ratrod47

How hard would it be to repair these rusted out places???

Yes this car is on ebay again, thinking about bidding on it


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327Heaven

Having a lot of time, resources (ie friends, tools, cold beer) and a thick wallet will definitely help!!

In this case its what you don't see that will bring you grief

unreel1967

And thats just whats visible,imagine the evils lurking beneath. If its bad enough, it's possible the repair costs alone rival that of the current bid. Plus the very fact that these picures were'nt posted in the auction is reason enough to turn away IMO.

BADBIRDCAGE

From what is shown the B pillars need significant repair. You can install new lock pillars from the base of the birdcage up and I understand that now repro pieces are being manufactured for the area that rolls inward. The body has to be stripped away from the entire area. Unless new bonding strips are now being manufactured you will have to make those also. MAJOR PITA JOB ! ! ! Tons of labor = Tons of $ $ $

Rich

LSUvetteguy

It's a PITA and costly but it can be done. The advantage here is that it's no surprise and the car price should reflect what needs to be done. I have a friend with a shop who replaced almost the entire cage on a customers 67, both door hinge and lock pillers, sill plates and lower windshield frame. The problem was that the customer had paid top dollar for the car about a year before. Looked good when finished, you would never know all that work had to be done.

ratrod47

Thanks for the info.


Something keeps bugging me about this car. They want $17250. After looking at the pictures he sent me, I think its too high compared to other cars priced at 25k-28k for a finished running car.

Will have to wait for a while before I have enough money saved up to buy a midyear.

Thanks,
Kevin

61 vert

Those pieces are available from Corvett Central and maybe others.You are going to spend about $800 on the 4 pieces. All you have to do is drill out the spotwelds that fasten the lip to the main frame and fasten on the new piece. I am doing one right now and am going to grind everything clean and glue the new piece on. Easy to clamp and not a structural piece. Glue has been proven to be as strong as spotwelds when used properly.This is provided that the frame is not also rusted thru.

eddievette

What glue are you referring to?

Thanks,
Eddie

skids

Seems high. I paid $15,000 for this. Plus rims, exhaust, etc,etc,etc. You know.

John McGraw

From the limited pictures shown here, it appears that the only parts that are rusted, are the drip rails. These parts are not real cheap, but they are available and fairly easy to change.

A full set of drip rails cost a little over a thousand dollars, and I can drill out all spot welds, grind and clean the adjacent areas and plug-weld the new ones in place in less than 6 manhours. There is nothing shown in the pic that indicates the birdcage is rusted out, but that is not to say it isn't. Driprail rust is very common on coupes due to the awful sealer that was used to seal them up at the factory. The sealer dried and cracked within a few years, and allowed the water to get behind the sealer and rot out the drip rails. I just recently repaired a set of driprails that looked every bit as bad as those, and everything was fine once I got the old ones removed. I use modern urethane sealant that ought outlast the original seam sealer many times over!


Regards, John McGraw

jprop

I replaced these 4 pieces on my 64. Or, I should say I watched it being done. The 4 pieces ran about $800. The labor would have been about $1800. They used welds, glue and rivets. I would round it up to about $3000 added to the price of the car. Oddly enough, the birdcage was relatively rust free.

The drip rails come out fairly easy. Just drill out the spot welds. The small corner pieces took a couple hours each. You actually have to peel back the fiberglass slightly to get at the lower rivets.

62Jeff

And for those of us that have a little rust on those drip rails -

Is it remotely possible to replace the drip rails without having to repaint the roof or fenders? Door jambs are obvious, but is it at all possible to do this without basically having to repaint the car?

I ask because the paint on my 65 is really nice, but the drip rails have some bubbling in them. I don't want to bother getting them fixed if it's going to cost me a new paint job right now.

LSUvetteguy

That price does seem high. Unless the car is really something special and has a lot of parts to go along. Just looking at the pics that you posted I'm guessing 12-13K max. Do you have the e-bay item number?

62Jeff

This looks like it
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevr...fCarsQ5fTrucks

ratrod47

Yes thats it. I do not think the car is anything special. The vin has poprivets in it, not the original motor. Just a midyear coupe that needs lots of work.

DansYellow66

This may send the purist into shock but my car had a pin-head size bubble in the forward drip rail paint that was perforated about 1/8 inch by 3/16 inch when I cleaned it down to shiny metal. I cleaned it up good and filled it with good old JB Weld. That was about 14 years ago. About 12 years later I saw a couple very small pin-head bubbles in the other one that I drilled out to good metal, again filled with JB Weld, sanded, primed and touched up with an air brush sprayer. It looks as good as new and with garage storage who knows how long it will last. I figure the next guy can replace the gutters when he restores the car in 2040 if he wants to.

My theory is the gutters have a number of holes for weatherstrip anyway and if the pits are small enough and few enough in number, and will clean up with a reasonable sized drill bit, then filling them and going on can't hurt anything.

Dan

62Jeff

I think that's a very important point. Needs a lot of work.

Looks like an early 70's custom, with fender flares, ducktail rear, modified front fender scoops, hood modifications, etc.

What interests you about this car? The price point, the fact that it needs work?

If it's the price point, then that's a false economy, you'll spend less (in my opinion) buying a "done" car in this depressed economy. If it's the amount of work that it needs, well then this car certainly needs lots of it and if that is what you enjoy doing, more power to you.

Jeff

ratrod47

Well one reason I was leaning toward a 64 is that I was born in late 63. I am looking for a project as the car I am working on now should be done this spring. Was thinking installing a ls1 auto, with ps, pdb, a/c and keep the body mostly stock. Just want something that I can drive and enjoy and not worry about messing up an original car. I have had 3 other midyears and liked them. Here is a link to them.

http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn242/Ratrod47/

Stingxray

I wouldn't touch it . Restoring is hard enough without dealing with "ROT"! Life is too short . Find a worthy donor. wouldn't touch it wouldn't touch it wouldn't touch it wouldn't touch it wouldn't touch it wouldn't touch it wouldn't touch it wouldn't touch it

jprop

The drip rails are not seen from the outside when the door is closed. You do not have to paint any of the exterior if you replace just the drip rail. In fact, you would not even have to repaint the entire jambs; just blend a little. If I just had a little bubbling I would consider some other method of repair. The expense to replace the rails may not be justified. Mine were completely rusted through so I really had no choice.