New from Colorado

[PontiacJR]

Hello All.....newbie from Colorado and I have a quick question......have a chance to buy a '73 LeMans sport coupe....all original....the only problem is the body was sanded down 10 years ago and then left outside......body is straight and the only bad spot is the passenger side front fender at the bottom. Of course the whole car is covered in rust....would it be worth getting it sandblasted and trying to paint.???

[Ringo64]

How bad is the rust? Have you had a chance to inspect it?

[Frosty]

I am familiar with the '73 Lemans Sport Coupe, as I had one right out of high school. Ringo's question is very valid. How bad is the rust? Is this a Southwest car where rust tends to go so far and stops and protect the metal or is a Midwestern rust that tends to totally destroy the metal? Unfortunately, the are not a lot of reproduction sheet metal parts for the '73 and up Colonade style cars, so you may have to find good used original sheet metal, depending on how bad things are and where it is.

[stratman]

I love the style of the of the '73-'77 Lemans/GTO/Grand Am/Can Am Colonnade Pontiacs. I think they are way underappreciated because you rarely see them at shows. I'm sure Pontiac made hundreds of thousands of them and I guess most got crushed or rusted away. We have some excellent folks here that can help you evaluate whether or not the Lemans you are looking at is worth saving, so post some up close pictures, especially the quarter panels, trunk, floors (if you have access), and around the front and rear window. In the meantime, here is some inspiration as to how beautiful these cars cab be...

[Teckelhut]

I would think that light surface rust would not harm the integrity of the metal. However, if it was me, I would take the worse area, sand it or blast it down just a bit and see what it looks like. If the worse area looks like its savable, the rest should be just fine.

[Frosty]

Exactly my point Teckelhut. Cars that rust in the SW part of the country tend to rust to a only to a certain point (surface rust mainly) and then it stops, thus protecting the rest of the metal. Anything driven near the left or right or Gulf coasts for a long period of time or exposed to road salts will deteriorate because of the salt.

[Ghost]