'72 GS convertible (1 of 601 350 ci automatics)

Some of you may recall this one advertised in the 'Sales/Parts Leads' forum. Well, $1,500 later and a snowy trip home from Massachusetts to Maryland on the 14th, it arrived safe and sound in my garage. Some advice sought. The body is not in great shape, with rusted quarters and lower cowl. Sections of the cabin floor were already cut out, as was the entire trunk floor. The good news is that it is a somewhat rare car. Also, I won't part it out for that reason. The bad news is I have a '71 Skylark convertible which I started to restore more than a year ago. I bring the Skylark body home tomorrow with a complete one-piece new cabin floor and new metal in the quarters. It has been block sanded and primed. Front ffenders have not been addressed yet. The frame has been media blasted and 6-coats of POR-15 applied. My thought at this time is to sell the cowl-back body less trunk and doors of the Skylark (trunk and doors to be used on the GS). There is some rust-through on the GS frame. Haven't separated it from the body yet for lack of avaiulable storage space; so at this time not sure if the frame has major issues that would require me to keep the Skylark frame. Options...1. sell the Skylark body and frame2. sell the Skylark body and keep the frame in the event it is needed for the GS (thoughts on a non-matching numbers frame for the GS?)3. keep the Skylark body (the body metal to repair the cowl of the GS, cut out and use the OPGI cabin floor to repair the GS?)4. Other ideas?Thanks.

 

Convertible frame is different but you might be able to cut the extra inner rails out and use them on your frame. Cross member is shorter also on a vert. Since you own both I would cannablize the Skylark for the convertible

 

IMHO the first step is to assess what the GS needs.

The big question is: is the GS frame salvageable? Most likely is depending on what your definition of salvageable is.

Second question would be - What are your intentions with the GS? If you are planning on a restoration to sell it then doing what you can to repair the original frame might be the right direction. I've seen quite a few frames discarded because they have an area that has rust out. I personally would not be afraid of repairing a frame if the project was worth it. If you are planning on keeping the GS and you feel the frame repair is beyond your skill set and/or your budget, use the Skylark frame and proceed with selling the GS frame separately or with the remains of the Skylark body.

Third question: Why not finish what you started with the Skylark, sell it and use those funds to fund the GS? Or finish both and have two cool converts to enjoy.

 

John and Opel,Thanks for the response(s). I intend to separate the GS body from the frame and have each media blasted. I like originality so I will try my best to salvage the frame. I'll assess and then hopefully POR-15 the frame after repairing any rust-through issues. When media blasted I'll then epoxy primer the body and assess everything needed metal-wise. I'm doing this as a bucket-list project, as I had intended on the Skylark. It's a keeper - the GS. Can't do both as space is an issue (as you can tell from my Avatar garage photo). The GS is now in my garage and the Skylark body and frame in a storage garage. I intend to snap some pics and post at least the Skylark body for sale, in the next week or so.