Floors are a couple hundred bucks, another frame could be found.... it's a GM full frame car. You could build one out of a catalog for the cost of lunch at Mc Donalds.
It’s an attractive driver. It will never be concourse again… so what. Drive and enjoy it for probably several more years. You may be surprised at just how many cars at car shows probably aren’t much better looking on a lift with a drop light shining on them. Find a guy like me that would love to help YOU fix her problems when you have extra time and money. None of this is that hard. And again. Don’t try to restore it. Keep driving and enjoying in mind when you’re planning. Pay the buddy helping you a little money and let him borrow the car and enjoy it too. It could all work out. Car isn’t junk. A lot worse have been fixed. Just remember… safe driver.
Been working on classic cars for years. Yea, the car isn’t perfect but I’ve seen way worse. I don’t feel like it’s that bad. Every piece of metal for that undercarriage can be bought and the car is worth it, especially with it being a convertible. Look at it like this, you can keep it and put the work in it and you will know exactly what you have when your done. Also, if you’re gonna own classics I suggest you start learning how to work on your own vehicle. Classics are very easy to work on. With UA-cam and the vast array of literature these days it’s very feasible.
Dude, are you wanting a show car or a driver? Your inspection guy should have asked you that question. From what i can see None of that rust has comprised the structural integrity. I'm like the other guys..... I'll take it off your hands. Unfortunately it doesn't sound like you've worked on or have any knowledge (Pep Boys, Macco) about working on cars. you can't afford to pay others to do the work. You've got to do your own work JUST DRIVE IT !!! Is it gonna leak oil? yes like every other old car. Don't worry about it. Put some stop leak in the oil & drive it till it Dies. That car will out Live You
The car is repairable but how much will it cost since it seems to have rust camouflage in certain places. If you are not able to spend a large amount of money on this one sell it as a project it could attract several buyers since it is a Lemans convertible.
Drive it, fix it. Drive some more and fix it! Don’t have to do everything at once. Fix the brakes and get some gaskets. Don’t worry about the fiberglass stuff until you’re ready to tackle it. Good luck ! Wish I had one of those! My good friend had a 71 lemans sport. 350 car. It went good enough. The last night he had it( his new1980 Camaro he ordered had come in. We had to have the lemans on the dealership used car area by morning. We were flying down a country highway downhill. Just as we started downhill at a hundred mph. He slammed the brakes, slipped it into reverse and crammed the gas pedal to the floor. Tires were going 90 in reverse, car is still going 90 forward . Until it finall slowed to where we started going in reverse up the hill. We did that a half dozen times. Tired of course went from new to garbage. I know it sounds really stupid. It was. But we used to get the cops to chase us on purpose too! We did it for fun! I forgot to mention this was a small town farming area. Not much going on and a lot of road to cover!
Of course a new subframe from a donor or a custom made subframe could be in order...Too many people have given up the idea of taking up actual car rebuilding,...with welders. I had little to no welding experience thirty years ago and tackled similar problems with a lincoln sp100 wire welder, both thin sheet metal mig and thicker gmaw flux cored(for thicker problems). And back then there were no replacement panels like there are now en masse, like I had to make pieces or have pieces bent for bracing. Of course, if a subframe is completely rotten then it has to be replaced since there is really no fixing that generally. I have also been "troubled" with a vehicle that had stuff goobered over unfixable frame rot, and even though I wasn't ripped a huge dollar amount, I like fixed half the problem of that firebird and passed on the project in disgust to a more well funded and motivated hot rodder, after I figured out how much bondo was holding the lower body panels together.
The only way to get a decent vintage car is to personally rebuild one, since I keep on hearing of folks paying others to do such and getting ripped off. Like make sure it is safe to drive, keep it, get another stripped down, rebuild the body on it, get the body straight, transfer the engine and goodies over afterwards then get started on that one with yer new found welding skills,...what's wrong with that.
