1968 GT350 At Mecum

[Fastback66]

Not my car; it's coming up for auction at Mecum soon. I was considering having an inspection done, does anyone know anything about this car? What are the big issues you can see in the pictures?

https://www.mecum.com/lots/FL0119-357860/1968-shelby-gt350-fastback/

[Bigfoot]

Car looks very nice. I don't see any spot welding on top of inner fender aprons.
But people used to smooth those out once upon a time.

[Coralsnake]

Someone is using fake 1968 hubcaps!   

[Chris Thauberger]

My personal favorites are the fuel line clamps and the rivets that holds the tail light panel on but hey, Carroll signed the dashboard so I guess I can overlook a few owner personalized items.

[Chris Thauberger]

Car looks very nice. I don't see any spot welding on top of inner fender aprons.
But people used to smooth those out once upon a time.

Probably because they were replaced. 

[CharlesTurner]

Not even sure where to start with that one.  Guess it would fall into the 'nice driver' category.

[Coralsnake]

Probably

[69mach351w]

What's the spot welding thing about? Just curious

[prototypefan]

During assembly the front and rear aprons overlap onto the shock towers. On the flat horizontal area where the fenders bolt on you can see distinct spot welds.

These overlap areas are very prone to rust.

Lazy shops will hack out the rot and fill the hole with bondo or fiberglass.

Some will sandblast the area to remove the rot and fill with bondo or fiberglass

some will tack or weld in a single piece of metal and fill either side with bondo

proper repair requires cutting out the area and spot welding new metal in

It's one of the easiest areas to spot if a car has corrosion.......and more importantly the level of repair



The most ingenious repair I've seen as I live in a rust belt and most cars here have corrosion in that area was:
sandblasting out the corrosion being sure to get out the black corrosion ensuring it doesn't come back, tacking in a piece of metal in the center of the hole where two layers of metal once was and filling the area with bondo.......then as the bondo was setting.....take and HB pencil and press the eraser into the bondo that is still setting up which leaves a depression the same size as an original spot weld

bring a magnet or paint thickness guage to check the thickness of the paint in this area. Get on your knees and look above the front tires at the same area with a bright flashlight from below......rarely is the area fixed properly from the underside

[QuickSilverShelby]

During assembly the front and rear aprons overlap onto the shock towers. On the flat horizontal area where the fenders bolt on you can see distinct spot welds.

These overlap areas are very prone to rust.

Lazy shops will hack out the rot and fill the hole with bondo or fiberglass.

Some will sandblast the area to remove the rot and fill with bondo or fiberglass

some will tack or weld in a single piece of metal and fill either side with bondo

proper repair requires cutting out the area and spot welding new metal in

It's one of the easiest areas to spot if a car has corrosion.......and more importantly the level of repair



The most ingenious repair I've seen as I live in a rust belt and most cars here have corrosion in that area was:
sandblasting out the corrosion being sure to get out the black corrosion ensuring it doesn't come back, tacking in a piece of metal in the center of the hole where two layers of metal once was and filling the area with bondo.......then as the bondo was setting.....take and HB pencil and press the eraser into the bondo that is still setting up which leaves a depression the same size as an original spot weld

bring a magnet or paint thickness guage to check the thickness of the paint in this area. Get on your knees and look above the front tires at the same area with a bright flashlight from below......rarely is the area fixed properly from the underside

Wow.  That is an amazing description on what to look for in this area.  I never knew any of this and I've once again learned something about my 68 GT500.  I'm gonna head to the garage this weekend and check out this area on my car.

QSS

[QuickSilverShelby]

Someone is using fake 1968 hubcaps!   

When you say "fake" can you elaborate "why" they are fake.  I'm not great at knowing the differences between an original hubcap and the hubcaps on this car and I'm curious about the differences.

QSS

[Chris Thauberger]

Center emblems are concave not covex and the ring around them is too large and appears to be chrome. I'm not sure but are these the Chevy version?

[Coralsnake]

Chris is very good. Original Shelby hubcaps are unique to 1968 Shelbys, these hubcaps were sourced from some other application.

[CharlesTurner]

The most ingenious repair I've seen as I live in a rust belt and most cars here have corrosion in that area was:
sandblasting out the corrosion being sure to get out the black corrosion ensuring it doesn't come back, tacking in a piece of metal in the center of the hole where two layers of metal once was and filling the area with bondo.......then as the bondo was setting.....take and HB pencil and press the eraser into the bondo that is still setting up which leaves a depression the same size as an original spot weld

Another option is to repair the metal, leaving both sides smooth and use an actual spot welder to replicate the original welds.

[Bigfoot]

^^
Right

But some people would just leave smooth which in theory should not raise eyebrows except for a concours situation.
And like Charley  said,...can be added later.