Have a 70 Chevelle with completely rusted floorpan, rust spots in the trunk, quarters are gone, rear window channel gone, and about 2 inches above the top of the rear channel there is a line of rust that has eaten through the top sheetmetal layer. My dad and i have some skill at repairing these but i was wondering if it would be better to try and fix this, or buy a new body, or put it into the shop. I have been told it would take a lot to get the body fixed in a shop and a good deal of time. I could fix the floorpan and 1/4 and trunk but the roof and channel rust is really bad. And does anyone even have an idea where i can find a rust free body with a title for cheep? Or just surface rust. Thanks

That much rust around the TOP of the window channel is not typical. Usually, the worst accumulation is around the bottom and sides of the channel. With that said, you may want to scrouge some of the salvage yards in your area that specialize in older cars and see if any of them have some good sheetmetal at the top of the window channel that you can use. Don't overlook 70 - 72 Monte Carlos. The sheetmetal around the back glass is identical, and many of those cars spent the first years of their lives in garages, so the sheetmetal hasn't had as much exposure to the elements.

As for the rest of the car, you'll be looking at spending some major time and money to bring it back to life. The definition of what is and what's not restorable probably gets a little more liberal with each passing year. A lot of cars owned by members of this site have had new floors, trunks, and 1/4s replaced during their restorations. It'll come down to how much you can spend and how dedicated you are to restoring this car. As the availabe supply of restorable cars dwindles, I hate to tell anyone to pass on a car with a lot of rust, whether it's a plain Malibu or an SS. Don't let anyone tell you that it's not worth saving unless if it's a true SS. If it can be saved, save it. There are no more new ones being built. 20 years from now, the people who passed on the chance to restore one of these cars because it was not an SS and/or had too much rust will be kicking themselves for not saving one of these cars from the scrapper when they had the chance.