That sucks, my dad had one of these 1968, same color convertible in the early 90s. I wanted it so bad when I turned 16, which would have been 94, but he sold it about a year before...$4,200. Hell. This my be it! It was in MI where everything rusts.
@@BlastingSupercars Wow... I was thinking the other day, the 99 Mercury Grand Marquis I drive now is older than the Lemans was when my dad had it. It hardly makes sense! The LeMans was only 24 or 25 years old in the early 90's, but it seemed like such an older classic type car.
@@wendwllhickey6426 I went to pepboys when the oil leak issue 1st happened just to get eyes on what it could be. Then with that I found a classic car shop. That shop is the one in the video saying it's toast. Not pep boys.
Well when he said the next car options are c8 ,r8 , 68 charger those all cost way more than it would cost to repair the car. Speaking from a restoration perspective if you like something that much fix and save it. I don’t believe e in fixing every shit box on the road but if means something it worth fixing @@freechagosislandjohnpilger
Painful experience for sure, but take this as an expensive learning opportunity. There's nothing flippers won't do to sell sketchy cars for big prices. Many of us classic car people have had similiar experiences. In my twenties I got attached to a rotted out '74 Roadrunner and sunk a small fortune into bringing it back only to have to sell it for a loss the following year. Probably best to sell it off for what you can or part it out if you have the time and ambition.
Take that body off the frame , look for a 95-07 GM frame or another F Body frame (might be hard to find) & mount that Lemans body on top. Then take that frame to the scrapyard. Also maybe salvage the engine & trans to be sold. But def keep that car & put that body on a new frame. Probably gonna need some new quarters as well , but there cheap from Year One. Good luck o7
its not an f body car. Idiots keep saying f body, f body is firebird and camaro only. You need a frame from a t87, tempest, lemans, or gto. Also iirc olds cutlass is the same.
That car is so easy to fix what these people want to do is buy cheap fix it themselves and sell it for more money most of those cars have the same problem they just need restoration most of those cars are all the same shape they all get restored those roommate seals on Pontiac inches are very simple just pull the motor out put the new seal in floor pans are cheap and all the parts are not that bad turn off full of crap❤😊
I really saw nothing that can't be fixed... I think your problem is you took it to a mechanic, not a body guy. If you are unable to do the work yourself and save some money, by all means, buy a different one. Or get the wrenches and the welder out and teach yourself to do it. Remember, no one knew how to do anything... until they tried and learned.
I think that would go something like this: Welcome to my new series - "Fixing the LeMans myself"... annnnd I broke it more. Stay tuned for the next video🤣. But in all seriousness I appreciate the comment. I still have it and still debating what I might do with it, I've just had life get in the way the past couple months so it's been on the back burner. But more to come...soon..ish
Cut your losses and walk away. To build it correctly, you're looking at over $70,000 in parts alone. The Roadster Shop frame is $13,000 to give you an idea of what the foundation is going to cost. Labor? It'll be priced out by the hour...
Show me any used car thats driven regular, thats over 50 years old that has no rust in a seasonal climate!!?? Strip it and repair it yourself if you want/can, other than that sell it to someone who will do the work so it survives. Not many 68 Le Mans likely survive. Most cars of that era rusted quickly compared to today, an original with no rust or repairs would be a real unicorn. 99% of cars surviving from this era have had corrosion repairs or whole trunk floors and rockers 🤣, if everyone had the attitude of that mechanic few if any would survive. If the Le Mans was only 20 to 30 years old with many other survivors still around it would be straight to the crusher, but it is 56 years old and a rare survivor. I used to work in vehicle body, repairing it will outstrip the value of the vehicle, this is true, but if you like it and repair it, it will be yours for longer. I would carefully strip it down to a shell, and bag and log all parts, take photos of the strip, assess the level of corrosion and take it from there, it may actually have nothing to weld too which may be scrap, however anything can be repaired with the will to do it. Once you get into it, the level of corrosion you saw before will now triple, do not be put off. If you have the patience to learn skills and project manage you could do a lot of work yourself, do you have a vehicle body buddy to help?? Never try painting or preparing the body for paint yourself if you have no experience in that, leave that to a body shop. The floor and rockers you could likely manage, outer sheet metal takes a lot more expertise to get right. You may enjoy the resto and have a real feeling of achievment of you are that type of person, it may not be concours but it could survive further.
