So... what am I looking at here?

[pontiacgp]

To get the body soda blasted it should be around $1,200 to $1,4000 and that includes the epoxy primer. I'm sure some places are cheaper than that but you don't want to get it back with warped body panels. Also some of the pictures look like the doors so for them you might want to scrap those and get some good ones

 

[ABigBadZebra]

Really appreciate the advice. From what I've been able to inspect so far, the frame is ok. It's dirty, there is surface rust, but as far as I can tell so far, it's salvageable. Also, went and took a second look at the doors. The passenger side is good, the drivers side has some rot starting at the bottom rear corner.

I think the idea of getting a wrecked southern car that I can get most/all the body parts I need is a good idea. There may be an issue of where to put another car, however. I got some thinking to do, and some more tear down.

Pics of rear frame. Sorry for the flashlight pics!

 

[ABigBadZebra]

And since some of you are likely to have not seen the car in its entirety...

Looked half way decent till I started tearing it down 🙂

 

[clean8485]

The frame doesn't LOOK too bad in the photos that you posted, but that could change, once its sandblasted/cleaned up. I think you might want to consider using that Malibu as a parts/donor vehicle, and start looking around for a car with a good body and frame on it, as a basis for your build.
FWIW, I ended up in a similar situation last year. I bought a 1981 Cutlass wagon, that only had 76,000 original kilometers on it (about 45,000 miles), and on my initial inspection, the car looked good, so I bought it. After I got it home and started tearing into it, I found a lot of rust issues, similar to your Malibu, to the point where the body shell was basically no good, and would have required replacement. I would have had to sink WAYYY more money than the car was worth, into fixing it up, so I found another vehicle, that was in better condition, body & frame wise, to fix up, and used the wagon as a donor for parts.
What I've found over the years, is that you're much further ahead to find a car with good body/paint/frame on it, and do mechanical repairs/upgrades, than having to pour money into a rustbucket.

 

[Bar50]

Looks like a good start.

Rust can be difficult to deal with as everyone has mentioned. What is the plan or goal? I mean at the end? Weekend warrior, nice driver, toy, drag car, show car?

Be honest with yourself and with your budget. But, get as much as you can afford. I mean, it is for you....


I have seen so many cars and projects blown apart, to never return. Run it until you find a nicer shell. It is SOOOO much easier if you have a whole and complete car than to start with a bar shell.

 

[Silent viewer]

i have said it a thousand times, it is worth the extra money to find a clean rust free shell then to start trying to fix major rust issues. you have a parts car there in my opinion, find another one that has less or no rust

 

[mikester]

Geez, Im almost afraid to give you my opinion. LOL.
It sounds like you really want to keep this car. Some of the other guys have given you good advice though. Cars with rot can be a pain in the neck to fix. When they have rot in places that you need to fab the actual patches for it makes it even more work. The fact that you dont know how to weld sheet metal is the game changer in my opinion. I know a guy thats doing this right now. Fixing a car while learning how to MIG weld. Hes not having an easy time. Every time I see the car theres more butchered up patches and warped metal. The sad thing is hes very mechanically capable but he cant weld to save his *ss.
Its one thing to have a clean body and just to everything mechanical or even the other way around. You will have both. If it was me (and Ive been there) I would pass on this one, get a cleaner body that need way less fabrication work and use this one for parts. So many people start huge projects like this, eventually get frustrated with the amount of work and money they have to spend and wind up cutting it loose before it ever gets finished.

 

[O. D. Showtime]

Sorry in advance as to how long this post may be...

As much as I love a Malibu I have to agree with the majority here...I've owned 5 or 6 Malibus over the years and after selling the last one (a super solid car that I shouldn't have sold) I bought an El Camino. Thought It might be a little different...a Malibu with a box! I bought one off my cousin..

Had a nice clip and doors but needed some work in the rest of the body. I knew I had some floor issues but didn't realize how much until I separated the body from the frame...yes this one had rear frame rail issues but I was game to give it a go.


After pulling the body off

I just stood there and looked...what did I get myself into...but I was going to continue. I found and cut out a full floor pan from bucket/console Cutlass..

I repaired the rear frame rails from a donor car....I did both sides. Had it sandblasted and I painted it up..

I repaired a few of the mount holes..

Now back to the body...I started to look a little deeper...I started finding real structural issues in the mount areas...

Along with some good amount of rust in the door jambs...front and back...

Well after finding all that I lost all ambition with this one...sold the frame....a guy came 6 hours to pick it up, couldn't sell the floor for some reason so I cut the seat and console mounts off and sold them for more than I paid for the floor the rest went to scrap including the body. It kinda soured me on finding another project for awhile.

Sorry this is so lenghty and I'm sorry if this may be considered as a thread jacking but I wanted to show you want you can get into after really getting into it.

 

[ABigBadZebra]

I haven't talked myself into it, I just want to get a full picture before I make a final decision. I have some other projects I really need to finish before I even think about tearing into the car more. That said, my end goal for this car was something along the lines of pro-touring weekend car.

It seems like this one has a lot of nice parts on it. Grill is great, interior panels need paint, but the dash looks good, the seats are in great shape. Lights/lenses are all good.

If it is half as bad as what Showtime posted, I wouldn't bother.

My dad has another Malibu sitting in his back yard. He gave it to my brother. Unfortunately, I think it might be worse off than this one. I haven't given it a full inspection.

Thanks again for all the input, guys!

 

[clean8485]

O.D.Showtime has provided some good photos of a serious project. There is another member here with a site name of EME Mack. He has a build thread on the site for a 1981 Olds Cutlass that he's restoring. The work that he's doing on that car is amazing. He is a VERY skilled fabricator and welder. If you can find his build thread here, have a look at it. It should give you a pretty good idea of what you're probably looking at with your Malibu.