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Newbie here, and I have a 1976 Camaro with some fairly extensive body rot but has a really nice engine and a TH350 trans.. Do I try to do rust repair or find another car to drop the motor and trans into?
That depends a lot on you and the rest of the car. To me what you pictured is not bad to fix because it is mostly comedic but I have the equipment and know how to do it. I assume you are missing one of the two or both or you would not be asking. What is your goals? Are just just trying to get a classic car for cheap ? Depending on where you are it may be best to keep looking. In the Northern US cars in much better shape then this can be pricey but in Texas or Arizona this car would would be scrap.
How is the cars underneath? Its common on these cars to have the doors sag and windows to leak water and they will rust out the floors. There is a panel the runs across the back of the car under the rear bumper that is structural on these cars. It was common to see those rust out back in the 80's. Keep in mind this is a unibody cars so the floor and rocker panels are part of the structure so repairs should be solid and as strong or stronger then new. Also rust around windows can be a pain to fix if it has any and it tends to be a lot worst then it appears.
That depends a lot on you and the rest of the car. To me what you pictured is not bad to fix because it is mostly comedic but I have the equipment and know how to do it. I assume you are missing one of the two or both or you would not be asking. What is your goals? Are just just trying to get a classic car for cheap ? Depending on where you are it may be best to keep looking. In the Northern US cars in much better shape then this can be pricey but in Texas or Arizona this car would would be scrap.
How is the cars underneath? Its common on these cars to have the doors sag and windows to leak water and they will rust out the floors. There is a panel the runs across the back of the car under the rear bumper that is structural on these cars. It was common to see those rust out back in the 80's. Keep in mind this is a unibody cars so the floor and rocker panels are part of the structure so repairs should be solid and as strong or stronger then new. Also rust around windows can be a pain to fix if it has any and it tends to be a lot worst then it appears.
Hi Gorn,
My goals are to have a relatively fast, classic driver. This is by no means going to be a show car. I just want to have a decent looking 76 Camaro to drive around and have fun in. The door DO sag and the interior needs a bunch of work. Its got a warmed up SB 350 in it with TH350 transmission in it. I bought the car for 700.00.
It might not be as bad as it looks. If you're confident in welding or learning that may be a good candidate. From the looks of the pictures the rockers are solid and inner 1/4 fenders still exist. The rest are just patch panels that go from body line down. They are fairly cheap and common repair panels. But yes check floors and back panels under trunk. Also condition of front sub frame bolts and bushings.
Floors are solid, trunk pan is pretty rusted but no holes. The frame has alot of surface rust but in going under the car, the C channels seem pretty solid.
In this case POR-15 May be the way to go if the car is not worth restoration. It will chemically treat the the rust and seal it, it also adds some strength to the metal. I have been fighting rust for decades so feel free to post back here with any questions you may have
These cars where not the most ridged before the rust. May be worth your wild to look into some frame connectors and maybe a roll bar. That should stiffen things up and make the weakened sheet metal much less of a factor.
I really appreciate you're guidance on how to proceed. With me NOT being a body shop guy, I crawled under the car and it appears that with the exception of the passenger side rear quarter panel, I think I can get away with patch panels. I am going to have a body and frame guy look it over thoroughly and give me an honest appraisal. If its not safe to drive, I will pull the motor and trans and crush the car.
Not sure you want to crush it. There is almost always a guy that wants it for something. The first circle track car I built was in worse shape that that when I started. All you really need is the skins. I mean heck if it was a 74 I would drive 8-10 hours to get a a car in that shape for what you paid for it. The Hood, Roof, Doors and Trunk fit a lot of years. If any of those parts are good they should become donor parts.
1976 Camaro body rot
