BEWARE OF DAMAGE
Classic and vintage cars have become a lifestyle that individuals of all ages and financial brackets have engaged in. Whether you’re a one-time classic car buyer or an avid enthusiast with a vast classic car collection, there are many variables that influence the true value of a classic vehicle. I have been a “Car Guy” my entire life and so was my Father. He taught me early on that you must look much deeper when evaluating the value of a classic car.
It’s very easy to conclude a vintage car’s value from classic car shows and auctions on TV, review prices that individuals and dealers are asking on Ebay and other advertising mediums when determining a value. However, without actually looking at a car, you really have no idea of what damage is lurking behind the scenes of the cosmetics and the cameras. In this article, I would like to concentrate on the actual body of the vehicle and how to competently inspect a classic car in order to determine if it has indeed had any extensive bodywork. After all, a competent value is based on many variables with past body damage being one of those primary variables. When buying a classic, one must be able to properly inspect the vehicle in order to evaluate whether there has been damage and if that damage was repaired in the proper manner. A good evaluation of this potential damage will enable you to calculate a more accurate value, which in return will enhance your investment and make your classic car experience much more fun.
There are four visual areas of interest that must be focused on when searching for past body damage on a vehicle:
Body Lines
Body Panels
Paint
Bumpers & Body Trim
Body Lines: Most “Car Guys” have heard the phrase, “ This car has great lines”. When approaching a vehicle, the body lines should be your first area of focus. The body lines consist of the areas or spaces, as some call it, between the doors, quarter panels and fenders, between the doors themselves if it is a 4 door, the lines where the trunk meets the quarter panel on both sides and the upper decklid panel and the body lines where the hood meets the right and left fenders and the upper cowl panel. As you begin this inspection, keep in mind that the lines should be very uniform in distance (See example A). Start by analyzing the doors. Both sides should have a similar gap between the front of the doors and the fenders and between the rear of the doors and the quarter panels. This does not mean you need to buy a micrometer, the eye is a sufficient judge. If there is a noticeable differentiation between the door’s gaps in any area, this is an indicator that there could have been a past collision that was not repaired properly (See Example B). If the door lines look uniform move on to the hood and trunk, but if there is a discrepancy, STOP and investigate further.
Another area of concern where the body lines can indicate prior damage is located on panels where factory welds were used. Some auto manufacturers used a type of body filler in these formed line areas. The areas in question are usually located where the quarter panel meets the upper decklid panel on both sides and in the rocker panel areas where they bond into the fenders and the quarterpanels. This type of bonding was not on all makes and models, but this body construction was very abundant during the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s on many makes and models. The most efficient way to understand how these lines are supposed to look is to inspect these areas on original vehicle. Once you gain an understanding of the correct way in which these lines are formed by the manufacturer, it will be easier to detect poor quality body work, as most of these quick fixes never show a line that is formed true to the manufacturers specs. (See Example C). If you detect an area of concern it is definitely an indicator that someone worked that panel with filler due to body damage or possibly replaced the quarter panel or rocker panel with poor quality replacement and bodywork. The following are indicators as to whether these areas have been poorly worked: 1. The true line inclusion is built up with filler in a smooth manner without the line being formed back to manufacturers specs, 2. The actual line is well formed in depth, but there is a noticeable curvature in the line that was not a part of the manufacturers specs, 3. The line is roughly carved out, usually with 36 or 40 grit sand paper. This is usually very apparent, because the sand marks are noticeable.
Body Panels: Your next step should be to inspect the body panels, i.e.… fenders, doors, quarterpanels, hood and trunk in the specific areas where you detected discrepancies in the bodylines. If it is on the right front door and fender line, start inspecting the right fender and right door for bodywork. In the alternative, if the lines were good, your next step should also be to inspect the body panels. You cannot detect body filler or as we used to say in the old days “Bondo” by looking at a body panel head on. The most efficient method is to view the body panels edge on, see (Example D). This viewpoint portrays the proper way to inspect the left front fender when attempting to determine if that fender has been worked. From this angle you should be able to see noticeable waves that will indicate bodywork, if indeed the panel has been worked. For the best result your position should be a few feet back of the panel you are inspecting. Another good technique I use, especially at auctions where the light is sometimes limited, is to back up around 10 feet in front of the car and on back of the car on both sides and level my face with the panels. Once positioned in that manner you can move left to right slowly and it is very surprising the imperfections that come into site. If you can’t see it from 10 feet move closer in to around 5 feet. Sometimes if I do not detect any damage and I have strong interest in the car I will perform the inspection several times. For some neurological reason our brains see more and more as we focus on the same thing multiple times. Guess I should have thought about that inspection technique when I married my first wife. Keep in mind that some of the larger classic vehicles show slight waves, due to the stretching of the panel skins during assembly and manufacturing. As you perform this damage seeking technique more and more your eye will become keener in detecting a panel that has been worked. If you feel that you do not have the experience to be confident in your determining the damage, there are ways to fastrack and train your eyes. Perform this technique on cars you own or friends’ cars, in which you know for certain that there has been no body work and then try it on cars that you know have had bodywork on a particular panel. Eventually you will start seeing where the work has been performed and your eye will become more tuned in to detect damage and your level of confidence will increase.
