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This car seems to be in remarkably good, original condition!
Other than the incorrect rear axle limiting straps (this thread shows what they looked like) there isn't much that has been altered -- even the rubber boots at the ends of the seat rails are there.
An interesting detail is how the spare wheel well interfaces with the rear valance (pics #89 and #90), which is different from most other cars I've seen. In those cars, the spare wheel well was like a tub, which left a small gap of 3/8" to 1/2" between the tub and the valance -- but that turned out to be prone to rust as well, as wet dirt and muck tended to accumulate in this gap. I've seen other cars with no gap, but always thought they were either bad rust repairs or rust repairs by body men who had no cars or pictures to compare what the area is supposed to look like. In this case, the area looks fairly original (but the black paint leaves room for a chance of an old repair), and I think there's a good possibility that how this area was dealt with in the factory may have some variations or variability with respect to how sheet metal pieces fit together or who worked on them.
The fact that the pedal box, the rear seat pans and the rear foot wells seem to have very little or no rust whatsoever is stunning. These areas are as prone to rust (or even more) than the rocker panels which rot from the inside out (the starting of which can be seen in pic #80) but the previous owner must have been smart enough to drill two weep holes into the bottom panel in that area (and the car was probably not exposed to a lot of rain or humidity anyways).
None of the things I see are critical (the rust doesn't seem to be structural yet). I probably wouldn't even deal with the rust holes right now, but a full restoration eventually will be inevitable (in, say, 5 to 20 years). For now, I would suggest to just get the car running and keep it original as long as possible.
Other than the incorrect rear axle limiting straps (this thread shows what they looked like) there isn't much that has been altered -- even the rubber boots at the ends of the seat rails are there.
An interesting detail is how the spare wheel well interfaces with the rear valance (pics #89 and #90), which is different from most other cars I've seen. In those cars, the spare wheel well was like a tub, which left a small gap of 3/8" to 1/2" between the tub and the valance -- but that turned out to be prone to rust as well, as wet dirt and muck tended to accumulate in this gap. I've seen other cars with no gap, but always thought they were either bad rust repairs or rust repairs by body men who had no cars or pictures to compare what the area is supposed to look like. In this case, the area looks fairly original (but the black paint leaves room for a chance of an old repair), and I think there's a good possibility that how this area was dealt with in the factory may have some variations or variability with respect to how sheet metal pieces fit together or who worked on them.
The fact that the pedal box, the rear seat pans and the rear foot wells seem to have very little or no rust whatsoever is stunning. These areas are as prone to rust (or even more) than the rocker panels which rot from the inside out (the starting of which can be seen in pic #80) but the previous owner must have been smart enough to drill two weep holes into the bottom panel in that area (and the car was probably not exposed to a lot of rain or humidity anyways).
None of the things I see are critical (the rust doesn't seem to be structural yet). I probably wouldn't even deal with the rust holes right now, but a full restoration eventually will be inevitable (in, say, 5 to 20 years). For now, I would suggest to just get the car running and keep it original as long as possible.
