I have a great running 78Z, but she needs to have the rear quarter panel replaced. I found a donor car that has a great body zero rust, but the engine has been torn into.

My question is it easier to take the motor and tranny out of the running Z and put it intothe Donor.

Or cut and paste the rear quater. I have a friend who knows how to do this and will do it for free. From my understanding you still need to use Bondo to smooth everything out. Is this acceptible?

Which way would you go.

The only damamge to the good car is the rear quarter, she runs great and has no other damage or rust.

I am looking for some input on this so i can make a really educated decision. I am torn, I have had my current Z for 6 years and am very fond of her.

Please give me any and all decisions.

Oh yea the donor is gonna cost me $375.00

 

You could do the engine and tranny swap in one weekend. You don't now what other problems the doner car has, one thing is registration. I would pay my friend to do the quarter panel and the rest toward paint. At least you will know what you got and your Z will still love you.

 

I had a rusty 78 as well (you could thow a basket ball through the panel underneath the battery into the front wheel well!) , and parted it out into a rust free 76 body. Everything mechanical swapped well, but there are differences in the electrical systems, especially the distributor.

If your putting your 78 motor & trans into another 78 car, you should have no problems.

Unfortunately, the 76 body I picked up had been sitting, so I ended up swapping in all my 78 running gear - front brakes, rear brakes, and third member as the 76 was leaky. I also swapped the motor & transmission together, so I kept my 78 five speed, and the 76 four speed had leaks from the transmission as well. Story was the kid who owned the 76 ran it until the rods were knocking in the motor.

All depends on what you want. I wanted a rust free car, and my old 78 had tons of rust!

Speed

Enjoy the Ride!

 

The only rust is the rear quater, I think having it replaced is the better way to go.

Thanks everyone.