Take everything good and useable from this car and find a better body to install the parts on, sorry.
Your rockers and inner panels are in need of full replacement.

 

I’m a huge believer and advocate of the “almost anything can be repaired” mentality, but there are times when it’s just not worth the trouble.

This, I’m afraid, is one of those instances. A rust-free bodyshell will save years of time and potentially thousands of hours.

 

Umm. Wow. That car is toast I would say. Yikes. Like even my opels are rusty and most people would use them as parts cars but wow yours is bad. There are plenty of even slightly better gts out there. The only thing left will be the roof by the time you replace all the cancer. And look at the body damage! Heck the side of the car will have to be replaced. That metal will be way to thin to do anything with. You better have paid like $200 for it.

I have a red 73 GT that has the same bad motor mount rust on the passenger side. I ended up putting the car on the backburner and I have since bought a rust free firewall forward section for it. So I am just going to weld panels from that nose onto my car. That car just needs rockers, quarters and some other small areas.

The only thing you could do with your car is maybe build the car around a tube frame and do it that way.



This is my summer daily. It is like 70% covered in bondo and below the bondo rust holes. It's really rusty and not worth to restore the body

here is my red car that looks really nice but in reality its crusty.

And the yellow nose in front of the red GT will be replacing most of the front sheet metal.

 

As mentioned by others, your GT is gone past the point of restorable .....

Here are old videos of my @ the time rusty GT . It will give you an idea of what is repairable.

 

While these aren't the answers I'd hoped for, I appreciate you guys taking the time to answer and share pictures and references! I had another GT about three years ago that had much worse rust and body damage, and I eventually just scrapped it based on the advice on this forum. So this time around, I was much more hopeful. I drove from KS to MN to pick this thing up, after seeing a video of the car driving around the seller's shop, and squeezed out every penny I had extra for it. Paid $700 plus about $400 in fuel and trailer rental costs. But, sounds like this dream is all but realistically over for me at this stage.
So what are my options? Is it feasible to create a subframe of sorts out of steel and tie it into existing good subframe areas? Can I build a steel rectangle that the car sits on and then just remove the engine from the top and not drop it from underneath (If I need to remove the engine)? I can weld, and I have friends that can weld, so it's not the work that's discouraging as much just the hours I see now will be involved.
I'm not so worried about the 'cosmetic' rust as I am about structural safety.
I have no problem with not keeping this car exactly to original, if that helps clarify. So steel under the rockers (for example) isn't a big deal for me.
So either this, or does anyone has a rust-free or rust-repairable shell of a car they could point me in the direction of? As I already have the engine, transmission, and I'll be doing a custom interior and wiring.
Appreciate your help gentlemen. Many delightful hours reading these forums.

 

A guy on FB just listed two California GT’s for $2000 the other day, so deals do exist.

Might be a better starting point.

 

Are those still available for this guy?

 

Yeah there are several not that rusty GTs for sale in my area for like $1500. I would get a better one. And least it sounds like you have a good drivetrain you can swap into a better car.

 

I'm sorry to read of the miles and money you've sunk into your GT, only to find it a basket case. Member Vincent's videos show how far a determined and skilled person can do to turn a basket case into a very nice GT.

The fellow behind this below video had a similar basket case. I'm still amazed at the talent someone like this gent has, to make that GT into a complete,whole car. Link:

This is video #1 of 40 & counting. Not only is he a great metal man, he's also a great videographer. Recommend if you haven't already, subscribe to his channel.

GT's used in a winter environment; aka The Rust Belt, suffer greatly and hard with the rust worm. My take & advice would be to look towards Southern California where the weather is hot and the humidity is low. I drove from NJ to CA to buy my GT. It spent about half it's life in Southern Cal before the owner moved up to Salinas. I think I did more damage keeping it out in the NJ environment from 2002 to about 2013 or so when I was able to get it garaged compared to it's life in CA from 1973 onto 2002!

It's a shame what happens to these classic cars. But at this point in your journey. I'd not advise tossing more good money and hard work into a car that is that far gone. But do look for parts to salvage off of it for your next resto.

 

The only GT I've ever seen without rust was my 72 and I bought that in 77. Every GT since had rust in it and on it, these cars are known rust magnets. My current 70 GT, the PO paid to have the car completely stripped and blasted and removed all the rust, went back with new metal. I have the pictures of the stages the car went through. I guess this doesn't help you, but as others have mentioned you'd be better off starting with a GT in better shape. Also, if you go looking for a better body/car take a magnet with you.

 

 

Appreciate the advice gentlemen. It’s a pity rust destroys these cars so frequently it sounds like.

 

Well they started out behind the eight ball. NO rust protection from the factory, shipped across the Atlantic exposed to salt air/water. Bad from the start. Should of been fiberglass like the Corvette IMO.

 

Corvette frames do rust where body mounts attach and of course all over.

We need to credit Opel for oil leaks that blow all over the underside of vehicle with oil rust prevention.

 

We need to credit Opel for oil leaks that bath the underside of vehicle with oil rust prevention.

It's not a defect...It's a feature!

 

Like owning an old Harley. It will leak, the challenge is to stop that leak, lol 😆

 

Structural integrity is long gone on this car. Try to locate another body structure to use instead of wasting time with this one. There are quite a few good donor cars from So. Cal or some areas in AZ. Last time I was in Riverside CA, I stopped in and met Todd of Opels Unlimited. He had quite a few cars stored outside there.
Good luck anyway