RIP '68 Chevelle SS396

[Mr70]

"Are SuperCars Dead?"
November 70 Super Stock & Drag illustrated.

[RichSchmidt]

If the owner had most of the original parts and had the original complete engine and trans,that car would be worth restoring as long as the frame isnt rusted too bad.If you combined that car's remains with a rust free arizona base model even a 4 door from Ebay you could get a long way into the resto.The repop parts are there too.
If I were doing something like that,I might be inclined to fix the structural and floor rust,then hang as much sheetmetal on it as possible and blow it with a light paint job just to clean it up,add a V top on it and try to rehab the trim as much as possible and use it for a while as a ratty survivor type car.You could spend a fortune in repop trim parts and soft items after that car was made solid again.I might be inclined to get it back into a survivor state and then pass it off to a guy who really wanted to put the effort into a bolt and nut resto.
The fact is that as bad as that car looks,that car is actually better to start with thn some of the shiny bondo buckets I have seen at cruise nights.At least you know what you have to do with that car.Noting is worse then having to pay for the shine on a car only to know you are going to rip it all off anyway just to redo it right.With a car like that the situation can only get better as you go.
BTW,that chevelle is my all time favorite chevelle combo.I am a Camaro man,but my all time must have chevelle would be a blue with black Vtop 68 with a bigblock and a stick.I live in Jersey,so if that car ever comes up for sale and you dont want it Email me at [email protected] want to do a resto project someday instead of all the race stuff I do.I want to do a 70 SS396 camaro,but that Chevelle is actually very much to my liking too.

[Supercar_Kid]

Your ambition is admirable, but this car is really about as gone as they get. There is no solid metal left on it anywhere. I tried lifting the hood to get a peek at the trim tag and the whole front edge crumbled in my fingertips, and the under structure had completely separated from the outer skin. I wouldn't dare to guess what the chassis looks like, but the engine cradle and A-arms were badly rusted, and they were the only parts not completely buried in the dirt. The rearend housing had sunk entirely into the earth. This car has had obvious amateur body work done to it in the past, and by the looks of the inspection sticker, my guess is it had already fallen partially victim to the Pittsburgh winters way back in the early 70's. 72,000 is a good number of miles for a car that was only 6 or 7 years old when it was parked. My guess is the drivetrain has been gone since Nixon was in the white house. Take a look at the attached floor pan pic, and think about what it might take to make this car even an average cruise night car. My guess would be about $45,000 and countless man hours would still leave you with a piece-mobile at best. Cool to see them sitting like that, but if it was worth rescuing you can bet it'd be in my garage.

[PxTx]

Maybe you could salvage the posi carrier, but that sounds like about it!

[camarojoe]

[ QUOTE ]
At least you know what you have to do with that car.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think what you have to do with that car Erik already did... take a few pics, spend a bit of time looking it over, and walk away. May it rust in peace.

[55chevy]

yeah and document the vins and data plate so they don't end up on Ebay or pop rivited to a factory 6 banger car

[RichSchmidt]

You may be right about that car not being worth repair,but that is only because it isnt that rare of a car.I have seen cars restored with extensive repairs to the original frame,and complete new sheet metal.Heck I am restoring my race car and even I replaced every piece of metal on the car except the roofskin.I replace 2 full 1/4's,and really need to 2 the wheelhouses but I just fixed what was there.I added 2 full inner and out door structures,rockers,a trunk lid a tail panel 2 fenders a hood and front bumper along with every peice of trim and weatherstrip.I also had to replace the front subframe because it was bent and when I started on the car about 10 years ago I did major floorpan work and inner rockers.All of this was to restor a plain jane 1973 firebird esprit.when I started on the resto I was actually searching for a camaro to dump all the parts into now that I am finishing it I realize I could have made my firebird into a camaro if I had just ordered different parts.That car isnt any worse then that 69 bigblock convertable that was on Ebay a few months back.It had no front subframe not floors,rockers quarter or wheehouse and the car wa sbaout the break in half under it's own weight but I bet somebody restores it with about $20,000 with of new sheetmetal and a ton of welding wire and argon along with the front subframe out of a 4 door nova or something.Too bad nobody is as interested in that chevelle.
Now in reality I am no better then anybody else.I cut up 4 2nd gen firebirds just to restore the one I have.If it wasnt for the fact that I have been involved with this car i one way or another for over 15 years,I might have sent it to the scrap heap already.

[68TopStock]

What is the vin and cowl tag data?