30 coupe burned

was looking on craigslist this mornning and there was a 30 model a 5 window on there that had been in a shop fire.It was burned completely.It has vette rear and p&j drop front axle 350 chevy and 350 trans in it.He is asking $3850 for it.Would it be worth getting or is a burned car to worped to fix?

 

Pass

 

It depends on how hot it got. If aluminum and potmetal stuff melted inside, then it's probably junk. If it's just scorched and the paint burned off, maybe it can be saved. You'd have to post pictures on here for anyone to really be able to judge.

Also, you can usually get a decent closed A body with frame in the $5000 range if you look, so it either can't be burned too badly, or it's not much of a bargain.

 

I sent the guy a email and this is what he sent me all aluminum is gone and all wood in side is gone the fenders r worped and bent the rad is melted so much its not useable.all brake lines r not useable all wireing is melted so bad it will not be useable.all glass is melted out of car.seats r not useable.he said body is still strait but it will need to have all the stuff inside the car replaced.ect.ect.ect.so i think im going to pass on it i dont have $10.000 to replace all the things it needs to fix it.

 

If it melted the possible brass/copper radiator and all the aluminum then it got HOT.. at least ~1,200F for the aluminum to melt, if the brass/copper in the radiator melted then we're looking at 1,700F... and that for a sustained period with a nice fast cooldown with water from the fire department.

Not a good start.

 

Oh yeah there are some you should just pass on.

 

Unfortunately, it's probably not worth more than what it will bring per pound at the scrap metal place. The quick cool-down (quenching) from the fire hoses likely did as much or more damage to the sheet metal than the fire did.

 

If it melted the glass I doubt there's anything there that's worth more than scrap weight... pass.

 

$3850 is way too much for a burned hulk.

 

piece of cake.....be terrorizing the neighborhood by late spring

 

Pass

 

pass

 

Is that really the same car the OP was talking about?

 

same car, didnt go the 3850 though...got it peeled down, blasted and reassembling it now, some parts survived some didnt...

 

Uh. So, what's your assessment of the damage done to the ride? What are your plans for it?

Well, aside from being rolling by late spring..

 

lotta old bad body work, the 350 would have been saved but the edlebrock pot metal valve covers collapsed and allowed the water to get into the block and kill 3 cylinders, the chassis is from chassis engineering, it blasted fine, perfectly straight, front axel is p&j also had no damage, replaced the front spring and shackles, bearings, 4 link bushings, 4 link is stainless and polished back shiney, the vette rear end was pulled and I wasnt in the mood to replace the seals and clean up, so it now has an 8.8 explorer w/355, with CE triangulated 4 link, pedal assembly cleaned up fine, new motor mounts, the rear fenders were glass and the front fenders and running boards did not warp, the outer decklid skin and both door panels did warp, but they were mudded up to start with and the bottoms were pretty bad, this car was chopped long ago and had a god awful roof insert looks like it was maybe a car hood complete with reenforcement panels, when I cut the panel out of the roof it took two men to set it out of the way, the car had alot of bondo popped out by the fire, metal that should have been hammered out was just covered.

 

Yea, let's see where you're at with this thing.

 

Blasted frame, used rustoleum industrial to paint it

 

used fine sand to blast the shell, everything was stripped out before blasting

 

Well, it certainly looks like you've come along with this one quite nicely. Good job.

 

I posted that just right after you posted that picture of the body. That roof needs some serious loving. For reals.

 

the rolling chassis is almost complete, less brake lines and a couple odds and ends, went back with a mild 350/350 headers survived, doing it fenderless, got the door and deck lid skins from Howells, doors are done, decklid is being sent back, have some work to do in the subrails their was old damage that was hidden, pulled the rear inners and going back new, they survived ok but new ones are cheap, when the body came back to the shop i used metal etching primer on everything, to be honest I really havnt spent much on it, the saving grace on the cleanup was no shit...vinegar...

 

That goes to show that some of them are never too far gone to be brought back.

 

yes it does, Im going to do the insert and hammering after I get the body mounted back on the chassis, Im not a model A expert but I do know I want my cowl and doors straight first so I have wiggle room to adjust, Im afraid stiffing up the roof may screw me adjusting out the doors later.

 

Pretty cool. Keep up the good work!

 

Wow, that is some good stuff there. Make sure and keep us posted with pics as you progress...

 

I will get better pics this weekend, just saw the post and thought "shit" thats my pos getting no respect at all.....Vic

 

Sounds like it's paying off. Good to see.

 

wow, sounds like you saved one.....great job!

 

Glad to see it got saved, I thought it looked promising from the photo when it looked like some paint remained on the right front fender. Have seen some really bad ones fixed back up before... Glad to see it avoided certain death!