I just bought a 67 Coupe for cheap $$. Interior is great, but needs some bodywork and paint. Also, there is some frame rot underneath where the doors end on each side as well as some bird cage rot. I'm assuming this isn't so unusual from what I've read. Anybody know someone in the Boston, MA area who could do the work(including the bodywork and paint). Thanks.

 

No it isn't unusual, but very expensive to fix, you have to remove the body from the frame and probably replace both framerails from the sounds of it, or it might actually be cheaper if you have the room to put a new or used frame in good condition under it. You might go to a cruise night or join a local club and ask around where others had there cars restored.


Good Luck.

:auto: Tom

 

drpimento,

Welcome to the forum, now you can get crazy with the rest of us. :jester
No kidding there's a lot of folks to help ya here. Sorry, can't help you with a Boston shop though. I'm just giving my 4 cents here. You said you got this beauty cheap, Congrats! good for you. (this is a good thing) :yesnod: When you say birdcage, (my soap box topic) may be rusted where ever, just keep in mind, depending how much and where, (can you get to it without tearing off glass etc.) can get much more exspensive then even a new frame and the labor, especially if your not doing it yourself. You need to checkout the shop to be, very close and besure they check as much of that birdcage as possible. If it's rusty in one place, most likely it's not the only, but there is always hope. They need to look under that dash, both in the RT & LT corners to see a bit of the bottom of the windshield pillars and a little of the bottom windshield frame, pull the metal trim off the overhead and down the windshield pillars and the metal trim across the inside bottom of the windshield, remove the halo panel, remove the trim panel behind the seats to get a look see at the latch pillars, use a small mirror and a bright light to reflect an image back in all those tight places, pull the body mount covers off in the rear wheel wells to get another look see in the latch pillars, look inside the gutters to see if their still sealed, hold a mirror inside the gutter to see the inside face of the gutter and the gutter termination at the rear end. Take the mirror and a bright light to the rear overhead frame( in the corners where the halo starts its radius down) and on the backside of it all the way down to the latch pillar, get a look see. It's very tight, but you can see where the bonding strip meets metal. Do the same thing from the front of the halo around to the sides at the top and across the frame above the windshield, check the insides of them. Remove the over the door seals (long rubber gasket attached to the outsde of the birdcage) so you can see the bonding strip where it meets steel. You can also look a little bit around the hinges into the hinge pillars, you can take off the kick panels and get a look see at the inside sides of the hinge pillars. It's late and I'm sure I have forgot areas, but I think you got the drift. If your going into this car like I think your going into this car, you don't want to leave any surprises behind. I also believe one should know what he or she is getting into. I'm not saying this as a bad thing, I'm saying the old saying, knowledge is power to help you make some good choices, both for your sanity and your pocket book. Hope this helps.
Craig ;) :cheers:


[Modified by Cmacsvette, 8:40 AM 9/16/2003]

 

The StingRay shop in Marblehead, MA is noted for doing quality work. Bob De PePippo can be reached at (781) 639-3527. Even though I live in the same town I have never used his services, yet. He belongs to our Corvette club, and the members all say good things about the quality of his work. He always has a lot of midyears in his garage. As already noted the $$$ can be expensive.

Another Vette shop that I have used is the Corvette Connection in Middleton, MA. Ron Belbin can be reached at (978) 646-9996. He too does good work and is probably not as expensive, but you may have to wait longer.

The last one is Rowley Corvette, they also do great work, and can be pricey but that's the nature of this hobby. Their web site is: http://rowleycorvette.com/

Welcome and good luck.... :smash: :cheers:

 

I had a very bad experience with Rowley Corvette many years ago that ended up in Court. Stay away.

Best thing to do would be to join the NCRS New England Chapter - http://newenglandchapterncrs.homestead.com/. Some of the guys there live in your area. See what they have to say.

Give Steve Cataldo, 320 Newbury St. # 406, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 777-2241, vettelover7@hotmail.com a call. Member of the NCRS New England Chapter. Owns a Corvette repair business, and is a Chapter member. Very good guy. Very knowledgeable.

I've heard good things about Corvettes & Classics Inc., 577 Winthrop St., Taunton, MA 02780 (508) 823-6150, Nickole Auto Body in Saugus, and Wild Bill's in Wrentham.

The 4 who usually rank the best are:

Dennis Pacy - Endless Summer- 978-635-0559
Stingray Shop - Bob DiPippo- 781-639-3527
Corvette Connection - Ron Belben - 978-646-996
Ron's Restoration - Ron - 800-524-6195

All these places are resources. You may not choose them to do the work for you, but they could give you advice on how to proceed.

 

Welcome to the club of 67 owners. You may want to try Archie's Autobody in Johnston, RI. He does quality work and is a vette owner (C1). He has done work on my family's cars for years including my 69 Z/28 (major body and paint work), my 67 Corvette (minor work), my Dad's racing car and 65 396/425 Coupe, my uncles show cars, etc. He is good, but very busy (like most talented restoration guys are), and can be a bit gruff (again, like most good/busy guys in that business).
His # is 401-232-1010.

Good luck,

Bob :thumbs:


[Modified by RGGregory, 8:28 PM 9/16/2003]

 

Yikes! Removing the body to repair the frame? Well that may help me a lot in my decision to do a frame-on or frame-off resto. :(

 

Awesome! Thanks a lot. Johnston is about 25 minutes from me. :flag

 

welcome

keep in mind that the archives here contain a WEALTH of info..... searches are always a good place to start. sounds like you have some good tips as far as shops in your area. if you need frame work, take my advice, and do it right the first time. and it's not cheap! but it sounds like you got the car right so.......
labor is the killer, if you have someone else do your work. also, make sure the guy has done mid-year frame work, and check out a reference, if you get it wrong it can be a nightmare! also keep in mind that corvette central(as well as others) sell complete NEW frames, if you're really rusted, that may be the cheaper/smarter choice. and the car will be worth more than "patched up rusty frame"...... you may re-coup a lot more later if you pay a bit more for a new frame now.


:seeya

 

As well as having the opportunity (if it´s not a numbers match car) to add a tubeframe with C4 suspension and make it a killer driver....but again...probably more expensive then repair.

A tube frame is about 17k bucks rolling....or thereabouts :cool: