I am serious about purchasing a 69 shell and would like some pointers on what to look far as far as the condition of the car. I do not want the car to come with a engine/transmission

But want to know info on what to look for in a shell

Such as rusted areas, which places are the worst and hardest to repair?

also, I seem to see a lot of shells being sold on ebay that does not have a front end. BUT a lot of times they are quite cheap compared to more complete shells. Is the front end so expensive to where I should probably go ahead and buy a more complete shell? I have no idea on the pricing of the front end.

Please give me a few pointers, I have searched the site pretty well and watched a few videos on a channel called "Low budget garage" which was dealing with a 69 camaro build.

I appreciate your help,

John

 

BTW to me it seems as if the extremely hard stuff to fix is the interior, floor panels etc. Thats just from looking at the pics. But I could be wrong. Please let me know what ya'll think.

what are some of the harder things to repair on the body???

 

Well all of the front end is easily replacable. Its a matter of buying new parts and fitting them together. No welding is involved. The rest of the car is all one piece so to speak with the exception of the doors and trunk lid. All areas to be repaired from the dash back have to be cut away and new sheet metal or panels welded on. Then filled with a led fill or bondo and then sanded smooth.

From my experience.....and anyone may correct me if I am wrong or add to this info.........but after going thru a complete restore of my camaro, I learned as to where to look for rust and or bondo that may have been used in the past. But the real test wont come until you get all the paint blasted off to see whats really under there. That being said I know alot of common rust problem areas would be the dash area, around the edge of the roof and above the doors, the trunk opening at the gutters and the floors, and also the quarter panels. Whats most important though is the underside of the camaro and how much rust is on the framing. You can also see up into the rear quarter panels as well.

If you are not sure as to what you are getting yourself into, take someone along with you to look at whatever camaro you are interested in. Preferably a body man who knows just what to look for.

And good luck

 

^^ this person knows. I just gave one away with serious cancer. I wish I had a pic to post so I could show you all the problem spots. Mostly floor pans, trunk pans, Rear frame rails and shock towers on it. Always drip rails, around the windshield and the cowl area upper and lower. Leaves are bad to collect down in the fender on the passengers side right behind the front tires. You cant see it unless you take the fender off. Didnt see mine till I bought the car and got it home and started tearing it down. Good luck to you.

 

also, I see a lot of cars on ebay that don't have a title, but have a Bill of sale. I'm guessing that would hurt resale value and hurt the value of the car. is that correct? But by how much?

 

thats a loaded question. The Value thing is gonna be a personal preference thing that will more depend on what you are gonna do with the car... But if you are planning on reselling it thats not the way to start. The Biggest problem you'll have with titling it making sure you can actually tag it and drive it. I bought a 69 in another state with no Title just a bill of sale, guy said any vehicle over 15 years old doesnt require a Title in his state. I called that Dept of Motor Vehicles and he was correct. When I got it back to FL our State doesnt care, they want a Title or you are Up $hit Creek without a paddle. No Title, you cant prove the person that sold it to you without it. They could have dragged it out of a field somewhere and sold it to you with a piece of paper saying they owned it. needless to say I got screwed ended up parting it out. be careful how you purchase, be sure you check out Titling issues before you worry about resale values.