That was my initial reaction, but they didn't try to buy it or anything. Majority of comments agree with your view too so idk what ima do atm. Just stewing on it
@@BlastingSupercars Yea Bro I hate guys like that lol. I didn't have ALOT growing up so I learned real quick BECAUSE OF GUYS LIKE THAT. There was actually a guy in Fairmont I caught cutting a spot in my momma's fan belt and had already put a little hole in the Radiator hose Mom called the police when I got her and he had to FIX the car for free and I believe they shut him down.. I was 13 At the time...
@@danielbock7562 That chit happened at gas stations all the time as a 70s kid. Both my parents at some point caught the "full service" guys wanting to help them ck fluids wanting to do the same thing.
these were 10 times the cars of unibody and torsion bar junk chrysler was building at the time. and that goes double for ford. if they had same condition as this a pot hole would have broken them in half.
@@BlastingSupercars I hear you. But, it seems unsafe, unless you fix it's bones. What if you found a good body and chassis, that was missing the engine, trans and interior? I'm sure you'll find an appropriate avenue that makes sense.
Oh lord. I've got cars I drive all the time worse than that. Here's the thing I'll tell anybody that wants to own a classic car or an off road rig. If you don't know how to work on it yourself L, don't buy it. And your mechanics are terrible. They could have said that it was more than they wanted to tackle, but nobody has the right to tell you it's not worth fixing. Please sell this to someone who knows what they are doing. Quit ruining rare things because some shitty mechanic told you it's junk.
@@BlastingSupercars * please sell it to someone with a passion for working on those beautiful cars. A young person with the drive to fix all of that. I was once that kid. She can be enjoyed for a very long time in the right hands.
And another thing he's talking about separating the body ??? YOU DON'T DO THAT WITH A UNIBODY CAR IT DOESN'T COME APART LIKE THAT AT ALL HE'S A PURE LIER ABOUT EVERYTHING I WOULD NEVER TRUST HIM...
Floors are a couple hundred bucks, another frame could be found.... it's a GM full frame car. You could build one out of a catalog for the cost of lunch at Mc Donalds.
Took the words right out of my mouth!!! If you love the car, don't give up on it!!! Just make it right!!!
It’s an attractive driver. It will never be concourse again… so what. Drive and enjoy it for probably several more years. You may be surprised at just how many cars at car shows probably aren’t much better looking on a lift with a drop light shining on them. Find a guy like me that would love to help YOU fix her problems when you have extra time and money. None of this is that hard. And again. Don’t try to restore it. Keep driving and enjoying in mind when you’re planning. Pay the buddy helping you a little money and let him borrow the car and enjoy it too. It could all work out. Car isn’t junk. A lot worse have been fixed. Just remember… safe driver.
Been working on classic cars for years. Yea, the car isn’t perfect but I’ve seen way worse. I don’t feel like it’s that bad. Every piece of metal for that undercarriage can be bought and the car is worth it, especially with it being a convertible. Look at it like this, you can keep it and put the work in it and you will know exactly what you have when your done. Also, if you’re gonna own classics I suggest you start learning how to work on your own vehicle. Classics are very easy to work on. With UA-cam and the vast array of literature these days it’s very feasible.
Dude, are you wanting a show car or a driver?
Your inspection guy should have asked you that question.
From what i can see None of that rust has comprised the structural integrity.
I'm like the other guys..... I'll take it off your hands.
Unfortunately it doesn't sound like you've worked on or have any knowledge (Pep Boys, Macco) about working on cars.
you can't afford to pay others to do the work.
