1967 Firebird Convertible rust issues?

[Jsoderbe]

Hi Guys,

I am looking for a late 1960's Camaro or Pontiac Firebird Convertible. I went to look at a 1967 Firebird today, a driver project car. It was not very nice , had some rust but seemed to be what I am looking for, with one exception; the door fit was very poor!

I couldn't find any evidence of prior body damage, and there was almost no bondo on the body. But, the doors didn't close fully, and seemed to be 1/4" too long for the body. The gap toward the front fender was even and nice, but there was NO gap toward the rear quarter panel.

So, how worried should I be about this? What does it indicate? First I thought the body might have sagged due to rust, but the frame looked OK (is this a car with a complete frame or just sub frames?) and the overlap seemed even all the way down to the rocker panel, and even on both sides of the car. Very strange!

The car had some rust in the left rocker panel, not very much in the right. I couldnt see the floor, but I guess it is kind of muggy since it is a convertible....

Any thoughts? Anything else I should look for?


Regards,

Johan

 

[melsg5]

Firebird is a unibody design, no frame. Hard to tell without seeing the car but sounds like something happened, front fenders too far back causing the doors to be pushed back? 1967 door shell is different than 1968 or 1969, wrong doors maybe?

 

[Jsoderbe]

Yes, that could be the case. Are they considered to have a steong unibody or are they prone to sagging?

Regards,

Johan

 

[melsg5]

again, if the car is in good condition, rust free, there is no sag issue. In addition you have no way of knowing how many accidents the car has been in over the last 47 years.
You mention a driver project car so you are not concerned with original drivetrain?