Need advice on 1968 Polara

[Nilsog]

Hi everyone,

First of all, thanks for having me. I'm obviously a new member. I was also over a "A bodies only" a while back when I still had my 65 Dart.

I was recently given a 1968 Polara. The car is a 4 door hardtop, 318 with factory air. Engine runs, brakes are good, body will need work, and the frame has some rot.

I'm mainly here to see what you might be able to offer for advice when it comes to repairing the frame. The car was free, so at this point I have nothing in it. The car is in really good shape for being a Maine car, aside from the frame. I'm willing to put maybe 1000-1500 into the car to get it on the road. Aside from the frame, it will only need rear leaf springs to be on the road. The body work can be done after.

I've attached some pictures for reference. The photo of the frame is the worst area. The rest is rusty but solid. The floors are all solid as well.

So, how much do you guys think it will take to fix this frame?

 

[Davea Lux]

Hi everyone,

First of all, thanks for having me. I'm obviously a new member. I was also over a "A bodies only" a while back when I still had my 65 Dart.

I was recently given a 1968 Polara. The car is a 4 door hardtop, 318 with factory air. Engine runs, brakes are good, body will need work, and the frame has some rot.

I'm mainly here to see what you might be able to offer for advice when it comes to repairing the frame. The car was free, so at this point I have nothing in it. The car is in really good shape for being a Maine car, aside from the frame. I'm willing to put maybe 1000-1500 into the car to get it on the road. Aside from the frame, it will only need rear leaf springs to be on the road. The body work can be done after.

I've attached some pictures for reference. The photo of the frame is the worst area. The rest is rusty but solid. The floors are all solid as well.

So, how much do you guys think it will take to fix this frame?

This fame rail is not reparable, you are going to need to cut out the whole section and replace it. That is certainly possible, the trick is going to be if there is enough left of the various attachment points to weld in a new section and have it be structurally sound. I would suggest having a frame shop look it over and evaluate a potential repair.

Dave

 

[detmatt]

I would say if the rail is that bad in that spot that it'll need to be replaced all the way to the rear crossmember behind the bumper and forward at least a couple feet. Looks like it'll need a rear leaf support as well. I'd look for doner metal from another car.

 

[barnfind]

First welcome,
Are you planning to do this work yourself or have someone else do it? In otherwords are you good with welding?

 

[GJS]

I would say if the rail is that bad in that spot that it'll need to be replaced all the way to the rear crossmember behind the bumper and forward at least a couple feet. Looks like it'll need a rear leaf support as well. I'd look for doner metal from another car.

X2 on the donor car.. to get a body man to box all that in is going to be ridiculous amounts of money.

There are a few threads up here you may want to check out. For one:
68 frame change

If you read through, there are more links to other projects that will get you a much more sturdy understanding of how involved this sorta stuff can get.

happy reading and good luck, man!

 

[Ripinator]

Hi everyone,

First of all, thanks for having me. I'm obviously a new member. I was also over a "A bodies only" a while back when I still had my 65 Dart.

I was recently given a 1968 Polara. The car is a 4 door hardtop, 318 with factory air. Engine runs, brakes are good, body will need work, and the frame has some rot.

I'm mainly here to see what you might be able to offer for advice when it comes to repairing the frame. The car was free, so at this point I have nothing in it. The car is in really good shape for being a Maine car, aside from the frame. I'm willing to put maybe 1000-1500 into the car to get it on the road. Aside from the frame, it will only need rear leaf springs to be on the road. The body work can be done after.

I've attached some pictures for reference. The photo of the frame is the worst area. The rest is rusty but solid. The floors are all solid as well.

So, how much do you guys think it will take to fix this frame?

Hey! Welcome to FCBO. Sorry about that rear frame rail. When you said "frame", I thought you were talking about the front stub frame. Hopefully its OK. I really like the look of your car.

 

[My three 67 Polaras]

This is too far gone for what it is. It would be different if he was saving the V-code.

From the photo, I am guessing that there is nothing savable in the back end of the car, except the quarter panels. Even if you could find a few square feet of good steel in the trunk floor, it does you no good when it is rusted at every attachment to adjacent parts. There are a lot of different steel pieces that make up the rear unibody, and inter-leafed corrosion at spot weld joints usually scraps the whole part.

If he obtains a parts car, it would make more sense to swap anything you like from this car into the parts car to make one good car; assuming the parts car was not hit in the front. Then it would be easier to weld the front half of this car to the rear half of the parts car.

I am good at this sort of repair, and even making something out of nothing, but I try to spend my time more wisely.

Since it would not be a concourse restoration, various bits could theoretically be put together to form up all of those parts; rectangular steel tubing comes to mind, a bead roller, a heavy duty sheet metal brake, lots of sheet steel, steel extrusions to make parts from, bottles of 75/25% argon CO2, boxes of abrasives, rolls of mig wire, electricity, it all adds up. He wouldn't want to cut those parts from extrusions or rectangular tubing without a plasma cutter, or they will warp. He would not want to do this without a mentor to supervise such issues as sequencing, tooling, warpage, and straightness. My guess is at least $5k in materials and 500 hours picking away at it in the garage. Those little items add up in a hurry, and more expensive ones can hurt even more, such as a divorce.

All this for a 4 dr 318 car?

 

[commando1]

Welcome.
Sorry for the bluntness but it looks like the car is toast.

 

[Nilsog]

Thanks for the replies. My wife's loves this car, so she'll be devastated when I break the news to her. Luckily it was given to me though, so at least I don't have a bunch of money tied up in her yet.

To answer other questions, I've never welded before. If it wasn't going to cost an absurd amount, I would be willing to pay someone to repair it because my wife loves it so much.

 

[GJS]

Posted this in your welcome thread but it begs repeating:

Just remember too, you're sitting on a lot of nice parts there. The trim appears to be in good shape, the grille is all there and straight, the bumpers look pretty good and the interior has a lot of needful components. All that said, you're actually ahead considering you were given the car.

I say, put the dollars together that you'd have spent putting her right and spend it on a better candidate that may need so many of the good components of that car and you'll wind up with a cruiser to be reckoned with!

All things considered, good score!


And PS: all this = solid version of car that wife loves = happy wife = happy Nilsog.

 

[live4theking]

If your dear wife likes it so much I would suggest looking for another maybe from the south that has a toasted interior. Then you would have a solid platform to start from.

 

[monaco68]

I think that what everyone on here is saying is the way to go. GJS posted a link to my thread about changing a frame. If you are not set up to do it you would be better off to get someone to do it for you and that could get very expensive. My frame fell out in pieces as I cut the spot welds, that's how bad it was. I was fortunate enough to aquire a frame from National Moparts, but it all comes with a price. I decided to repair mine ( on hold for the moment ) and my reasons for doing that are probably totally different than yours. So unless you have very specific reasons to repair that specific car I would look around for another. Just my .02

 

[monaco68]

BTW, I do happen to have a partial frame section from the rear shocks back, But from the photos I think you need more than that.