You've got to do your own work
JUST DRIVE IT !!!
Is it gonna leak oil? yes like every other old car. Don't worry about it. Put some stop leak in the oil & drive it till it Dies. That car will out Live You
The car is repairable but how much will it cost since it seems to have rust camouflage in certain places. If you are not able to spend a large amount of money on this one sell it as a project it could attract several buyers since it is a Lemans convertible.
Drive it, fix it. Drive some more and fix it! Don’t have to do everything at once. Fix the brakes and get some gaskets. Don’t worry about the fiberglass stuff until you’re ready to tackle it. Good luck ! Wish I had one of those! My good friend had a 71 lemans sport. 350 car. It went good enough. The last night he had it( his new1980 Camaro he ordered had come in. We had to have the lemans on the dealership used car area by morning. We were flying down a country highway downhill. Just as we started downhill at a hundred mph. He slammed the brakes, slipped it into reverse and crammed the gas pedal to the floor. Tires were going 90 in reverse, car is still going 90 forward . Until it finall slowed to where we started going in reverse up the hill. We did that a half dozen times. Tired of course went from new to garbage. I know it sounds really stupid. It was. But we used to get the cops to chase us on purpose too! We did it for fun! I forgot to mention this was a small town farming area. Not much going on and a lot of road to cover!
Leave it alone and enjoy! Fix only safety issues as they arise
I like the sound of that. Miss driving it already
Part it out to salvage every dollar you can. Lots of good parts there.
Of course a new subframe from a donor or a custom made subframe could be in order...Too many people have given up the idea of taking up actual car rebuilding,...with welders. I had little to no welding experience thirty years ago and tackled similar problems with a lincoln sp100 wire welder, both thin sheet metal mig and thicker gmaw flux cored(for thicker problems). And back then there were no replacement panels like there are now en masse, like I had to make pieces or have pieces bent for bracing. Of course, if a subframe is completely rotten then it has to be replaced since there is really no fixing that generally. I have also been "troubled" with a vehicle that had stuff goobered over unfixable frame rot, and even though I wasn't ripped a huge dollar amount, I like fixed half the problem of that firebird and passed on the project in disgust to a more well funded and motivated hot rodder, after I figured out how much bondo was holding the lower body panels together.
The only way to get a decent vintage car is to personally rebuild one, since I keep on hearing of folks paying others to do such and getting ripped off. Like make sure it is safe to drive, keep it, get another stripped down, rebuild the body on it, get the body straight, transfer the engine and goodies over afterwards then get started on that one with yer new found welding skills,...what's wrong with that.
thats a full frame car. its not a firebird. basically same as a chevelle
That sucks, my dad had one of these 1968, same color convertible in the early 90s. I wanted it so bad when I turned 16, which would have been 94, but he sold it about a year before...$4,200. Hell. This my be it! It was in MI where everything rusts.
Ha! Now all the rust makes sense. I got my LeMans when I turned 16 from my dad 😳. What are the odds
@@BlastingSupercars Wow... I was thinking the other day, the 99 Mercury Grand Marquis I drive now is older than the Lemans was when my dad had it. It hardly makes sense! The LeMans was only 24 or 25 years old in the early 90's, but it seemed like such an older classic type car.
Love the look of the 68’ LeMans. Buy an after market chassis and a new engine, or just give her to me 😎
Maybe 🤷♂️. Just an expensive lawn ornament atm lol.
Search for another better body,swap everything. Do yourself a favor. Pay a guy to inspect/appraise before buying. That's a shame. Feel for you.
First problem is you went to pep boys,they want you to sell it to them.
Sell for a project car won't get what you payed
@@wendwllhickey6426 I went to pepboys when the oil leak issue 1st happened just to get eyes on what it could be. Then with that I found a classic car shop. That shop is the one in the video saying it's toast. Not pep boys.
