Took my 69 vert to get a new windshield installed, got the call saying the frame was shot and a new windshield couldnt go in. Im trying to sell the car so this puts me in quite an odd situation. THe car overall is pretty much all there parts wise. fairly fresh paint (couple years old) and mechanically is very sound. With that said, i cant decide on if its worth trying to get it repaired and then sell it, sell it as is at a large discount, or just part the car out (not sure how likely that is). car must be sold, keeping it is not an option. Its not a numbers matching car in for the most part. help! what would you guys do?

 

If the number on the stamp pad doesn't match the vehicle ID, that's the biggest part of matching numbers which will cut the price. How much... don't know.. maybe 20% ? Just a guess.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but going from there, if you can't do the work yourself the labor to repair will be steep. I've heard prices starting at $2500 to $5000+ depending on how rusted it is. If it's heavily rusted, you may think about trying to sell it as is, with the glass out so the next owner may get right to the repair. If it's minor, maybe inquire about having holes patched before installing the glass? I can't suggest doing a Bubba repair, then hiding it under new glass.

How bad is it? Pictures?

 

I would go inspect the car, and determine excatly how bad the damge is.
if its just the windsheild frame, thats repairable/replaceable.
if the rot goes all the way down into the hinge support area, its toast.
and you would have to rip the car comeplety apart to replace.
I have torn the firewall off and rebuilt from there, it is a Ton of work.
post pictures for an accurate, assessment.

 

havent seen it in person, just info relayed from the windshield shop, sounds like the bottom corners are rusted out pretty bad (large hole) and there is rust going up the pillars, top seems ok (yay...)

 

the rust is definately not down to the door hinges. thank god

 

I agree. Take a look for yourself. I can understand the rust issue, but why would that prevent a replacement windshield from being installed? Did the shop say couldn't be installed or that they didn't recommend it?

 

You may want to try and find another shop that may be able to spot repair the frame. I just had my windshield replaced and there was some surface rust and 3 or 4 small rust holes that were bubba repaired in the past. Luckily the holes were essentially clean, and they were able to weld in metal in the small holes and grind down the window frame so the windshield would fit perfect. All this for under $700 including the window. If I wanted a new frame, even though it was not necessary, I was quoted around $2,300

I am not sure if you took your car to a vette specific shop, but you may want to go that route if you didn't.

Good Luck!

 

If you want to sell it, as is, tell us what you have and what you want for it.

 

With pictures.

 

rust in the windshield almost always ( I will say yes, always, others on here will not) means water has been inside the windshield frame and flowed down into the birdcage.
knowledgable buyers will see a repaired windshield frame as only a first step in lots more rust. even if you repair the windshied frame, you will have this problem escalate and haunt you.

it's a 69 vert, a very good basis for bigger dollars. it needs to be saved, but reality is that it needs big $$ repairs

 

Check it out first. It might not be terrible news as others have said. My windshield frame had a couple of small rust holes but is totally fixable and it didn't get any further that we can find.

I'm sure they didn't put the shield on first so you could see damage and repair it and second they couldn't warranty their work putting it on top of rust.

If it is more than just the windshield then you will probably have to sell it as is or part it out.

 

I'm a bit confused here. Rot in the windshield frame is certainly the starting point for more extensive rust problems. If it is repaired properly, no longer allowing water to leak in AND the door hinge pillar and #2 mount area either check out OK or are fixed, I don't see how this will haunt anybody. If only the obvious rust around the windshield is fixed, areas behind the fender tips/hood surround, hinge pillars and #2 mount are ignored, I agree, there's a good chance of more rust which hasn't been dealt with. I believe it's repairable, cost depends on how far down the rust has migrated. The lower the rust travels the higher the cost to fix.

BTW: I found from personal experience even if the metal looks good after removing the glass, give it a rap with a body hammer, sometimes it's very thin, rusting from the inside. I had this happen to my windshield header. Replaced the header and corners with solid parts from a donor.

 

The point is, that water comes in thru the windshield trim and from gravity, flows to the birdcage, where it sits and causes your birdcage to rust away. a rusty windshield
frame rusts from water getting in thru the leaking trim, flowing down to sit in the hinge pillar. there is potential splash from the wheels that might soak the cage and promote rust in the cage and in this case one would not have a windshield frame rust problem,
but the birdcage ( or hinge pillars, or #2 mounts ) is always worse than the windshield frame.. if the windshield frame is shot, then expect the birdcage to be worse.

windshield frame repairs are complicated in that they are load bearing and have to be Jigged exactly.. ( I think Willcox has a jig ). If not done well, then expect to crack your windshield over every bump you take. You also have to worry about removing and replacing the VIN Tag and not get caught by the DMV. Then they assign you a state VIN#, depreciating your car significantly.

A 69 Vert should be saved, but only by someone with the money and the enthusiasm.

I had the same problem and just gave up and sold the car.

 

Let me know if you when you want to sell it... I'm interested.

 

OK, I was curious. I'm confident of the repair on mine, damage appeared to be confined to the header where water collected as you pointed out. My hinge pillars and #2 mounts were fine, only a light surface rust, probably because the car sat in the garage for the last 20 years.

I have a copy of a write up from Willcox on replacing the windshield frame. Not a job for amateurs. A jig helps keep things aligned properly. I admire the work of some people who have taken this job on and even more, takes some real skill.

There was a thread on this forum somewhere with pictures of a birdcage somebody completely rebuilt and replated. Beautiful work. Can't find it now.

I've heard of DMV coming in a assigning a new VIN, definitely a bad day for the owner.

Hope all works out OK for the OP. Pictures of the damage would be very helpful, give us a better idea of what may be needed.

 

Find a new glass shop. Install the windshield. Sell your car. Unethical? Maybe? Do it.

 

Get sued in the process.

If you knowingly pass that off as good, they can sue you for it.

Now that it is posted on the Internet, it isn't hard to prove he knew.

However, you might find the repairs are not as bad as you think. Windshields rusted on many, and left the door pillars remarkably solid.

 

well i cant find a local place that will work on the car (some wont even work on corvettes just cause ) i still havent seen the car yet (will this afternoon) as things have been crazy here with flooding and never ending rain on top of my already busy schedule. Ill post photos later, i have a feeling i may just need to sell this at a discount. Low teens would probably be the selling range (but dont hold me to that), if anyone is interested private message me. I am in fairfax virginia, just outside of DC.

 

I wouldn't panic just yet without a more thorough inspection of what is rusted where and how bad. My first question to you is why were you having your windshield replaced? I'm going to guess at the answer: you got a major crack in it. Getting rust in the windshield frame is not unusual to Corvettes, as far as I know, it happens in all soft top convertibles. One of the most common ways people find out about it, is the rust inevitably weakens the windshield frame such that is starts flexing more than the windshield can handle. Then one day, you go over a big bump, and . . . . . crack!

The shop is probably not screwing you. If they are a glass place, they almost certainly understand the above, and will not install a new windshield because they know that within a few weeks, you will be back hot as a pistol because your new windshield cracked exactly like the old one did. You will blame them, when the real cause is that the windshield frame needs to be repaired.

Like I said, don't panic yet. Thousands upon thousands of windshield frames have been repaired at reasonable cost and are driving around on our streets right now with uncracked windshields in them. Follow the advice above and look behind your kick panels to see what that looks like. It COULD be just the windshield frame and you will be back in business in relatively short order. Good luck.

 

Not maybe unethical - VERY unethical. Nice guy you are. Ever heard of Karma? If you are looking for work, call Corvette Mike.