Advice on inspecting a 71 'cuda for purchase

What are some of the usual trouble spots to examine and explore on these cars?

I plan on going over the car with a fine tooth comb, documenting as much as I can, and wanted to ask others advice with some things to look for.

I surely will bring a refrigerator magnet for hidden bodywork, and go over the car from tip to tail with pen and pad in hand.

Thanks for the advice Moparts!

sounds like this is a restored car? if so then, see if they have any pics of the progress. also ask for receipts for engine work etc. check the rear frame rails and floor pans in the front where the driver and passenger sit.

Main areas that seem to slip by,

Lower quarters, check for bonds. Beware some alleyway body shops use steel wool to fool magnets

Trunk floors and extensions. Look for excessive coating

Left and right passenger floors. An awl works good for finding pin holes. Again look for excessive coating

On the engine, pull the oil filler cap and run your finger inside the VC. If you come out with sludge on your finger, walk.

I'm side there are other things other members can suggest.

Seam where the cowl and firewall are welded this is a good indicator of cowl rot and is very common! Behind hood hinges these areas didn't get much paint coverage.

The only rust I can find in my 71 is lower quarters right behind the back wheels, it is a [censored] spot having the inner panel up against it.

Sounds like a restored car?, if it's been done on the west coast, the trend it seems for most of the shops there is to lather the entire body in bondo/putty then block/carve it out, so it'll be a bondo buggy regardless of the panels integrity underneath, I'd suggest you take along an individual who knows E bodies inside out, not a paint daub/numbers guy, but a hands on individual who has actually restored a number of E bodies

My brother and I inspected a car for a member on here last spring. We just put horse blinders on and looked at the car piece by piece.

Bring along some cardboard so you have something to lay on so you can look at the bottom for rust, patch panel work, etc.

Bring a flashlight, pen, paper, mirror, and a camera.

Use a mirror or stick your fingers up inside the tops of the wheel well lips to make sure the inner wheel wells aren't rusty, which usually means the quarter panels were once rusty too.

Look at the tail panel from inside the trunk for collision damage, and the bottom of the doors and trunk lid seams for rust separation.

If you stick your head in the trunk you can get a good view of the bottom of the rear window channel - a common rust spot on any old car.

Check the k-frame, frame rails, gas tank for dents or creases. Seen a few pretty clean looking old cars that were ran off the road, hit a tree stump or something like that some time in their life and the bottom of the car was never properly repaired.

All great advice so far. The condition of the car is what I would call partially restored. Some panels have been touched up over the years. The car was taken apart years ago and sat for some time. It has since been put back together and is a running, driving car.

I plan to take my time with this car, take a ton of photos, pen and paper, and make sure the car is not misrepresented.

Only visible rust is a small hole on the drivers side pan. Not large enough for that whole section, just requires a small patch.

I also plan on using this thread to come up with a checklist of sorts when I go see it in a couple weeks. Plan to spend the better part of the day going over the car.

there is also the aspect of checking numbers, correctness etc. Unless that's of no concern.

First thing I'd check is the numbers. First look at the dash VIN. Then look on the drivers side core support and the top of the drivers side cowl. Both should have the last 6 digits of the VIN stamped into them, and match the dash VIN. Of course those can be faked, but it's a good place to start. An authentic fender tag, door VIN tag, and broadcast sheet are added bonuses. If your comfortable that all of the above is legit, and checks out, proceed with the advise others have given you in this thread.

One last thing, and check it out FIRST. Make sure there's a good, clean, legit title.

GOOD LUCK!

Anyone who comes after one of my cars with an ice pick will leave pronto! It may be a great way to find rust but seriously?

I guess all you picky picky guys are sitting on your own E-bodies. I remember when they had absolutely no value and most had rust. They got crushed by the ton. Higher performance versions lived until they met the proverbial tree.

Nowadays they are pricey no matter what condition. Several years ago a friend had bought a '73 360 driver for $7000 and I thought that was a great deal. It may have not been a great deal but it was what the market would support.