Thats is wild to hear that they’re talking like that…that’s
I’d have that floor pan and braces replaced in 4 days
New qtrs in another week
Well when he said the next car options are c8 ,r8 , 68 charger those all cost way more than it would cost to repair the car. Speaking from a restoration perspective if you like something that much fix and save it. I don’t believe e in fixing every shit box on the road but if means something it worth fixing @@freechagosislandjohnpilger
Geezus maaco auto repair?
Pepboyz for repair quote
Marco and pepboys.... bruh you don't take this kind of car to those places
Painful experience for sure, but take this as an expensive learning opportunity. There's nothing flippers won't do to sell sketchy cars for big prices. Many of us classic car people have had similiar experiences. In my twenties I got attached to a rotted out '74 Roadrunner and sunk a small fortune into bringing it back only to have to sell it for a loss the following year. Probably best to sell it off for what you can or part it out if you have the time and ambition.
Take that body off the frame , look for a 95-07 GM frame or another F Body frame (might be hard to find) & mount that Lemans body on top. Then take that frame to the scrapyard. Also maybe salvage the engine & trans to be sold. But def keep that car & put that body on a new frame. Probably gonna need some new quarters as well , but there cheap from Year One. Good luck o7
I'll keep that idea in mind
its not an f body car. Idiots keep saying f body, f body is firebird and camaro only. You need a frame from a t87, tempest, lemans, or gto.
Also iirc olds cutlass is the same.
@@BlastingSupercars Pretty sure these are A bodies. Browse some forums put out some WTB ads bet someone has a clean frame they dont cost a ton.
Fbodys are Camaros and none of GMs 95-07 chassis will bolt in
Give Derek @Vice Grip Garage a shout. He may be interested in a ride like this.
Will do!
Part it out, use the funds on a new one. Carry a fridge magnet and a screwdriver when looking at finished cars.
Junk yard its a death trap
Beautiful car and totally fixable. You should find someone local to help you fix it
I agree, those idiots are pointing out stuff needed to bring it back to showroom condition. Fix a little at a time, this is what welders are for.
That car is so easy to fix what these people want to do is buy cheap fix it themselves and sell it for more money most of those cars have the same problem they just need restoration most of those cars are all the same shape they all get restored those roommate seals on Pontiac inches are very simple just pull the motor out put the new seal in floor pans are cheap and all the parts are not that bad turn off full of crap❤😊
Hell. Make viral progress videos and post them here. People watch that stuff like crazy. Make some of the money for repairs by doing that
Maybe. No clue what I'd be doing but figuring it out would be the fun of it
Bro if you don't want it I'll take it..
I really saw nothing that can't be fixed... I think your problem is you took it to a mechanic, not a body guy. If you are unable to do the work yourself and save some money, by all means, buy a different one. Or get the wrenches and the welder out and teach yourself to do it. Remember, no one knew how to do anything... until they tried and learned.
I think that would go something like this: Welcome to my new series - "Fixing the LeMans myself"... annnnd I broke it more. Stay tuned for the next video🤣. But in all seriousness I appreciate the comment. I still have it and still debating what I might do with it, I've just had life get in the way the past couple months so it's been on the back burner. But more to come...soon..ish
Cut your losses and walk away. To build it correctly, you're looking at over $70,000 in parts alone. The Roadster Shop frame is $13,000 to give you an idea of what the foundation is going to cost. Labor? It'll be priced out by the hour...
Oh yeah. Was 1 hour of labor charged to look at the car and give me the bad news and that was $134 for an hour 🫣
@@BlastingSupercars If you arent a wrench you ought to sell it on a pontiac forum. To pay somoene to do it all you better be in love with it.
Show me any used car thats driven regular, thats over 50 years old that has no rust in a seasonal climate!!??
Strip it and repair it yourself if you want/can, other than that sell it to someone who will do the work so it survives. Not many 68 Le Mans likely survive.
