[mc1984ss]

I looked at a 67 hardtop today. It had an old paint job on it that was starting to flake. No obvious rust bubbling through and everything looked pretty fair. The owner was very straight forward and lifted the trunk mat to show a 2'x2' area that he repaired with fiberglass mat along with one or two smaller areas. Also on the radiuses part of the driver's floor under the left foot there was more fiberglass patching. Super honest guy and had no problem pointing out flaws. My gut tells.me to walk away from it. I'm not afraid of a project but I'm terrified of what else is hiding under that 20-30 yr old paint and elsewhere. Lots of thick undercoating underneath so hard to tell. When car shopping the old saying is buy something with the body work done and come out ahead. I think I need to keep looking but would love some opinions. If this is the wrong section I apologise Thanks in advance

 

[Sooner1]

I looked at a 67 hardtop today. It had an old paint job on it that was starting to flake. No obvious rust bubbling through and everything looked pretty fair. The owner was very straight forward and lifted the trunk mat to show a 2'x2' area that he repaired with fiberglass mat along with one or two smaller areas. Also on the radiuses part of the driver's floor under the left foot there was more fiberglass patching. Super honest guy and had no problem pointing out flaws. My gut tells.me to walk away from it. I'm not afraid of a project but I'm terrified of what else is hiding under that 20-30 yr old paint and elsewhere. Lots of thick undercoating underneath so hard to tell. When car shopping the old saying is buy something with the body work done and come out ahead. I think I need to keep looking but would love some opinions. If this is the wrong section I apologise Thanks in advance

Pics would help. I’d probably brought a magnet.
Yes I now try to buy old cars with the majority of the body work done already.
Buy once cry once.
Go with your gut.

 

[smackvay]

couple pics and price would help a ton

 

[mc1984ss]

I'm sorry I did not take any pictures of the car. When I walked away from it I was convinced I was not going to buy it. When I got home I started rethinking it. It is a 67 sport coupe has drums on all 4 corners. Fresh 383 rebuilt th-400 and a 12 bolt. It had a light front end collision once upon a time. Looked good on outside but the inner fender was wrinkled. I would have to say it had minor damage. Like I had mentioned earlier hidden rust is my biggest fear. I don't even mind the old flaking paint job. He said the lowest he would go is $16k I think the price is inline but I could be wrong

 

[CdnL79 Registry]

Fibreglass trunk and floor patching, previous front end damage, wrinkled inner front fender, flaking paint, thick undercoating.....your parting thought that you weren't going to buy it may have been correct. Almost impossible to help you decide without pictures.

Bob

 

[mc1984ss]

I understand that pictures would help and am regretting not taking some to share here. Dumb question would I be out of line asking an owner to take pictures of problem areas? If it were your car would you be offended? At some point the owner should realize you are trying to make sure your " investment" is worth the hard earned money you are willing to spend. Thanks again guys just trying to learn here I've been out of the game a while

 

[lewie415]

I understand that pictures would help and am regretting not taking some to share here. Dumb question would I be out of line asking an owner to take pictures of problem areas? If it were your car would you be offended? At some point the owner should realize you are trying to make sure your " investment" is worth the hard earned money you are willing to spend. Thanks again guys just trying to learn here I've been out of the game a while

If I was selling the car, I would take as many pictures for you. I would try and make a sale and give you anything that you had questions on. Otherwise it may look like I'm trying to hide something. I always like feeling a seller out by how they respond to questions you ask or pictures they can provide to save a trip. A 2nd look at the car wouldn't hurt either. Depending on how far you are away. You will already know what to look for and you may uncover other areas or things you missed the first time.

 

[Alf]

Hot rodding can be a very expensive hobby. The only way to even stay close to not being buried is to start with a solid car.
Fiberglass, filler, pop-riveted panels, overlays are not acceptable rust repair.
There is not an initial price low enough to ultimately offset your final cost.
The sound you hear is me stepping off the soapbox.....