The next question to ask is, “Is the damage I have detected substantial or minor?” You should not walk away from purchasing a vehicle if you detect bodywork, as most classic cars on the market have been painted and have had bodywork, but the puzzle you are attempting to resolve is how bad is/was the prior damage and what are you willing to accept. You are only viewing a car over a few minutes time, which is just a snapshot of that car’s lifespan. So a 1956 Chevy, which has a 60 year history also has, in reality, a nearly 32 million minute history; therefore, your inspection time is very small in the grand scheme of the car’s age. Your goal is to dissect the vehicle through your learned damage knowledge and hopefully bring to light some of the minutes that this car was being repaired after damage occurred.
You may want an original untouched car or a restored #1 car. In that instance, it is important that you are very diligent in determining if there is any unknown damage on an original car or if the fully restored car was properly fixed. On the other hand, you may want a restoration project or just a fun driver in less than perfect condition. It is still important that you have the sufficient knowledge to know what you’re investing in. If you have detected a panel that is as wavy as a flag in the wind, chances are there has been some pretty poor body work performed on that vehicle and BEWARE, you have no idea what is under that body filler until you start grinding on it. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen a wavy rocker panel, fender or quarterpanel and started grinding into the bondo, only to find gallons of bondo in large areas of rot and rust all over the car.
Paint: A beautiful paint job is always nice, but there could also be something else lurking in that polished finish. DAMAGE. The next time you go to a car show or are around some classic cars, try a little test. You have heard of a ‘20 footer’ or a ‘10 footer’, which indicates that this particular car looks great when you are a certain distance away. But what about inches away?
Start being more observant of paint jobs much closer up and you will begin to see damage indicators that you were never aware of. Sometimes a classic has been painted that is a straight vehicle, meaning little to no bodywork has been performed, but as more and more classic cars are renovated in mass quantities for quick money, the classic car market has been flooded with a number of cars that have had quick fixes and poor bodywork with intentions to cover up the damage, then a glossy paint job is applied in hopes that the next buyer will not notice the prior damage.
Start by looking at all the chrome around the windows and other areas for paint overspray. Most of these quick fix shops do not restore or paint their vehicles by removing the chrome properly. They just tape it off and roll the car into the spray booth. Please do not let this raise a flag every time, a classic car can be taped and painted, but it must be done properly. It is fairly easy to detect overspray on chrome and on the inside of body panels and upon inspection. If you do detect this overspray, chances are this car has had some damage. Anyone who is a true car guy and has a passion for classic cars is not going to take an original car that has had no damage and perform a poor paint job on it. There are some out there, but it makes me sick to see a beautiful, original, untouched classic with a poor paint job.
While you are analyzing the chrome for overspray, you should also be aware of other indicators of covered damage. Look for sand marks on the chrome especially around the window chrome trim, as these trim pieces are usually time consuming to remove properly and the majority of the time, these quick fixes usually hit the chrome with their power sanders, whether it be a DA sander, a jitterbug, an air file or even by hand.
The next thing to look for is the actual paint work. Get your eye focused as closely as possible straight on the paint from around a foot away. Start moving around the vehicle inspecting in the same manner. If it has been properly painted the reflection will be uniform throughout the car and the depth will reflect nothing but a smooth finish, but again in these quick fixes, even in the paint, and once your eye is trained, you will be to see sand marks through the clear coat and base that were never properly worked out of the primer (See Example E).
I have actually witnessed some very high end classics that showed some sand marks within the paint when inspecting the paint job and this is common, as even a good bodyman’s eye can always deceive him or her and sometimes the light can be off and sand marks will be missed, but when they are abundant throughout a paintjob that is usually an indicator that the car has been poorly repaired.
It is also smart to pay close attention to curves and angles in the actual body panels. Once a car has been painted you can follow these curves and angles with a close inspection, similar to the technique in example D, wherein you level your eyes with the angles and curves to enable your line of sight to determine whether these portions of formed body panels are uniform. Poor bodywork will standout in these areas, because when a manufactured crease or curvature area in the body panel has been poorly worked the inconsistency of the panel will reflect this poor bodywork.
Once you have detected sandmarks when eyeballing the paintjob close up you can reapply what you have learned looking down the side of the panel for waves and bodywork. Eventually all these tips will start to merge into a clear picture of where actual damage has been repaired on the vehicle.
Bumpers & Body Trim: The last tip for detecting damage is the inspection of body panels and bumpers for misalignment. Do not get misaligned bumpers confused with body lines (See Example F). In this image of the 1965 Cadillac the right rear bumper light assembly is definitely out of line with the quarter panel as opposed to the left side, which appears in line.
