repaired long condition?, worth stiffeners/jack replacement? Options

[914lover17]

feel solid, look a little worse in pictures - I'm trying to assess what I'm working with here and any potential ways forward since solid replacement chassis seem pretty rare.

Apparently this was important when I was researching - 2 people can be inside without targa top and doors still close easy and have the same gaps as with targa top on and no one inside.

Repair work was done in the 80's I believe.

Long stiffening kit possible? Worth/possible to replace jackpoints? Right know it's blocks of wood screwed to the solid metal to hold the rocker panel plugs.

[bbrock]

I personally think a replacement chassis is overkill. To break this down from my perspective -

Your car has been repaired in common rust areas using non-traditional (i.e. fabricated) parts. That opens questions about how good the repairs were but doesn't automatically mean they were bad. The two concerns are:

1. are the repairs structurally sound?
2. are the repairs hiding rust that continues to rot the metal?

From the pics, the long repair looks pretty solid, maybe even battleship stout. Whatever the goop is raises questions about the second part. That could be seam sealer that was applied over the welds to prevent moisture getting trapped which would be a sign the person doing the repairs was thorough. Or it could be fiberglass or bondo slapped on to make bad metal look pretty, or worse, to patch over a hole. The last two seem unlikely to me given that whoever did the repairs obviously could weld. Fiberglass patches are usually done by people who can't, or won't, weld.

I agree with wire brushing those ares down to bare metal to put your mind at ease. After that, the worst case is that you yank out the repaired longs at some point and replace with proper parts. It's a job and could be expensive to hire out, but it really isn't THAT bad and if you can weld yourself, not terribly expensive. Personally, I still rather save the tub you have than find a different one.

Looking more broadly at the car - there is a lot of heavy undercoating that has been painted over and I see a crack above your outer rear suspension console I'd want to stab with a screwdriver to make sure it is sound. Again, in the long term I'd like to know the undercoat isn't hiding anything nasty, but I wouldn't condemn the chassis without thorough investigation.

It's impossible to say from long distance, but I think you have a nice driver. Enjoy it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)