So, I picked up a car this afternoon.

She's a bit rusty.

OK, a lot rusty!

In fact it might be extremely costly to save her.

But there is hope! For where there was once life...

...there can be life once again.

That is if I replace every part here.

And every part here.

I'm sure I can afford to replace everything in this photo.

If I step on this it will just go away. Problem solved.

I don't need to worry about this section - if I try real hard I can always just stare forward.

But what is this! A donor car!? That's only half rusted...

It is possible we just might hear this engine sing again...

And this body roll with pride again...

And this plate shine again...

For her 50th birthday.

WOW great find!

Glad it's you and not me! :tapemouth

Awesome find!

Chuck

Awesome find. But no way to ever recoup even 50% of the money it would take to fix this up however.

Props to you if you move ahead. I would name it Lazarus as you will have brought it back from the dead

Steve

It can be worth the money when you find a buyer in Japan.

hLs-17 was yellow... do you think they did hs-19 in that batch?

Awesome find. But no way to ever recoup even 50% of the money it would take to fix this up however.

Props to you if you move ahead. I would name it Lazarus as you will have brought it back from the dead

Steve

Maybe not, sheet metal work doesn't have to be expensive if you have the skills and time... if you have to let a body shop do it.. yes.

Great find ! Would be awesome to see this restored back to glory..

So you keep all the metal around the VIN plates, and you keep the engine (or at least the short block). And you replace everything else! But...

Very cool find!

George,

I cannot wait to follow this thread!

What a task!

Good luck.

Dave

A double digit VIN is probably worth trying to save. As others have mentioned, do as much of the work yourself as time permits. If you farm the work out, you probably won't recoup 50¢ on the dollar if you eventually sell in the next 30 years.

I'm familiar with at least one rare Porsche being reconstructed around a VIN from a car that was too far gone to rebuild. Something to consider, depending on how you define the soul of a car.

Dennis

Awesome find. But no way to ever recoup even 50% of the money it would take to fix this up however.

Thanks Steve. I don't view this as an investment so I'm not concerned about recouping my costs. That happens all too rarely with cars anyway.

hLs-17 was yellow... do you think they did hs-19 in that batch?

I need to confirm the colour code somehow. It looks to be one of the orange based ones. I'm guessing 920 at this stage.