Rust and perspective

[W Bell <cbody67tx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The word "rust" has different meanings depending on what part of the country you live in, as a friend of mine found out many years ago.  What we would consider RUST down here in TX, people in the northern part of the USA considered as rust and were much more inclined to not worry about what we considered to be "not worth messing with".  Just depends on what you're used to dealing with.

 

Unfortunate thing about UniBody cars is that rust in the structure is not good.  Not having seen the picture of this particular vehicle, I will say that if rust proofing/corrosion resistance compounds/treatments were not used in the modification of the vehicle, then any vehicle of that type might be suspect even if it had no visible rust.  Depending on what stampings/panels they used to stretch the vehicle, it might be no worse than putting in patch panels in a trunk floor or it could be pure fabrication (and somebody that knew how to work the various metal brakes to get the panels to be what they needed to be).  Not quite in the realm of a typical body shop with a frame machine, but for the serious restoration shops that know what an English Wheel and other metal fabrication fixtures are, it might be no worse for them than a regular body shop welding on a new quarter panel.  Like some of those high end "car shops" that have been featured on TLC and SPEED Channel recently, not to mention "Trucks" on The Spike Network.  For that matter, one of the existing Limo conversion companies might duplicate the original build activities too.

 

I concur that anything is rebuildable or restorable, just that some are more financially intensive than others.  Unfortunately, if a cost/benefit orientation is used, along with existing price guidelines for valuation purposes, it would not be economically feasible at all, but for someone into "Professional Vehicles" (for which there are several clubs around the nation), it could be a labor of love for a rare vehicle.  Any funeral directors around that are Chrysle enthusiasts?

 

Just some thoughts,

W Bell