I have a complete but rough 76 914/4. Since there were so few of these made...I'm not sure if I am headed down the right road. The rear fenders have already been cut out since the PO had flares on back. There is rust in a few places. One of the front fenders has some old bondo work on it. I just purchased a set of fiberglass flare fenders for it with intent of an easy body job since I'm not much of a body guy. Should I make it all original or just have some fun with the flare fenders and make something unique for me?

I have a 75' that I'm restoring. I started with a pretty rust free car, garaged most of it's life, only 62k miles on the clock.

it's completely disassembled sitting on a rotisserie. at this point I have $12k+ in the project and I'm forecasting a spend of $18k without touching the engine.

I would say with the extra bodywork, interior parts, and stuff you are looking at $4-6k more. Just me shooting from the hip though.

I was thinking of doing something like this...one of the other members did this and I think it is downright sharp looking.

minus the roll bars but riveting on the fenders like this guy did. I like it.

The real problem is that these are unit body cars
so no matter which fender you choose, you will have a potentially unsafe car unless you fix the rust correctly.

they are very expensive to fix correctly
so by the time you put 4-5 thousand into the rust repair, most 4 cylinder cars are upside down in value at that point.

you could be better off getting a professional opinion on the rust repair costs and then considering finding a different shell cheaper than a big repair bill...

have one of the local guys look at the hell hole and pull the rocker covers off and check out the longs before you decide.

brant

Thanks Brant,
I'll take a close look at the structure before getting too crazy.

Yes like the above person said looks like a lot of rust.

Places to check rear trunk inside under taillights, under drivers/pass seat get an ice pick and poke floors especially in the channels, also check doors pull out rubber that goes from vent window all the way around bottom check all water channels, both front and rear trunks and windshield.

Plus the usual places batt tray, hell hole, along engine shelf, longs etc.


If you are not a body guy then why pick a car that needs a year of body work and frame/unibody repair? I would find a roller that someone that has ran out of money or lost interest in and haven't finished the project.

If you put any money into that car you will be upside down....even if you got the car for free.

Why do I say that?

1. The car will never be original since it has been cut. To bring it back to an original state will cost you well in excess of $15K in bodywork, paint, interior, etc. ....and it won't be worth that. Original cars bring the best money unless it's an extremely well done (even more $$$) 6 conversion.

2. If you modify the car to suit your taste that will also cost a lot of $$. Once completed the car wil not be original. See number 1.

Because it came as a second complete parts car with the already restored one. I don't have any money in it except for the fiber fenders...I have a fair amount of body work trade available for this with a professional body guy...

So...my son and I started working on the 76. The long on the driver's side is clean, I have a new long for the passenger side. Will be doing some hellhole repairs on it for sure. The engine/tranny for it have 20k on them when the time comes to install. We cut out the fenders and temporarily installed the flair fenders to see how it would look. Looks sweet!

Can someone provide the link and/or an example of the car in black with lime green rocker panels and bumper flairs? Along with the mags it has on it in the pics?
thanks!
james

Remember, all 76 models were made in 75. Nothing special about them in my book. Not the last year they were made, just the last year they were sold.

The best value you will likely find in this car is the chance to share time with your son on a build. That will be a blast. As for the car, I would stop all other work until you get the passenger's side long, hell-hole taken care of. Best wishes and have fun.

Yep. Repairing the long and establishing the safety and integrity of the car is first on the list.

By the time it is finished it can be you son's first car, that is what happened in our house.

Thanks for the encouragement. When I look thru some of the restoration projects on here I think the overall integrity of this one is leaps ahead.

So with $12k in it already. Are you doing any of the work yourself?