Most cars of that era rusted quickly compared to today, an original with no rust or repairs would be a real unicorn. 99% of cars surviving from this era have had corrosion repairs or whole trunk floors and rockers 🤣, if everyone had the attitude of that mechanic few if any would survive. If the Le Mans was only 20 to 30 years old with many other survivors still around it would be straight to the crusher, but it is 56 years old and a rare survivor.
I used to work in vehicle body, repairing it will outstrip the value of the vehicle, this is true, but if you like it and repair it, it will be yours for longer.
I would carefully strip it down to a shell, and bag and log all parts, take photos of the strip, assess the level of corrosion and take it from there, it may actually have nothing to weld too which may be scrap, however anything can be repaired with the will to do it. Once you get into it, the level of corrosion you saw before will now triple, do not be put off. If you have the patience to learn skills and project manage you could do a lot of work yourself, do you have a vehicle body buddy to help??
Never try painting or preparing the body for paint yourself if you have no experience in that, leave that to a body shop. The floor and rockers you could likely manage, outer sheet metal takes a lot more expertise to get right. You may enjoy the resto and have a real feeling of achievment of you are that type of person, it may not be concours but it could survive further.
Just tear it down and fix it
Your Mechanics are on something . Very fixable and very worth fixing. Maybe they hope you will junk it to them.
That was my initial reaction, but they didn't try to buy it or anything. Majority of comments agree with your view too so idk what ima do atm. Just stewing on it
Don’t sell it… restore her
😬 I'd love for someone to restore her..
Sorry for your losses @@BlastingSupercars
Sounds like it's time for you to learn more about cars so you are not getting Screwed anymore.....
Ur not wrong...😅
@@BlastingSupercars Yea Bro I hate guys like that lol. I didn't have ALOT growing up so I learned real quick BECAUSE OF GUYS LIKE THAT. There was actually a guy in Fairmont I caught cutting a spot in my momma's fan belt and had already put a little hole in the Radiator hose Mom called the police when I got her and he had to FIX the car for free and I believe they shut him down..
I was 13 At the time...
@@danielbock7562 Jesus that's wild
@@danielbock7562 That chit happened at gas stations all the time as a 70s kid. Both my parents at some point caught the "full service" guys wanting to help them ck fluids wanting to do the same thing.
Someone would have to really like lemans, or in this case, lemons, to fix restore this one.
🤣🍋
these were 10 times the cars of unibody and torsion bar junk chrysler was building at the time. and that goes double for ford. if they had same condition as this a pot hole would have broken them in half.
Again I'll take the car if you don't want it and I'LL FIX IT...
Part it out.
An origional numbers matching LeMans. Would prefer to see it saved
@@BlastingSupercars I hear you. But, it seems unsafe, unless you fix it's bones. What if you found a good body and chassis, that was missing the engine, trans and interior? I'm sure you'll find an appropriate avenue that makes sense.
Its not that bad
68 charger
I like the sound of that
Oh lord. I've got cars I drive all the time worse than that. Here's the thing I'll tell anybody that wants to own a classic car or an off road rig. If you don't know how to work on it yourself L, don't buy it. And your mechanics are terrible. They could have said that it was more than they wanted to tackle, but nobody has the right to tell you it's not worth fixing. Please sell this to someone who knows what they are doing. Quit ruining rare things because some shitty mechanic told you it's junk.
Yep. That's why I don't wanna part it out. Origional numbers matching LeMans. Would like to see it saved in a perfect world
@@BlastingSupercars * please sell it to someone with a passion for working on those beautiful cars. A young person with the drive to fix all of that. I was once that kid. She can be enjoyed for a very long time in the right hands.
And another thing he's talking about separating the body ??? YOU DON'T DO THAT WITH A UNIBODY CAR IT DOESN'T COME APART LIKE THAT AT ALL HE'S A PURE LIER ABOUT EVERYTHING I WOULD NEVER TRUST HIM...
Except the Lemans is a full frame car and not a unibody.
I owned a 72 Lemans , it was a full frame car. This isn't a unibody car.
Sure has a lot of frame mounts for being a unibody.