Ok so The frame off restoration stopped because I reached a point where I argued with family about the issue. My family is helping me pull some funds together to get the car going again. Let me give you some background about what shape my body is in.

Needs all new trunk. the braces and floor section are totally hammered. Needs all new braces and body mount places replaced.

Needs inner and outer wheel wells they are severly rusted.

The floor is trashed as well. needs all new braces underneath the floor and new pans as well.

the rocker panels are trashed. someone took bondo to fill in the rust and the bondo is chipping a way. The inner rocker panels are rusted so that floor braces would be hard to do until these are replaced.

there is a section on the rear quarter panel that has rust, probably needs to be replaced.

it has "new" quarter panels (is what the guy told me when i bought the car) It doesn't look like they are done correctly at all.


I haven't really tore into anything else in fear of messing something up. My family believe since I have a welder, I should do all of the work myself. My family or I have absolutly NO body work experience.

Should my problems be left up to professionals who know how to do the repair work or Should i attempt it myself in fear of screwing something up?

I have been talking to a body man and he will work with me where I will give him 1500 and he will do as much as he can with that money until I come back giving him more.

This is a '72? Small block Malibu or what?? From what you describe, you may have a lot of work ahead - for an experienced bodyman. I did a '68 Mustang Conv 4 years ago that was probably ic comparable shape. Ended up building a jig to secure the body to, then went about it one area at a time, cutting out and welding in new pcs. Took me about 1-1/2 years to get al the metal replaced, perfected my mig welding in the process.

Here's my honest oppinion. Price out the list of metal you need, you may be better off trying the find an intact body shell donor.

Guess it depends if you want to attempt to do it yourself, and what kind of budget you have. Does the car have any sentimental value? I ask because this car sounds like it's in bad shape. I don't know what your budget is, but you might be able to find another one that doesn't really need much for the price it would cost to have body work done to your current car. Whatever you decide, good luck man!

He may be better off getting a better car and using that as a donor. He didn't mention the windshild areas..and with the rust he described, I bet they are toast as well.

I say take this car as a learning experience... sounds like a parts car to me. Eat your losses and move on to a different car that is in better shape. Some times dreams come true and sometimes they dont! See if your family will help you pull some $ together for a better ride as their are still some decent cars out there. Some cars are not worth the fight as that car will cost way to much without the $ and experience that some young folks dont have. JMO

I would take the $1500 you would give to the bodyman and try to find a better suited body to work with. As long as you stay away from the higher dollar 1970 models, I can't see why one couldn't find a '71-'72 for almost that amount. I'm talking no front clip, no drivetrain. Is the frame bad as well? You may think that what you described isn't that much, but to a body man I don't think $1500 would barely scratch the surface.

If you paid someone to do this work, I am willing to bet you would be in the hole 10 grand, easily. That is without the car being painted too. I suggest finding another car with a better body.

Alex. Check the Classifieds (http://www.chevelles.com/classifieds/showcat.php?cat=67) There are a couple of cars for under $3000 there. If you stick with yours, check with the body man about doing some work your self. Some body men won't touch it if you start the work.

Dude, I'm just finishing up doing almost exactly what you're looking at. Took me over 2 years, too do it myself. Had to buy alot of tools along the way, but that's just a bene to me. You should really look for a better starting point, I did my car as therapy, I think you're in a little more of a hurry then me. Money to do the repairs is going to quadruple at least, then comes the body shop hell scenario, Iknow you don't think it'll happen, but it will. I suggest you step back and take a good hard look at what is avaliable to get you going in a better direction. Take a couple of minutes to peruse my webpage, will your looking at it, just imagine the cash it'll take. And I did it all myself except for the motor. Good luck, it can be done, just plan ahead, I really wish I had started with a better car. It would have been cheaper in the end.

clean72, it appears your in utah, not too far from me. there are plenty of less rusty cars in our area. you might have found about the worst one around here. professionally done, the body work will be around $10K i would estimate. you can buy a whole chevelle, in decent driver condition for that!

Alright guys, coming from the guys I trust, you! I will take your advice and learn from my mistakes this was a bad ebay deal from the start......anyways thanks for the help guys! I apprieciate it, I guess I will start looking for another chevelle, I don't mind what year I just want something that is in much better shape.

To put things in a little more perspective here....I have been working on a 69 Charger for the last 10 months. I had to put in floors, rockers, wheel wells, quarters, trunk floor & drop off, fabricate pieces that are not available, hack pieces out of a junk yard car to fix rotted out areas, etc. I figured out that I have at least 500 hours into just the sheetmetal work on this car and I'm not done yet. I still need to fix the fenders, hood, & trunk lid. Being generous here, using $40 an hour for labor time at a body shop would equal out to roughly $20,000 in labor had I paid someone else to do it, and it's not even in primer yet. All I can say is I'm glad I know how to weld sheetmetal. I could probably cut that amount in half since I'm not a professional body person by any means, regardless it would still be $10,000, and not in primer yet. That's not counting the $2500 in sheetmetal parts I have into the car.

Hate to mention parting out a car, but typically you can get a lot of your money back by parting out one. Don't know how complete it was to begin with, but all the little items are in demand for those restoring other cars.