To save this car or not...

[Crazy_pilot]

Alright, so I'm pondering whether or not to pick up this car. She isn't a pretty lady right now, not by a long shot. Each wheel well has rust, the door skins are likely toast, and there's a radiator that I've never seen in an SVX before. All 4 wheels have corrosion and bubbled paint, both rear quarters have small dents, the spoiler is horribly chipped, the hood doesn't latch, and I'm not even sure what it looks like underneath yet.

The good stuff? Good interior (Very good), about 108K miles, new tires, brakes look newer, electrics work. I'll be taking it for an extended test drive once I get the CarFax.

I talked to a body shop guy today. He said to expect roughly $5-600 per side to rebuild the rear wheel wells. Doors, fenders, a proper rad, all that I can do. I'd only need someone to repair the rear end rust.

I can probably get the car for 2000-2500 Canadian, which is not bad as SVX's seem to command a steeper price here. (Like 6-10K).

So who thinks it's worth saving? I'll probably be in for about $4-5000 once the repairs are finished, providing the mechanics all check out as they should.

The pictures are in my locker, too big to put in here and slow everything down.

[dcarrb]

The rust is what would worry me. Probably superficial, but I've seen Subarus with a bit of bubbly paint that were so far gone underneath the rear jack points were unusable. My old GL after 3 Vermont winters, for example...

Good luck with it.

dcb

[TomsSVX]

looks pretty good man... its gonna take some work to get her looking better. If it runs and drives well then I say do it to it man... Its a long haul but when she is done, it will all pay off

Tom

[Crazy_pilot]

How hard is it to pull the sideskirts off? I'd like to look underneath and see how far the rust has spread, before I buy it preferably. The top pin in the left rear wheel well isn't really holding into anything at this point, the metal is pretty much gone there.

I wonder if anyone with a parts car would be willing to cut the rear panels off their cars for me. Perhaps being able to weld in real panels would save me some cash on bodywork, since they won't have to bend up patches to weld in.

I'm leaning towards going for it. I have a feeling this one is just going to end up junked if I let it go, and I really don't want to see that happen.

[TomsSVX]

you can buy NEW rear quarter panels for it too ya know

Tom

[Crazy_pilot]

Originally Posted by TomsSVX

you can buy NEW rear quarter panels for it too ya know

Tom

Note to self: Get more sleep.

Yay new stuff!

Edit: $290 for a new panel from 1st Subaru Parts, plus all the work of removing the window, welding, re-installing...cheaper to patch. Or I can just let it rust and save money till I can afford a complete panel.

[It's Just Eric]

Hmmmm.......I suppose I could lend a professional opinion or two...

As far as the mechanical stuff goes, all I can say is it looks like she has a valve cover gasket leak...And the radiator is frankenstined in there. A bit of a fixer upper Im sure, but if it runs and drives well, its probly worth taking care of the little problems and making a solid daily / winter driver

As for the bodywork..you have your hands full.The drivers door was poorly repainted, and Im sure it has had its rust "repaired'' once already.the entire side looks to be repaired.The doors and front fenders, probly easiest to just replace, either with new sheet metal or used. For the fenders, Id spring a littl extra for new repalcments, just to hit with a healthy layer of self etchng primer, front and back, then rustproof the inside with atf (Old school )
Im sure the hood latch just needs an adjustment, likely from the light hit the bumper shows residual damage from. That should be an easy repair, but who knows how many layers of previously done work youll be dealing with.
As for the rear quarters....replacing them would be quite the hasstle. Cutting off bits from an old quarter may seem to be a viable solution...but then youll nd up with a welded seam around what was removed...There's really no way to hide that. You could do a half assed grind, bondo, rustproof and paint manuver, but for that cost, you midaswell have done it right (The afmormentioned method is likely what the 600$ a side will get you. Granted, it will look grea, but such repairs typically last no more than 5 years)

Your best bet, if you pick up this car, is to worry about the mechanical issues first. For the body...a good wet sanding and buffing will get rid of all the unsightly scratches and spiderwebs(Black cars are a PAIN IN THE ASS!!!), as well as remove the nasty orange peel left from previous paintwork. Itll look pretty damn good for a 15 year old daily driver that has seen many a harsh winter. After driving it about you can decide weather or not its worth permantly fixing its skin cancer...but in the mean time, use some sunblock. Clean the paint thats there, and take some sort of rust prevention methods for whats already there (Wire brush it out, use naval jelly, that crazey stuff that turns rust into somewhat useable metal, etch prime, rubber undercoating , ect.)