Vehicle Dilema

[OldSchoolSS]

Hey guys,

So I was pretty pumped this summer when I picked up my new project. It's a 1964 Buick Riviera. I was going to put a c4 front clip on, rework the rear suspension. Set back the 425 Nailhead and outfit it with the latest goodies & efi and back that with a modern overdrive transmission.

I though the car was pretty clean, the floor pans looked nice and it had a maaco paint job on it that was a 20 footer. I was planning on cleaning out the mice nests and getting it on the road for the rest of the summer and then starting the tear down this winter. Upon pulling the rear seat I found the floor was buckled up between the wheel wells. I started comparing measurements to my 65 and found it was 1.75" narrower where the rocker meets the quarter panel than it's supposed to be. After stripping the paint on the quarter/rocker I found that it had been hit sometime in it's early life and had a quick good enough for who it's for repair done. I have the rocker pulled off now and spoke to a family friend with a frame rack about "Roughing Out" the body. Now i'm having second thoughts. Should I stick all kinds of money into a car that's been banged up? The damage isn't that bad and probably would be non existent if it had a perimeter style frame. I can't find any factory measurements on the body panels. I paid $2,500 for the car, and I know that the previous owner wasn't aware of the damage, he picked it up in a package deal along with a barracuda that he wanted.

Do I fix this car or do I look for another one? It's not easy to find a car this clean in the midwest. What would you do?

Thanks,

Scott