The discrepancy just didn’t happen by hitting a bump in the road. There is a slight possibility that the bumper was previously removed and improperly realigned, but that is very uncommon due to the fact the original bolt holes didn’t move out of place when the bumper was removed. Misalignment in this manner is usually apparent when the body man neglected to re insert a bolt and when all the other bolts were tightened the bumper moved outward, inward, or left or right due to the missing bolt. More than likely this car has had some type of impact.
In this Cadillac’s case, the driver, who was an elderly man, ran off the road steering to miss hitting a deer and right side of the car took an impact. I could fix the body beautifully, but leaving the right rear bumper light assembly unfixed is a clear indicator of the impact and it is not my mission to just fix this to hide the impact.
It is my goal to fix it properly and even informing the buyer of the past damage, making him aware of the damage and the bodywork. There is no thin line between attempting to cover up an accident and performing the repair in a professional and correct manner. It’s either repaired properly or it is not. I would rather buy a car unpainted with some noticeable damage than buy one with hidden damage from attempts at poor quality bodywork to cover it up.
Now that you have some tips on what to actually look for when attempting to detect hidden damage, your damage sensing abilities should be more attentive. As stated before, start applying all these techniques when looking at all cars. You may not see the damage with one technique or even immediately, but you may with the next. As you look closer and closer the damage will become more apparent. Ask your friends or others if a car has been wrecked in an area and attempt to seek out the hidden damage. Once you are able to see these damage indicators, your money will be more effectively invested when buying you first classic car or your 100th.
Final Tips: Use your damage detecting abilities to question sellers. If you detect damage on the left quarterpanel, ask the owner, “did you have the left quarterpanel fixed?” If they say no, they are either lying to you or didn’t know about the damage. Depending on how far you want to dig, contact the previous owner and ask them the same questions. It will not be difficult when asking questions to detect whether someone is trying to pull one over on you.
For the most part, people in the classic car industry have been very honest with me about damage over the years, but unfortunately I have come across some individuals wherein their only mission is to pass along a piece of damaged junk that was covered up.
The more you educate yourself, the better equipped you are to assure that you will make a great investment and enjoy your classic or classics for years.
Here are a few more tips when inspecting a car for damage:
- Although the car has “Good Lines” this does not mean that the car has never been involved in some type of impact.
- Feel under the fenders, rockers, lower inner door panels and quarterpanels. Where there are openings, run your hands around these panels on their inner sides. If you feel bumps, inclusions or rust, there could be an issue. Note: Be careful, as I still have a scar on my finger from running my hand under the inner side of a 1955 Cadillac’s fender. Some rust had been repaired, but the bodyman just bent the rust back and it was sharp as a knife.
- Open the truck and feel around the inner wheel panels and the quarterpanel interiors for body work.
- Focus closely on the body areas around the windshield, rear window trim and the drip shields, as these areas are notorious for rust and faulty repairs.
Conclusion: The classic car market is awesome, but like any market that involves money, there are individuals out there prowling around in an attempt to capitalize on other’s inexperience. Since I grew up in the classic lifestyle, my passion for classic cars may be a little obsessive at times, but there is nothing like owning, driving and showing off our favorite cars.
It is imperative that we understand the value indicators when investing in a classic car. There are many variables that contribute to determining a true value. How many of that make and model were made? How many still exist? What is the rarest color? Is it a low mileage car? But, regardless of the above fixed variables, if the car has had serious or even minor damage and it was poorly repaired, the value can be effected and sometimes drastically.
If you were investing your hard earned money into a company directly or indirectly through the market, would you want to gather the correct information as to what that company’s history is (including any negative therein)? Of course you would. Give yourself that same assurance when buying a classic and assure that you have full confidence in knowing what your investment is going into. I hope the information in this article accomplishes just that when you are finding and buying your next classic car.
ABOUT RICK DUNCAN:
I grew up in the classic car business. My Father was an avid Car Guy and his passion for cars of all kinds rubbed off on me. From the time I could hold a jitterbug air sander my Father had me sanding on cars. I have never lost that passion and I love to apply my vision to an old restorable classic and watch it be turned into the beautiful machine that it was coming off the assembly line. There is nothing more exhilarating than seeking out an old car of any make and model that looks like it is beyond hope and turning into the original and beautiful car that it once was. To me, bodywork, painting and restoration is not work, it is an artform.
I have been buying, selling, trading, brokering and restoring classic cars for nearly 40 years. My restoration resume includes anything from a Model A and an American Austin and from Corvettes to Cadillac’s. I worked in my Dad’s Bodyshop from before I can remember until he died in 1981 when I was 19. Thereafter, I went on my own into the classic car business. Luckily I had an older brother that learned from my Dad as well and he continued to teach me the correct way to seek out damage and perform competent bodywork.
Let me know if you have any questions:
Contact me through the website: www.myklassic.com
Email me at: rick@myklassic.com
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