So you need to find the rust, for sure, as that is where the $$$ goes. And keep in mind that most any 40 year old car body is going to have some problems. IMHO if body panels have been replaced in a professional manner they are probably better than what you'll find when you take the 40 year old paint.

I'd bet that if you started with buying a good 20-foot car and got it right it'd set you back $40K total. Numbers matching will go up from there.

I wish you the best.

R. (waiting for the flames)

I am a b body guy, but when my sister found her dream car, I had to learn real quick. I was told cowl, window corners,hinge areas to check for rust.
When it came down to it, she threw down the money and now has her 71 barracuda project. I don't know what body style you're used to messing with, but get ready to step up in prices with an e body. Dad and I picked up an aar a couple months later so I'm learning quick.

Like they said, first and foremost- check the numbers. Common body area issues. And then check your bank account

Advice? If you are new at this hire an expert to do a pre purchase inspection. Money well spent even if you pass on the car.

.02

E-bodies have a nasty habit of collecting dirt in the space where the upper control arms bolt to the frame; below the areas where the alignment cams ride. That dirt can hold moisture and rot the frame out. I've seen a few that had this issue.

Front floor pans get crappy when the wiper pivot seal goes bad. Lower 1/4's behind wheel are collectors of crud. Rockers, bottom of doors....inner fenders can crack if the car is raced with good traction. Tops of fenders can be bad in the rust belt.

Take a lot of pictures of the underside. Inside fenders, quarters, spot weld join lines.

Same basic process if it was an A or B body.

Then get home. Take a breath and review the photos on a decent screen.

Some pictures of a known unrestored clean 71 or any ebody would help to compare. stripped shell pics might help too.

Nobody mentions "gut feeling" on the seller? I have dealt with the public for over 25 years (own my own motorsports dealership - Kawasaki, Yamaha , Honda). I can usually tell if a person is honest or not. Been burned on maybe two deals and I am talking MILLIONS of dollars - we currently do over 12 million a year in retail sales.
I bought a 71 Cuda clone back in 2012 - didn't know what to look for. Took it for a drive then stroked a check for 50 grand. Went and bought a car hauler and picked it up. Couldn't be happier with the car. The guy stuck me as a straight shooter and we are great friends to this day! Not everybody is a lying cheating SOB! 99 percent of the people in this hobby are good honest hard working folk!I find the people who complain all the time are the idiots. You wouldn't believe some of the people I have dealt with in my business!

Good points here.. The "slick willies" do stand out....

Is this the car you have listed now?

If the owner claims the car was never rusty, just look for areas of repair. Look at where the hood hinges bolt on to the inner fenders - look for any bulging rust areas there. Look at the rear quarters from inside the trunk - look & feel for any seams where the quarter skins may have been overlapped & replaced. Then look closely at the door jambs for where the lip of the quarter overlaps there - LOOK FOR SPOT WELDS! Look at the rear wheel lips & look for two layers of metal - the outer wheelwell lip & the quarter skin lip - they should both be visible & there should be very visible spot welds. Also down low behind the rear wheels where the trunk extension lip is overlapped by the quarter skin - you should see both & very apparent factory spot welds. Whenever a body shop or restoration shop replaces quarters, they almost NEVER spot weld the panels together or even try to duplicate the spot welds, & most places will short-seam the quarters along the top sides & never into the sail panel areas like factory. EXCEPT for really great bodywork, everyone else does it half-ass. I can look at 500 cars with quarters replaced & there might be one or two with spot welds & done right.

It's hard to tell you what to look for not knowing your expectations. Are you trying to determine that the price of the car equals the condition? Because in both cases there is a WIDE range of things to consider...

Sunroof and Muscle: Blofish is responding to an 8 month old post. It appears the car from last February might be for sale by the OP.

Ahhhhh! I need to pay closer attention...

The topic itself is timeless though.

I'll throw another tip out there, Google the VIN to see if anything about it has been posted before.

Pull the drivers cowl vent plastic sreen and stick your hand inside to ck if the cowl number has been messed with

Good advice, thanks!