the horror story continues. i have already looked into lawiers and i have no case since the guy i bought the car from wrote "as is, where is, sale final." but i havnt lost all hope. im determined to make this one sweet ride.

yes it has birdcage rust. the top of the birdcage is perfect you might say but where the body bolts to the frame is badly rusted. surprise surprise. anyway i might be able to get some weald in rails to fix this problem. if not a new body not including glass or doors will run about 2500$ cdn. new frame about 1500$ thats not too bad at all if you ask me. within a year she will be finished! im lookin forward to it!

pics

 

just have to ask,
did he put those blocks of wood in or did you?

if he did then he knowingly sold you the car with the frame rust
and i would think in court that if you said
"I ASKED HIM 3 TIMES ABOUT FRAME RUST" and he asured me there
wasnt any that you may have a case against him.
at the very least it would be your word against his and they may very well hold him liable for half the repair. 50/50 type of deal

i only mention this because a guy knowingly sold my father a 61 galaxie wagon with a bad floor and also put as is where is on the receipt and he ended up being liable for the cost of the repair.

 

humm yeah i thought that those pieces of wood were an aftermarket product. yeah he put them in. i didnt take any pannels off to check the car before i bought it. but yes he told me it was mint, besides the cracked window. i like that 50/50 deal. i may still take legal action. but i am keeping the car. no doubt. i have a line on a frame and am in way too deep to throw her away.

 

You said you were in " way to deep" to throw it away.

What did you pay for that Vette....Because you may end up paying a lot more to get it fixed than to sell it honestly "AS IS" to recoup some money, and getting another one.

Dont let emotions of getting this vette get in your way. Factor in ALL of the costs to get this thing back on the road, versus cutting your losses and chalking it up to experience.

kdf

 

Here's the original thread - http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1204426

It is a long read, but very interesting. Poor surkon got hosed.

 

wow that is bad,hope you get your money back

 

I agree with kdf1986. What was done to you is a crime.

Unfortunatly you have a parts car. It is not even a good parts car since the chassis and body are not worth anything. It just does not make any economic sense to try and save this 80 vette. I feel that you are far underestimating how much it will cost to repair this poor vette. You seem to only be adding up the costs for the major components...frame, body ect. Believe it or not, it is all the small parts that add up to massive dollars. I realize it does not seem like that...but take it from those of us who have been through C3 restorations. It is very similar to home renovations where the end price doubles with all the little surprises along the way.

Look at it this way. By restoring this vette you will be increasing the amount you got ripped off since repair costs will be far greater than what it would cost to just walk away and buy a good one. But by re-selling this vette as a parts car your loss would be capped.

Vettes can really fool you, shiney fiberglass that does not rust...but as you found out under all that glass can be a piece of cr$ap.

PS. I also wonder if those other buyers who were lined up behind you to buy this were his 'friends'. The whole thing smells like a scam.

 

Find a better lawyer...especially since you asked him direct questions and he responded with lies. This is a pure case of fraud, "as is" or not.

 

well i have come across the resident corvette specialists here in calgary. They have a car in their shop that is in almost the same condition as my car. the only differece is that it is recieving an all new suspension...since all of which was rusted also.17565$ cdn is the estimate. it is 1500$ for the frame and 2500$ for the new body firewall back. those atre the really big chunks. tes i know a project like this will nickle and dime you to death and thats something i need to take into concideration. i think my plan will be to take another shot at taking this guy to court. if i can gaet any cash from this then i might start the restoration. if not i might sell the car and cut my losses.

most of the cost will come from the hourly work in the shop. i am mechanicly inclined so i will do alot of the work myself and save alot of cash. the only thing i will have my car in the shop for is to take the body off and put the new one on. other than that i will do myself. at this point i think i can afford the restoration. im giving it a timeline of 2 years. this time next year i will have the car with no driveline. give it another year to get the engine and tranny. as long as i dont rush anything i wont make any more big mistakes..

ill keep you guys updated. and thanks for all the input. it does help.

 

if u are enclined to work on it yourself, i would keep it and do it..... when i got my 77 2.5 years ago i had no clue on vettes (other than my dads74 that i drove once in a while). so i started to take it apart since i'm curious and it took me 2 years to redo it.... only thing i didn't do was pull the body cause i didn't have a place to do it at when i start the body work..... everything else i did (except paint/motor) and i feel great about it....... if soemthing breaks i can only blame myself...but everything is practically new/rebuilt ...... good luck and watch the knuckles


b

 

i also had rust issues frame cost me 3500 so your gettin it cheap and you can weld in new rockers they sell a kit for the rockers and then they sell the part that connects to the riser so its fixable. if you need the co that sells the kit pm me and ill get it to you

 

i was aware of this option also. the problem with weld in rockers ect is that you need to cut the fiberglass off the body and then replace it. just the extra body work and paint will cost a bunch. and in the end you might not have noticed a section..and be playin a broken record. if i find a birdcage from a dry climate and get a "perfect" birdcage then i wont need to worry about it in the future. but yes it does seem cheeper.. is it worth it tho?

 

In your situation, you'll have to replace the entire frame, so I wouldn't worry about having to cut the body. It must be lifted off the frame to replace. Is it worth it? Not on a "standard" car.

 

 

When I discovered my rotted frame/BC, I found a rolling chassis
and cowl-back body with decent BC for $1500.
I had to do some minor rust repairs to the "new" frame,
but the price was right.
Swapping noses is no trivial task ... but doable with some mechanical skills.

Good Luck
Redwingvette had good luck replacing the rocker channels.
He got them in there pretty well without chopping up the 'glass.
Here is his page on that: http://hometown.aol.com/bmclau5079/page5.html

 

I don't mean to be pessimistic, but just how are you or the shop going to get the body off the fram without breaking it in two? I would be very cnocerned that what you have will not suport it's own weight when lifted, even if the nose were removed.

I agree with the others, your car is better suited to being a parts car than a starting point. Sorry.

 

the shop has all the equiptment to pull a body off an even more rusted frame. they have a car lift that lifts on multiple parts of the frame. trust me it can be done. dont you worry your head.

and as for a starting point i think its a fine start.i mean if i buy another corvette around these parts it WILL have rust. probably not as much as my car but it will still have the problem. this way i will have a perfectly cleen start. all the rust will be gone. after the frame and BC swap it will be pretty much mint.

in the words of good ol Jerry Reed "im gonna do what they say cant be done."

 

I did with a barn vette

 

Here in New York we have ways to deal with a seller like that. Unfortunately they are not supported by state law. What he did is a crime and he should be made to pay for it. There is no way he did not know what the condition of that frame was.

Get another lawyer and sue his butt.

 

Oh, no doubt...it can be done. Question is, at what cost? More than the car will ever be worth? Just go spend the money on lottery tickets.