1956 Chevy 210 4 door

[Blk63vette]

Hello

I am strongly thinking of buying this 1956 Chevy 210 4 door sedan. This car is a two owner car from California (San Francisco) The car is a two owner car. This car has been sitting in a storage container since 1986. I wasn't really sold on the car when I first saw it..It looked like every other rotten 50's from Florida from pictures. More interested when heard it was from California car and still wears its original two tone paint Crocus Yellow and Onyx Black paint. The trunk underneath is solid and not rotten the trunk floor is solid the back lip has some rot. The rockers are SOLID I went down both sides of car its pretty solid its all sheet metal not a bondo buggy. Some rot on the doors but not too terrible I seen worse. Interior is dirty but not terrible. Floor boards need work in the back. They have weak metal not rotted through but week. I engine is a 350 from a 70's era passenger car it has not run since 1986. Now the not so good stuff driverside door shuts and closes well...Passenger side not so much. I think there is structural rot in the body.

How much WORSE case serrano to fix

Thanks
Pete

[Blk63vette]

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[Blk63vette]

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[Blk63vette]

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[Blk63vette]

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[Blk63vette]

Hello

I like to hear some opinions. What does everybody think? Asking price is 1000.00

Pete

[markm]

I would be in at 1000 or less, at that price its good parts, if I decided not to build.

[chevynut]

Looks like a pretty solid car to me, and complete. It's probably worth way more than $1000 in parts. You could get that for the fenders, hood, and trunk lid alone if you parted it out. If you're interested in restoring a 4-door, it looks like a good candidate. Those cars are gaining in popularity especially with the younger guys who don't have the 4-door stigma planted in their brains. It'll never be worth as much as a 2-door, and it will cost as much to restore. But starting with a good solid body will save a lot of cash. That's my opinion. I paid $600 for a complete 56 210 4DR (6 cyl, 3 speed OD, seamless frame) with every panel on it crunched except the hood, trunk lid and roof several years ago.

[Blk63vette]

Hello Guys

I wasn't too excited about looking at this car in the beginning the pictures didn't look to promising. But the more I looked at the 210 the more I realized this car is complete and has some rot but not nearly as much as the other Tri fives I looked at. The worse place is on the passenger side I think there is some structural rot the post the door doesn't shut too well. I not opposed to fixing it since most of the car is solid. Structural steel is major surgery. I know it wont be cheap . How much worse case serrano would it cost?

Thanks for your opinions more are greatly appreciated. I'm a newbie to the Tri Five world..

Pete

[chevynut]

I wouldn't be surprised if the door alignment issue is just worn out door bushings. Take a look under the car and see if there's any rust on the floor braces. I don't know what other "structural" stuff you think might be rusted. The car looks pretty solid and I've seen them with a lot worse rust.

One thing I'd recommend if the floors are thin is that you just replace the entire floor from toe boards to the front of the trunk. If the floor pans are thin, there's probably significant rust in the braces. The new floors come with all new braces, inner rockers, and one-piece floor pan for under $800. It's quite a bit of work to install one, but once it's in it's going to last a long time. I'd only do that if you have to replace 2 or more floor pans or the braces are rusted out which is common on these cars.

[Blk63vette]

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This is what I am concerned about.. the rot in the pillar..

[Blk63vette]

I think the pillar and top is typical of a 60 plus year old car. I trying to figure out how much it would cost to get it fixed...This a difficult fix..

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[chevynut]

Yikes! That's not typical. The rot in the a-pillar is a result of the rot that I think I see in the roof. I'm betting that car has a lot more rust than it looks like on the outside. Did you check the floor braces?

I have a good 56 4-door roof that's about as solid as it gets. If you decide to buy the car, it could be grafted on. Not a speck of rot in it.

[Blk63vette]

Hello Chevynut

The weird part of this car is the trunk and trunk floor is solid the rockers are solid. as you move forward The front of the car gets ruster. The braces are in good shape. The rust is bad around the pillar and windshield. This car sat in a locked storage container for 3 decades in Cali San Fran). Yes there is rot on top of the roof. This is why I think it has structural rust. This looks expensive to fix.

Flip side this car is one of the cleanest I have seen since looking for car in Florida. (Hard to believe) I looked at 1957 Chevy that was so badly rotten that the rockers were completely rotted off. Painted and bonded together. I look down the side of this car it isn't badly rusted the front end looks good. Fenders aren't rusted out the hood looks good. Just weird the way this has rusted...

Here my dilemma this car has NOT been repainted there is no body work done on it. I see everything that is wrong. This car has never been messed with no cut up dash for stereo and speakers. The wiring is all spliced up. Easier to fix things that are not hidden. I know these 4 doors only have so much value. This is a V8 car its a 210

Not sure if I should punt this car..

I'm interested in opinions if anyone got one..

Part of me wants to say it

[chevynut]

A rusty roof is a hard thing to fix, and there's probably a lot more rust you don't see. It's strange that it would rust there before underneath. Replacing an entire roof shouldn't be that difficult, but the a-pillars are harder to fix. And that's where the VIN tag is too, so you risk having to replace that metal and removing the tag, which is illegal.

Looks to me like the roof rusted out for some strange reason, and the water ran down into the a-pillar causing it to rust out. Are both sides rusted?

If you're going to tackle the repairs yourself it still might be a decent car to salvage. I'm afraid if you have to pay someone else to fix it, it could get messy and expensive. On the other hand, like I said you have a lot more than $1000 in parts there.

[markm]

I have been told that rot like this is caused by rodents making nest above headliner and pissing in this area causing rot from backside.

[567chevys]

I bought a really cool 55 4 Dr Wagon Bel air , had Rust just like this 56 .

Was going to make a cool rat wagon out of it .

Got it home opened the hood Hings they needed oil , when I lifted the hood where the hinges are mounted on the firewall was moving , I moved the hood up & Down the fire wall was crumbing . RUST :mad:

I parted it out made my money back got some good parts to keep.
The ones that got parts where happy.


Sid

[LEE T]

A rusty roof is a hard thing to fix, and there's probably a lot more rust you don't see. It's strange that it would rust there before underneath. Replacing an entire roof shouldn't be that difficult, but the a-pillars are harder to fix. And that's where the VIN tag is too, so you risk having to replace that metal and removing the tag, which is illegal.

Looks to me like the roof rusted out for some strange reason, and the water ran down into the a-pillar causing it to rust out. Are both sides rusted?

If you're going to tackle the repairs yourself it still might be a decent car to salvage. I'm afraid if you have to pay someone else to fix it, it could get messy and expensive. On the other hand, like I said you have a lot more than $1000 in parts there.

If you think about the weather changes we go through in the spring, you can image the changes that take place year round in San Francisco, and it sounds like that car sat in a sealed steel container for decades. Yes, the moisture dripped from the container onto the roof and eventually into the rust holes and down the A pillar---I'm surprised it isn't much worse. In that picture you can see the rust holes in the roof above the A pillar.

[carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)]

buying for parts you will be fine, anything else it will be a money-pit (its a 4dr). better to put your money into a driver and enjoy while you work on it (life's to short).

[NickP]

buying for parts you will be fine, anything else it will be a money-pit (its a 4dr). better to put your money into a driver and enjoy while you work on it (life's to short).

How many doors are on that avatar? LOL