How much rot is too much rot? Can you live with crispy rear quarters or does that grind a nerve? Can you tolerate a pin-holed roof or is it time to say good-bye? Do you care if you are doing Fred Flinstone proud or are you worried that the seat will go through the floor next? I’ve been everywhere from fresh, solid metal to sheer, utter, unrecoverable rot and there is no worse feeling than having to make the call that the car has to finally die. My 1973 Chevelle and 1981 Mirada both had to come off of the road due to tinworm. The Chevelle had been parked for years under evergreen trees in Washington State…years of needles, pollen and dirt built up under the vinyl roof and under the chrome trim and by the time I did my inspections, I would’ve been better off body-swapping the big A-body. The Mirada was even worse…most of the sheetmetal was okay, but due to an incident that opened up a hole between the B- and C-pillar, moisture went straight into the unibody, rotting out the rear subframe mounting point from the remainder of the car. I didn’t like either situation, but it had to be done.
If it were me, I would’ve put this XY Falcon up for spare parts. This car looks like it was dredged off of the bottom of the Great Salt Lake…it’s got holes freaking everywhere. massive missing sections, hasty patches and more. Aussie classic or not, there is a shitload of work that needs to happen if this old Ford is going to ever see the light of day as a complete car again. Check out the slideshow of the work that was performed on this left-for-dead Falcon:
AS a sertified bodyman and a hotrodder with alot of rust experience, i can say that this work is first class. I know first hand how difficult it can be to make something out of nothing. And that car was nothing more than a shadow on the Wall. I have a 75 chevell that was just as bad, spend close to 5 years transforming it from a rustet out wreck to a shiney showcar. I love that everyone Said it couldent be done, but i did. I love to see craftsmen at work instead of the usual filler spreding crap.