A few years back I had the opportunity to satisfy a goal/dream and purchase a C3. I didn't have a lot of money so I purchased what I thought was a good deal off of someone on ebay. When it arrived at my house I got it running and I was hooked. The ad stated it had no birdcage damage and I was not educated enough to understand what I was buying. I began a restoration a couple..few years ago, so the story goes. Below are pictures of the undamaged birdcage.

 

Well, it's paid for and you love it so let the games begin! How are your welding/fabrication skills... and is the windshield out yet so we know the whole story? You can fix this.

 

Boy can you fix this! I restored a PORSCHE 916 before the vette. We are talking 100x worse rust and crud. Take your time. And CARDBOARD is your friend. Make all pieces out of thin cardboard. Measure, cut, measure, trial fit, measure, then lay it out on a piece of steel. Home Depot sells 12 x 18 sheets of steel perfect for fabrication. Here is what you will need:

- Mig Welder - Harbor Freight $129 on sale. 110v
- Sheet steel - Home Depot
- Steel *break* (basically a bender) 24" Harbor Freight $39
- Steel punch - to punch holes in the steel to make welds in to attach. $39 Harbor Freight
- POR15 paint - great rust inhibitor - Eastwood garage $25 per quart.
- Metal saber saw to cut the stuff out - Harbor Freight $19 on sale

Then take your time, lay it all out, practice your welding skills, and just do it!

 

Think of this as a skill sharpening exercise, keeps you from going senile

 

I've seen people fix much worse than this. It's mostly labor with some fabrication and welding skills.

Some vendors sell repair sections which may make the repairs a bit easier.

 

Check with the aftermarket providers. Many of them now carry replacement parts for birdcages and frames. You can probably order the replacement pieces you need and not have to fabricate parts.

You will need the assembly instruction manual (AIM) for the diagrams of birdcage construction.

 

It's gonna be a lot of work no doubt about it. I myself would seriously consider another car. But..... Check out paragon corvettes, I know they sell frame repair pieces. Good luck, I too have seen worse projects come to life.

 

Good luck with it.I just don't have the time for something that far gone.I past on a lot of rusty frames before I found mine.It's, got a few issues but luckily rust ain't one of them.If you have the time and energy I would say go for it.

 

It is bad and work for sure, I don't think it is extreme though.

 

 

Thank you for all of your replies. I am posting this in chunks. I asked some local shops to take a look at the damage and they wanted nothing to do with it. I decided to replace the rockers and when I got into removing them the rot was worse than I thought and my goal was to get rid of the rust permanently. I determined after consulting with someone more skilled and knowledgeable that I would have to remove the front clip and remove the firewall to properly repair the damage. I have more ambition than brains so I decided to go for it, worst case I get a donor body.

The first thing i needed to do was to build Support that would allow me to work freely and hopefully not allow the birdcage to twist 2"square tubing, 1"square tubing, some 2x4 and a small piece of plywood did the trick. It took about 2 hours to get it together.

I learned a heat gun and a 5.1 putty knife is great to separate the front clip and firewall. I had cracked the fiberglass in a couple of places, not bad though, but the firewall took a beating. This took about two days to remove both pieces. It would have been longer but nothing was in the way. I could not believe how easy it was, the only thing you need is patience. When I was heating the fiber glass I can put a little pressure pulling the bond apart and you can feel it release. Don’t expect the paint to hold up it will bubble etc…

I got a set of donor rockers and part of the a-pillar from a 76. I took them apart one spot-weld at a time so I could install one piece at a time. I could have installed then as single units but I thought the outcome would be better if I dismantled, cleaned, primed and installed them one at a time. It took a day to dismantle clean and paint each side but I think it was worth the effort. I also had new reinforcements fabricated for the inside of the a-pillar.

I determined how much of the a-pillar I would cut. I took a lot of measurements so I would have a reference points. I also did not want to cut near the hinges so I cut slightly above the hinge area. I did this same process on both sides. I spent a lot of time welding and grinding. I added an extra reinforcement on the a-pillar that I button welded above and below where I cut. The first side took me 4 months because of my inexperience and the second side 2 weeks. I was also doing things on the chassis because I needed breaks and I think that kept me sane. I also needed a lot of guidance and support from Mike(tracdogg2) of Classic Corvette Parts, who should be a teacher because I had zero experience in what would be required.

