57 Chevy wagon

[OldSub]

I've located a '57 Chevy 4-door wagon for a price I can pay.  I'm going to look at it in the next couple of days.  

I last owned a tri-5 Chevy more than 30 years ago.  What should I be watching for as I look at this car?  This is rust country and I'm sure it will have some.  Where should I worry that rust would hard or difficult to repair?

The description of the car is that it is completely stock, except the 283 was replaced by a 307 and it has a floor shift on the 3-speed.  Are there scary modifications I should look for that might cause trouble later?

If the car passes inspection I'll post some photos.  My immediate plan is to stash the car as a future project.  Some day I expect to make a clean driver out of it to use to travel to swap meets and for those one or two times a year I need more than one passenger seat.

[Carnut]

My wagon rusted over both interior wheel wells behind the back seat.

Also both front floorboards rusted away front and back along the rocker panels.

And I'm pretty sure all 56 Chevs front fenders rusted out above the headlights. Don't remember all that many 57's rusting out over the headlights, so I guess they may have engineered them a fix by then.

[Uncle Bob]

Also very suseptible is the pan under the tailgate as well as the bottom of the tailgate itself and the spare tire well.

[reborn55]

Drip rails on the roof near the back are bad places for rust, lower front fender behind wheels.

[jaybee]

The "dog leg" area at the lower rear corner of the rear door openings is not reproduced and isn't easy to fab.  There's also a piece that ties the 'A' pillar box to the rockers and floors that is not reproduced but it's almost flat and would be an easy fab.  That's particularly true in that the piece in question will never be seen once the interior is in but it's important to stabilize the cowl area.  Nearly anything else you might need is reproduced but keep in mind a complete set of floors and underbraces will run around $1200 PLUS the cost of cargo floor and spare tire well if needed.

[57larry]

replacing chrome is expensive on a 57. rockers rot out

[OldSub]

Thanks guys, I think that will help me a lot when I look at it, hopefully tomorrow evening.

[OldSub]

I dropped by to look at the car today.  I was driving by and just stopped, no one was home so I limited my inspection, and while they had told me the car would be moved into the open, its still behind a pile of VW parts and between a garage and a boat.  I could not find a position from which I could get the whole car in a photo.

I want the car though I'm wondering how smart it really is to pay for such a thing.  Asking price is $3000 and I don't have a good sense of how that relates to the market for these cars.

Once the car is pulled out I'll return for a full inspection.

[jaybee]

Wow, that actually looks pretty good.  How are the inner and outer rockers?  Also the areas where the rockers attach to the underfloor braces?

[OldSub]

I'm feeling old and stiff, and many of those green things around the car have stickers on them.  I didn't crawl down far enough to check the rockers.  I will look once its out of that hole.  Thanks!