after finding a spot of rust on the the pillar of my 72 conv. I started tearing things apart, the further I went the worse it got, I now have the winshield,dash,seats carpet out and the whole frame is shot, top, sides & bottem is gone, a local restoration co. came and looked at it and said they would replace the frame for $ 5000. they said they would have to remove the front clip to repair the lower cowel areas on both lower corners,the estimate $ 1250. materials and $ 3800. labor at $ 45 hr, and they said 48 hours of that is to remove & replace front clip, so I am thinking about doing it, any opions?

 

I don't think that price is way out of line for having a shop do all the work. You can get the parts cheaper but I am sure they have their own mark-up. My question is more around are you going far enough. If the ws frame is that far gone how are the rocker channels and body mounts? If I was going to spend $5k (and I just did) then I would be pulling the body and doing it all.

My car is being put back on the frame next week after like work that started with the ws frame. We replaced the ws frame (parts around $500) both rockers and three body mount reinforcements and I have about $5k into it. I took the body off myself but they are putting it back on. Its a lot of money to only go halfway.

 

good point, thanks

 

Hi RD,
Is the 'local restoration company' really well qualified to do this extensive a job? And I'll second SPF's point about the 'bad news' growing, are you prepared financially for what else may turn up? What is the rest of your car like.... are you going to get too far beyond it's value even when repaired and is that o.k. with you?
Regards,
Alan

PS: From what I see a lot of these birdcage jobs are done by the owner, so he eats the labor cost. You just can't spend endless $$$ on 68-72 cars the way you can with 63-67 cars, and come out on top.

 

I agree but if I don`t repair it, it is not worth squat ,the rockers will need replaced but I am hopping to do that myself when it comes back but the winshield I feel better with them doing

 

No idea of your skill level but the rockers can be at least as bad or worse then the windshield as they can be a lot harder to get at. I am sure someone has done it with the body on but I am not sure how unless you cut all of the fiberglass away - we did both body off and cut the glass. If you haven't done it yet I would pull the covers and check the body mounts as well.

It all is done everyday by many on this forum so it can be done and is actually kinda fun - not cheap but fun.

 

Retired Dave:

I have a ton of experience in this field! Do you have any pictures you can post!

The past two weeks I’ve been working on a new “Help and Repair” page for the web site on this exact subject.

I was only going to cover basic repairs, but I may extend this and cover major repairs after seeing this post. I’ll have to see what amount of time I have to spend on this project.

Everyone above is correct! The extent of the damage can horrible from a windshield frame that continues to rot over the years. Once the water enters the frame it is a direct tunnel down the door jambs and to the lower rocker section if the rust gets bad enough.

I hate it for you, and wonder did the body shop also include the cost of any paint work?

We did a 69 about four years ago that was the worst case I’ve ever seen in my life! The car is repaired and on the road again. SPF’s car looks like a show car compared to what we had to work with on this car. At the time of the repair the lower reinforcement for the car was a large hole and this part was not available (it is now) and had to be fabricated.

See if you can post some pictures so I can look at this.

Willcox Inc.

 

I am about to change both of my rocker channels real soon and would love to see pictures of this process. My body is off and I will be able to roll it over to work on it if needed. I am trying to do this without cutting out any fiberglass at the door strike post. hwcoop did an excellent job here on the forum and sent me pictures as well. My right rear is the only one that is completely gone but I really want to change both complete channels on both sides. Im looking for any input on this. Thanks, Ned

 

I will try to post photos

 

this page has a ton of good pics and info

http://www.corvette-restoration.com/

 

Hi W,
Boy, the tin worm who worked on the left-side post base in your picture must have had some SERIOUS teeth!
Regards,
Alan

 

Alan,

Yep! The tin worm was so bad (and I'm trying to find the picture) that he ate a soft ball size hole in the metal where the back of the fender is glued down, the metal under sill was gone and frame repair was also needed.

The customer drives this car every day and has since 1969.

Even with the repairs that were made the car will always fight this problem. It really needed to be a body off and he did not want to do that. The frame will have more problems down the road I'm sure.

Willcox

 

Talk to RoadRaceVette, the customary way to get at the lower corners is to cut the upper fenders, and then glass them back in. Obiously, you have to know what your doing, but it won't take 48 hours to do it. JD corvettes in LA does this work all the time too, might want to ask them what they think.

http://www.jdcorvette.com/

Here's the job being done:
http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/foru...ad.php?t=98635

 

Hey I am about to tackle this as well. I am going the full body off route as my frame is rotten, but one question I have for you guys who are doing the channels as well, is what are you doing for replacements? The best I can find is the inserts, and am not sure if that will work if there is not channel to insert them into.

Good luck on the project retireddave

Brian