By having access to the front part of the birdcage I was able to correct the two areas where the water was entering the ar. In both cases the top of the a-pillar was the source of the problem. The windshield frame was in very good condition. I was pleasantly surprised. I used a propane torch to get rid of most of the glue and finished it off with a wire wheel.
I button welded the floor pans to the Rockers and for good measure I welded the seam of the floor pans to the rockers as well. Before I started welding I lined up the firewall what felt like 100 times but it was probably around 20 times as I went along.
I cleaned everything up and painted it with epoxy primer. I attached more pictures.

 

Looks like you did a real nice job

 

Awesome job saving another one!!

 

I've heard this works well. Just need to be careful not to burn the fiberglass. I read somewhere once burned it won't take resin.

Curious, was the source of the water leak at the base of the windshield frame, behind the fender tips? The factory stuffs this area with caulk. It eventually dries and pulls away from the metal slightly making a pocket to hold dirt and water. I've often seen holes in this area.

Or were you referring to the area underneath the bonding strip?

Some very nice work there. Always enjoy seeing pictures of these projects.

 

Wow, very nice! VERY, VERY nice! I also think that leaving the dice hanging from the mirror though out all of this is a nice touch! Brings reality to the situation!

 

Thanks again for your comments. BBCorv70 you are 100% correct. There was a rust hole on the top and a rust tumor on the inside at the top of the a-pillar. I have to admit that I missed it at first but when I checked my paint coverage on the inside and saw a nasty rust tumor. I consulted with tracdogg2 and we agreed on how best to approach the surgery. When probing the tumor I put my screw driver right through the metal. I replaced the metal, created a reinforcement and button welded above and below the seam. I probably don't need to do it but I feel better about it, so to me worth the extra work.

 

Great work!

 

Once again, nice work.

 

In the back of my mind I was concerned about everything lining up again so when I finished getting everything back together I test fit the body on the frame and the body mounts seemed to line up fine. I decided to go with poly body mounts, I would image my ride will be a little rougher.

I had to repair the damage to the firewall. I patched 15+ areas using Bondo fiberglass and West Systems products. The pump system they sell made dispensing easy. I had trouble finding sheets of mylar to use as backing so I found myself at an office supply store getting 8.5 x 11 presentation covers, 50 for 11 bucks, far it has worked pretty good. I cleaned the firewall with thinner and a scotch-brite pad to remove the paint etc. before painting it with PPG K36 and flat black.

Before installing the firewall I painted the bottom of the body. I used PPG Epoxy Primer on the floor pans and semi gloss black on the storage boxes and rear deck (PPG K36 and MET ). Then underneath of the car looks 1000 times better than the paint on the body and the only people that will see the detail will be me and any shop that happens to do work on it. To paint the fiberglass on the bottom I needed to build some wooden support s for below the # 3 mounts. The car wanted flip back because it was back heavy so I put 100 pounds of weights in the front, which seemed to do the trick.

I installed the firewall with pop rivets on the top and body rivets on the bottom. The process involved Lord Fusor slow type adhesive around the perimeter of the fire wall and 60 minutes of stress, yelling and praying to god it works out. The most difficult part was beating the hell out of the rivets until a head formed. I am a pretty big guy so moving quick in small spaces is not natural. Thank god for my wife and son they helped and we just made the 60 minute window. The funny thing is I test fit this firewall tens of times getting ready and when it came down to installing it the glue messed up my reference points.

I enlisted a couple of family members to help me install the body on the frame for its trip to have the front clip installed at Ron’s in Fitchburg, MA. I intended to install the front clip, but I kept hearing about banana corvette where the Front clip is not installed properly so it seemed like good money spent to have a guy that does nothing but Corvette restorations install the front clip. It was worth every cent. Before I sent it I rebuilt the hinges so no variables would change after he set the door gaps. I have attached more pictures.

 

Interesting. You kinda set us up. You had a mess and left it as though you weren't sure what to do. It looks like you tackled the problem in a logical manner and from your pics, the work looks good. Congratulations on a job well done.