New body?

[KERR]

I might have hit the wrong button,  but when did all the extra stuff get added to make a post?


So sister in laws live in guy was with me at the lake this weekend, and ask  why i dont just buy the entire body instead of mix my rust.

I said mainly because of money, I thought those dynacor? bodies where $15K...   bla bla


Anyway my floors have been done at some point and look to be in good shape,   as of now my firewall is good, ( i havent taken the car that far apart yet)   the hood is good, and the doors..   Which means i need roof, roof supports, 1/4, trunk lid, front fenders etc...  I looked at this up on line and its about $4K worth of parts...   which is a lot cheaper than a new body,  but then you have labor to put it on etc etc...


Anyway question is has anyone done the new body,  or is it better to just fix what you have...   The car will be going back black so body work will have to be perfect, which im sure the new bodies will need to be worked as well.  

[KERR]

Never mind,  i found what i was looking for on here with the search lol.

[sdkar]

I priced out an entire dynacorn body for a 69 a few years ago, and it was around $13k for an entire new body, including delivery to my door.  It included every new panel of sheetmetal, and was guaranteed by the seller to have the doors and trunk lid prefit with supposedly near perfect gaps before being sent out.  Not sure how much this has gone up, but I know that the seller I spoke with was willing to deal a little, and the advertised price was not set in stone.  Bear in mind, this was a few years ago, and they were trying to get this things out there for all of us to see. 

Just a thought.

[z28z11]

Friend of mine sent his '67 ragtop body to NC and had it (nearly) completely rebodied a couple of years back, at a cost of nearly $13K. He has since put a tremendous number of hours straightening, regapping, and replacing what was supposed to be perfect when it came back. He has made a straighter car out of what someone else claimed to have completed, but he also states he would never repeat what he has just gone through. His convertible body reminded me a lot of your coupe before it went out for work -

Reason he didn't want a Dynacorn - he wanted the car to be at least partly original, but I think he has changed his mind a bit. If it were mine, I do believe before spending that kind of coin on replacing parts, I would have capitulated and gone Dynacorn. He would have been finished with the car by now, and would have enjoyed driving it sooner if he had. My vote - transfer the tags legally, and go with the Dynacorn body. You'll not have to worry about what's happening between the seams in your bruised '69 -

Just my opinion -

[69Z28-RS]

If you go with a new complete body, you'd have the choice of coupe or convertible...  and convertible might be worth a bit more when you got done....?

[Mark]

Convertible with a coupe VIN and cowl tag (and vis-versa) is practically unsellable these days.

[z28z11]

Plenty of rusted-through convertibles around for donor cars -

http://nashville.en.craigslist.org/pts/4495632099.html

Of course, that requires another hulk purchase, but at least it might be more fun to build and enjoy, plus have a higher resale value.

Then again, you can do a coupe, resto-mod it, BB clone it, anything you want to achieve. Considering your coupe is not a high option car, you could make it into any combination without remorse for obliterating an original car. That to me is the other side of having a new (Dynacorn) repro shell.

Regards -

[L78 steve]

There should be a third choice to vote for. Buy a car that is in good cond.

[Charley]

The Dynacorn stuff I have seen also needs a bunch of metal work to make the fit right also so you might as well fix your orig. body and recover and extra cost when it comes time to sell. You will always get more for a real GM body versus a Dynacorn.

[BULLITT65]

There should be a third choice to vote for. Buy a car that is in good cond.

I agree. How about buy an original rolling chassis, use your hood and doors, find some decent fenders. I also agree with Charley, that it would probably be worth more, and the original parts would fit better.

[Sauron327]

I'd call a Dynacorn rep to verify the near perfect gaps claimed is true and can be guaranteed in writing, and all components will fit like GM. I have had customers pay for flawless gaps and it is not cheap. I have yet to see GM or repro panels fit with flawless show gaps. In the link is a car done by Jayson. If the quality of a repro part or body has vastly improved I'd like to know about it. Otherwise I would not still be buying assembly line take off parts. I 've had repro panels vary in quality tremendously. And late stamped GM are often no prize. Buy a D.Corn body and still have to pay a tech to fix all the flaws is not going to cost less than a rebuild; not unless one is satisfied with hackwork. Not to mention all parts and components should fit just like factory also; which is a common complaint in repro tin.  Note the amount of hours involved in the link. Jayson's work can be seen at Refinish Network on other restos.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=167739

Quality is in the eye of the beholder. I've seen cars that are butchered and the owner thinks they're flawless. When repro bodies can be guaranteed to be just like GM or better, I'll stop rebuilding a GM body. It sure would be a lot easier and cheaper. No brainer to just scuff, paint and reassemble. Or just raise the repro shell price to $20K with no flaws and make it easier.
 

I priced out an entire dynacorn body for a 69 a few years ago, and it was around $13k for an entire new body, including delivery to my door.  It included every new panel of sheetmetal, and was guaranteed by the seller to have the doors and trunk lid prefit with supposedly near perfect gaps before being sent out.  Not sure how much this has gone up, but I know that the seller I spoke with was willing to deal a little, and the advertised price was not set in stone.  Bear in mind, this was a few years ago, and they were trying to get this things out there for all of us to see.

Just a thought.

[little_hoss]

I've thought about this question myself. I guess it would come down to what you want...a nice street cruiser or a matching numbers car. For a nice cruiser a repro body may be the best way to go. Less hassle and work involved by not having to complete endless hours of bodywork. But my thought is, say you find a matching numbers Z/28 or SS/RS convertible. Everything is there, matching engine, transmission, rearend, etc...the downside is the body looks like it went down with the Titanic or was the local champ in a demolition derby. In this case how would a restored car with a reproduction body be viewed at say a show like the Camaro Nationals. Would it be considered a matching numbers car since the body is not original? I bring this up because not to long ago there was a 1969 Rallye Green SS/RS 396 convertible on eBay that was wrecked in the 70's and parked in a shed where the roof proceeded to fall in on the car. It had to be one of the roughest cars I've ever seen but it was totally original. Nothing had been touched on it or removed but there wasn't a useable body panel on the car. Would like to hear some thoughts on this or have some Camaro Nationals judges chime in.

[BULLITT65]

I think Shaun (Kerr) would trade you in a heartbeat for that body.... it looks like most of the damage is in the front nose of the car.

[BillOhio]

Very cool car when done

[little_hoss]

I wish I had some more shots of that car. I don't think he would have wanted it!  If I remember right just about the entire floorpan was gone and the subframe on the drivers side had rotted through. The trunk pan was also gone along with a lot of the inner framework of both doors. The shed's roof where the car was stored had caved in some time in the late 70's and I believe the top was down the whole time. Even the seat frames were corroded through. I know it sold on eBay for mid-teens the first time I saw it and then it turned up again several months later for sale in a different state with a price in the mid twenties. (I am an eBay addict  ) I think it proved to much for someone and they decided to let it go.