all there....very clean lines....the body has not one scratch or rust....just some orange peel on drivers quarter panel...it was replaced about 10 years ago..(accident) after that the car sat for over 6 years ..the interior is immaculant ......I have a few welding buddies with experiance..just have to catch'm in a good mood...(in garage work I hope)....if i send the shell out-out it would most likely get very expensive and would maybe better off looking for a clean shell....its ony a 60k mile car it doesnt even need motor work ...but will rebiuld since it will be out... if it was 2 sell...i could part the car and make way more than what i paid for it...but thats not my gig.....at least not yet :laugh: :laugh:
If you count all the hours spent collecting and scrounging for parts you will be amazed the time it takes to get one finished . It is a good idea to start with a very nice complete car that needs only freshening but those survivops are few and very far between
Shell for you I might sell the 71 shell if you are willing to pay what I paid and come and get it It needs a media blast , Floors have surface rust only and will clean up nicely or buy my 72 lark and part it out .
doomsday??? well, tonight I have a local body shop owner and a guy that is suppose 2 know welding coming over to take a look at the gs cowling situation.... ...just by explaining it to them ,they seem gloomy about it.... they are talking parting it out...or a shell..... :af: ou: we will see tonight.. o No:
Make sure to get more than one opinion..and make sure they have a good rsto shop, backyard or collision type guys arent interested in this kind of work... later Tim
the body shop guy is a buddy of a buddy.......he is a 70's car freak himself...he owns a couple of nice ones....it's his opinion that counts to me.... Bottom line....... A SHELL FOR ME ..... :ball: :ball: :ball: :ball: :ball: :af: :ball: unexpected by me...but thats the way the cookie(cowling) crumbles like some people here had said...its a delicate layer upon layer thingy....we took off drivers side of the side cowling to get a better perspective....while at the same time found it almost crumbling internaly along the upper seems...especialy in the corners above the steering wheel/fuse panel area...and the other side above the heater core box so i will be posting shortly in the wanted section for a shell..or donor.... but thats ok..the project continues.... :grin: ...body comming off by next week....hey.... it was comming off anyway
preparing for body removal....mmmmm ok....I loosened all the front bushing bolts....no problem...but the center ones broke on me..... but my problem is the rears....I'm confused here....I turn and turn the bolts and nothing......what do they thread into ?? bcs I cant see anywhere to gain access to them.....I'm confused here o No: ...the ones by the rear bumper and the ones before them.....what am I doing wrong? HELP !!! ou: ou:
Frank I just saw your thread and had to comment.Glad you are giving it a try. You never will know if you can do something unless you give it a shot. Yeah, the classifieds are full of unfinished projects, but so what. Stay focused, dont rush and you will get it. On a streetrod I usually figure approx 500-700 man hours to build. These cars are a bit more complex and take more time. I am now in the middle of doing a frame off on a 68 Skylark Vert for the wife. The chassis is 90 percent done and I should set the body on next week. The body is painted and wired so thats behind me. Hopefully I will have the car on the road this summer. Its taken 2 years, but during that time I was adding on to my house and building a new garage so I wasnt really focused on the car. This year I am. Anyway, didnt mean to bore you with a long story, just to encourage you and tell you to focus and you will be successful. The guys on this board have come through many times for me with great advice and parts. This is a great resource.
There are captive nuts inside the sheetmetal. The "cage" is used to allow some movement for better positioning of the bolt as required and for body sheetmetal tolerances, yet still allow the bolts to thread in. The sheetmetal "cage" can distort or tear out (or is rusted out)when the body bushing bolts are really tight or rusted which allows the captive nut to now turn freely with the bolt. Due to the location, you might be able to cut off the heads , but you will still need to open the sheetmetal up from above to recapture those nutplates and repair that damage. later Tim
I was thinking this was the case....I have 2 sign up for a welding class...I will be bothering the beegees out the few people I know that do this stuff No need 2 worry...I FOUND A SHELL...and local as well.. :Brow: :Brow: """THE SHOW MUST GO ON"" BTW.....who talked about building a rotisserie out of 2 engine stands...???? or other plans for a makeshift one...???
my welding ability is nill....maybe I can practice with building a rotisserie... .....anyway....the body is all set for blast-off.... anybody need some used bushings and hardware... :laugh: look at these 1/4's ....might have 2 loose em...still cant believe all the hidden corrosion on such a sweet looking body...
my pace car is getting dusty...I have a 3 car garage....no need 2 worry even though parts are stacking up close to it....it might be gone in a couple of weeks.....it will be adopted by another family.. :ball:
more bad spots... while stripping it down I found 2 other bad spots on the car... in the front top left corner...winshield area..is worse than in picture and the drivers side upper rail above window...pic is upside down taken new shell on its way.... Question....I can almost pick up one side ...its seems flimsy and flexy like....is that normal or is the shell suppose to be STIFF when lifted???? o No:
With the restoration shop time(1000 hours) combined with my time(4000 hours),there is over 5000 hours of time on my car.
Wow Carl , with shop prices at 25.00 pr hr ( cheapest I have seen been quoted ) up to 85.00 most expensive . You are looking at 25,000.00 to 85,000.00 without any parts . Not including your time . I guess if you have a car with all the original parts that just needs to be cleaned and checked , detailed and reinstalled you might be able to do it for only 2 times the value of a completed car . With Stage 1 prices in the 30K to 50K range it leads me to believe that a person would have to be really inlove with their car to send it to a shop for the resto .
