Well after tearing out the interior this evening and finding more and more rust as it alway is, i'm kind of a cross roads now do i just repair the rust i can see or do i go for the whole thing.
If i went the route of full body and paint and engine rebuild does anyone have a rough estimate on cost for that? I would be doing most of the body work since my good buddies dad owns a body shop and i'd be doing the work there.
I would love to rebuild the motor myself or is it a really a difficult job that i should source out? Thanks in advanced for all the help and info i love this site and having been combing through as many threads as my eyes can take each day.
here's a few terrible pics of of the rust.




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there is a pretty good looking tub in the classifieds for 500.

might be money ahead going that way

+1 ....... after all the hassle, work and $$$ I have put into my project ....... it would have been far better to buy one already done ....... I don't know what I was thinking getting into this money sinkhole ........ I just hope it looks good after I am done ....

Regardless of what you do, fix or replacement tub, I say address all of the rust once you are into it.

The worst thing is some fix apparent rust and ignore what it is just under the surface and after a year with new paint they have non-apparent rust emerging and ruining all of your hard work. Fix it right, fix it once and then enjoy it.

Rustoration, bodywork, Prep, Paint - 10K
Suspension Brakes - 3K
Wheels Tires - 2K
Interior - 2K
Engine? 5-10K
Bling 1K
Tools 1K

I would guess this is average.

John

With that much rust on the drivers side, I would take a very close look at the passenger side.

Search for the thread on my car to see what you are getting into.....

If i do end up doing it i will probably buy a new tub. I'm really considering either parting it out and or selling it as is. I really don't have the cash for all this rust.
Would it be worth even $1500 bucks as it is a complete car and the seats are in perfect condition? I have a datsun that needs minor resto as well. I'm getting the fuel pump in next week and i'm almost positive it will start because it starts with a little gas in the carbs.

The passenger side isn't nearly as bad still has rust but i poked around it for about an hour last night.

I have rebuilt the brakes already not sure i would want a full suspension done on it. Are you saying 5-10K for a professional motor rebuild?

Hey man i did not mean to discourage you, i just wanted to make it known that it is always a lot more work than one anticipates. If you have a place to do the work, some help here and there, and lots of time, it can be done. I started mine about 3 years ago and just now getting it to the paint stage. If you can get any help it is much easier. Doing things alone is trying and can get very tough quickly. But if you like the car, there is no better way to bond with it than to do the work yourself. There is a lot of pride that comes with doing that. And that is something that money can never buy.

Yes I did not mean discouragement as well. There are many ways to do things, you can do the minimum for safety and drive it daily for much less $$, and still enjoy it as much as someone that has a full concour or rare piece. or, you can jump in and take all common sense out of your decisions and make it emotional and take the average and double or triple it.

Everyone works around their own budgets or just outside of their own to accomplish what works for them.

Engines can be expensive to rebuild, or cheap to buy. I just bought a running injected 1.7 for $150.00. It just depends what will satisfy you.

Basically once set up they are hard to kill, economic, engines to run.

John