Please evalute this '66 I inherited ... pics!

Tim Currie · 07-31-2006, 04:57 AM

This is my grandma's '66 she bought brand new. 8x,xxx miles on it and everything is original. It ran until about 7 yrs ago when it was parked under a tree. After that you can see that nature took over!

I am a newbie at restoring old cars so I don't know what I'm getting into here, would like some opinions here on how bad this car is.

To my surprise the car was as straight as an arrow and I know first hand (grandpa) that it has never been in an accident/dented/dinged...anything. And it is 100% intact. It looks to me like the light rust that is all over the place, and the interior (rotted/molded) is the worst of it. The engine turns over by hand, and if cleaned up and we add a battery we think will run. Oh, forgot, the worst part is the roof! You can see in the picture the hole where it rusted through....it is maybe 2" in diameter.

Please let me know wha you think, and what should I do?

Thanks!

Tim

p.s. The junk on the body is more dirt/gunk than it is spots of rust. From what I can tell there is no real bad body rust (except for the roof of course). Just wanted to clarify because there is a lot of caked on dirt that in the pictures might look like rust (like the lower 1/4...)

Tim Currie · 07-31-2006, 05:08 AM

pics added....

Twister · 07-31-2006, 05:42 AM

oh my gawd...you need floors....it won't be cheap

Shifty101Easy · 07-31-2006, 06:04 AM

holy fu**kin sh*t.....ive never seen a dash in that condition before.....it wont be cheap or easy at all, but if you have the money, it can be fixed.....anything can be fixed with the right amount of time+money.....cool center console though.

Soaring · 07-31-2006, 09:16 AM

Ah, we have seen worse....a lot worse. Cut the floor pans out to evaluate the damage to the frame rails. If they are still good to go, then replacing floor pans and smoothing out the dash will be like a walk in the park. It appears most of the body panels are straight with just surface rust. Sand paper and elbow grease will cure that. It will be labor intensive, but you can bring her back to life.

Cloud 9 · 07-31-2006, 09:34 AM

Somebody call Chip Foose quick!!!
[sm=lol.gif]

Good luck dude. I have faith in ya!

baddog671 · 07-31-2006, 11:51 AM

Looks like your gonna need acouple hours alone with a sander for that dash[

]. And ur roof, and the entire outside of the car...

shame they didnt roll that window up before they parked it

jrrhd73must · 07-31-2006, 12:50 PM

I have seen worse. I would go for it. Make sure the supports on the left and right front of the windshield are not rusted out. Mine were on my 66 with a landau top.

Twister · 07-31-2006, 12:53 PM

Before we tell Tim to go for it, we better ask, do you have $10,000 to put into this car?

PhillyDog88 · 07-31-2006, 01:07 PM

WOW, the body sure seems great. I wonder how it survived so well considering the rust inside. Anyhow, rather have a rusted inside cause the parts are pretty cheap actually. You can get complete interior kits for cheap and everything bolts right in and you can do it yourself.

Floorboards are a must, and you'll have to get someone who knows to do that part properly.

Otherwise, congratulations on the gift!! Even in the condition its in its worth a couple bucks considering the body seems good and the engine cranks.

Have fun.