1967 firebird coupe. Where is the rust?

[faverymi]

I'm going to look at a coupe with its original 350 and 4 speed manual.
Nicely worn. It's been a driver. Looks good on pictures.
Where do I look for rust? Cheap enough that it will be the deal breaker.
Ohhh. And Merry Christmas. Thanks! !!

[LeeH]

Under the doors, door jambs, lower rear quarters, trunk, rockers, along the trailing edge of the vinyl top, if it has one.

[porsche4life]

Take a magnet with you. Tap on the areas Lee mentioned. If they feel solid stick a magnet on there and make sure it's not rust that's been patched with bondo!

[Steve Carlton]

Didn't those have the 326 engine?

[wayner]

Floor, the entire bottom edge of the body, plus the rear subframe dogleg.

A little easier to spot and assess compared to Porsches.

[fastfredracing]

Area of the frame, and body where the body mounts are. Look good at the area on the rear frame rails where the leaf spring shackles attach . Around the lower section of rear window .

[lendaddy]

I had a '68, I sold it having taken the impression they were made of rust from the factory. Mine had a few spots where they must have ran out and had to use virgin steel but I think was a short lived supply chain issue.

[aigel]

Cowl area can be very bad and hidden under the trim. It is a must inspection area..

Also, quarter panels, floors, trunk - but those are more obvious.



G

[RANDY P]

open the trunk. Rear window seal fails and kills trunk. Rear quarters, floorpan. Practically mandatory.

[creaturecat]

inner rockers, inner fenders, rear valence .....

[Laneco]

A 67 Firebird with its original 350 eh?

Hmmm...

Should probably check into that. I'm a pretty weak on Pontiacs , so please double check my questionable memory, but it seems to me that you went OHC 6, then 326 V8, then 400 V8 on the early cars. Don't think the 350 came until 68 or 69.

angela

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I've owned three F-body cars in my days (never again!) To the above I'd add the front quarters behind the wheels (and all inner sections behind the wheels where gravel / salt / junk gets kicked up and lodged in there), definitely around the windshield as was posted, lower floor pan (I had one rot out where the e-brake cable penetrates - not fun to fix), pretty much anywhere in the trunk (side areas where it dips down behind the rear wheels for sure), rear quarters seem particularly susceptible as do the lower doors (drain holes are junk and plug up, allowing stuff to sit in there and wreak havoc).

I'm one of those guys that's been through too much hell with GM products to ever consider owning one ever again - I don't care how much they claim to have atoned for past sins or how much they say they've figured everything out. I've simply suffered too much for too long in the past to ever take a chance on one ever again.

Good luck with it!

[Nickshu]

Bondo Detector: Amazon.com: The Filler Detective - Autobody Putty & Damage Detector: Automotive

It's amazing how good you can make bad bodywork look.

[strupgolf]

67,68,69 Firebirds never came with a 350, which was mostly a Chevy badged motor. 326, then a 400 only foe those years. But its hard to tell between looking at both the 326 and 400.

[Don Ro]

Originally Posted by strupgolf

67,68,69 Firebirds never came with a 350, which was mostly a Chevy badged motor. 326, then a 400 only foe those years. But its hard to tell between looking at both the 326 and 400.

Where did you get this info?
.
Here's the real poop - -
~~~~~~~`
In 1968, the convertible and a hardtop coupe saw changes in their engines:
Firebird 350:

The V-8 326 cubic inch was upgraded to a 350 cubic inch two-barrel with 265 horsepower. This was available for an additional $105.60.
.
Firebird 350 H.O.:

The V-8 326 H.O. (High Output) was also upgraded to a 350 cubic inch four-barrel with 320 horsepower, premium fuel, stiffer suspensions, dual exhausts, and side stripes with “H.O.” lettering. This was available for an additional $180.58.

~~~~~~~
The specs on my '68 Firebird 350 H.O. ...350ci ...1x4bbl ...320 hp ...380 lb-ft.
Not a bad little car...4 spd., strong/quick...wish I still had it.

[strupgolf]

I stand corrected. I was thinking about the 350 "original" motor in the op post, not in 67. I don't think I ever saw a firebird badged with a 350 badge. Oh well.

[faverymi]

well well well...... thank you for instructing me.

You are all correct. It was a 1967 with its original 326. Looked shiny, looked pretty, ran good.

At close inspection car cancer was evident. She was rusty and crusty.

Most evident areas were around the trunk, inner fenders and floors. Like you described.

I have to say that cowl, firewall picture really scare me. But at that point was no sale for me.

Onto another project.

I appreciate everybody's help.