How much rust is too much?
 

I am going to look at a 70 coupe on Thu and in speaking with the seller he said there was some rust. Specifically:

- driver windshield at the bottom
- passenger rear wheel
- hole located at gas pedal.

No other rust, according to the owner. So how much rust is too much Also, I assume the location of the rust is the real concern, where are the "key spots". Hopefully I will be able to post some pics for further review.

BTW, car has a 2.7 spec engine, 35k miles on engine, 200k on the car itself. Asking $6k. TIA.SmileWavy

v/r
Wayne C.
83 SC

my targa was pretty bad when the rear window was removed...if i had my druthers i would get one without any rust as it is like cancer you dont know where it is going....and it is time consuming and expensive to fix.....

gary

A Cal. car with rust? I would pay maybe 4k for it. You will need to reall tear it apart to see how bad the rust is. beside the obligatory lift inspection, pull both headlights and tali lights, and ripp the rear panel out and look under the rear window on and near the package shelf. I'm sure there are other places too. YOu may want to consider the value as if it were nothing more than a parts car.

Unless you going to the work yourself, its a parts car.

Multiply rust seen by a factor of 10 to include the hidden rust.

Where to look:
Battery boxes and below.
Front pan in front of gas tank and between and at front torsion mounts.
Front fenders: in and behind headlight buckets, at joints where fenders attach to front trunk area and at back of fenders and around gas fill flap.
Rocker panels, look under deco trim and at jack spurs.
Bottoms of doors.
Front of rear fenders at back of door opening.
Floor pan and inside under rear window.
Back fender supports.
Oil tank, can rust from outside inward especially on top where debris may have collected.
Inside gas tank.

Also, if there is improperly done body repair, rust can be lurking under the body filler.


Take care, Jim

Jack posts and rockers. Examine below door strikes for bubbles. Doors.

If windshield rust is visible, it's MUCH worse where you can't see it.

Rust in the floorboards is bad news as well.

If you're buying it for a driver? Don't.

Thanks for all the responses so quickly...I'm not so excited now :( I'll still take a look, but I can't handle a large rust project right now, need something less involved.

v/r
Wayne C.
83 SC