An 89 IROC in GOOD condition MAY get $15000.
Yeah, thatās the problem here. Unless the OP can do just about everything themselves, except maybe final paint, thereās just about no way to get a rough car to good condition for that amount of money. It can work fine if the final product is worth $50kā¦
Advertise the vehicle as a collectible parts car, and get as much money out of the parts that you can before itās hauled away as scrap.
Tester
My sense from what you say OP is that the proper way forward is to remove everything from the body, install the bare-bones body on an automobile rotisserie, and tackle all the rust in one go. Whether the best method is to replace entire sections with junkyard or aftermarket parts or cut out the rusted areas and weld in new metal will depend on what it looks like, section by section. If you do this yourself as a weekend project, it could take several years to complete. A shop who specializes in older car restoration services for a fee can complete it much quicker. One idea, google to see if there are any Camaro clubs in your area. If so maybe somebody with experience on this topic can come take a look and offer up an informed opinion. Years ago I had a problem with the differential on my truck, and I found somebody who was willing to help with the diagnosis that way, no google at the time, but same idea, a car club whoās members like to build dirt track racing cars.
The OP has already apparently spent time and money to have a good running car., If the rest of the car is not eaten up with rust weevils my opinion would be to fix the roof and enjoy the car.
Itās an IROC and these are becoming more collectable.
In the past few years there has been a couple of so-so IROCs around here that sold for 10 and 12 grand respectively.
Rust holes in the roof to me means hidden rust in the āframeā part of the unit body almost for sure. Those were cool cars and I like that you are planning to keep it as a runner. My advice would be keep the fixes cheap and then give it away to a kid with lots of energy who wants a project.
If it was sitting out there under a tree and leave and junk accumulated on the roof, every time it rained itād just sit there and rust. So I guess just depends. Of course sitting on the ground would do the same thing from the bottom up.