switching salvage title to clear title

I'm with ya Joe. I would want the seller to be up front on any transaction. Are there searches one can do to enable one to look into a history on a car? I'm sure Carfax dont go back as far as some of our cars are old. Just a thought entered my small mind. Which would be worse? Getting a rust bucket with a clean title full of bondo and paper towels or a cleaned titled car that's had all the body panels replaced correctly with good workman ship? Just a thought.
Small Block