CorvetteFirstTimer

Hi there,

A little back story:

My father and I bought a '79 vette last June. While doing a top end rebuild in Febuary, we found out that the piston rings were shot and we decided then that we would replace the block with a 4 bolt. So this past week we decided to start doing research to order the block and everything we need next week. For the hell of it, I said that we shoul check the birdcage before we start on the engine rebuild. I didn't think we would be in much trouble because the previous owner always garaged the car and we always garaged it and never drove it in the rain. To make a long story short, I think the previous owner rebuilt the birdcage behind both front kick panels, but it seems like there is some rust there again. I was just wondering if your experienced minds can tell me if it is a major issue or if some scraping and rustoleum will do. If it is going to be a big issue, I might have to sell the car just because I wasn't prepared for this and the engine rebuild. Please let me know what you think by the pictures.

Driver's side:











Passenger side:









Hopefully this is just a scrape and rustoleum issue.

Let me know what your experienced minds think. Thanks.

briankeery

I guess you may have 2 factors to consider.....One, how will the car be used, and two, how big is your wallet. As your well aware, not all 33 year old cars lived their lives in the southwest; so rust is inevitable - the question then becomes, how bad is it? Do you have any perforation? Is there still sufficient structural rigidity? If so, and if the car isn't going to be put through a frame off, then maybe some sandblasting and "POR-ing" will do the job. I definitely think some deeper investigation is called for. You might want to see how things look by the windshield, and a second opinion by a bodyman you trust is never a bad thing. Good luck with this, I hope it works out in your favour. You'll probably find guys on this forum that would tear it apart.....and others who would clean it up and drive it. It all depends where you stand....everything is relative.

Roco71

The driver side looks to be worse than the passenger side. Looks like the PO used some silicon sealer to stop water from going further on the passenger side the question is how did the water get that far. What does it look like around the VIN # on the windshield post? Can you see down the corners of the fender/cowl? Its obvious that water has gotten that far from problems up above the pillar post the question is has that problem been repaired correctly.

CorvetteFirstTimer

Near the Vinlooks really clean. I don't know about driving in it, but the car hasn't been stored out in the elements in over 10 years. There is no perforation and there is still plenty of metal there it seems. I just have never seen a good or bad birdcage. It looks to me like they replaced both driver's and passengr side posts.

Roco71

On mine the pillars were in in good shape my problem was the upper and lower corner of windshield frame. When those start to rust water gets in and runs into the pillar post. Take a look at this web site its a fairly popular site to review when the topic of birdcage comes up. Go to the restoration tab.

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

CorvetteFirstTimer

I think I'm going to clean it up and try rustoleum just to see how bad it really is. Can anyone else give me advice?

champs65

I've seen worse.....

What leads you to believe that the posts have been replaced? They look original to me, and don't look too bad

Blow all of the loose debris out of the body bolt area and see what you have; use an ice pick or a screwdriver and probe around to see how good your steel is. Also, you can use your camera to get some shots up inside the posts to see what they look like internally.

Easy Mike

Me too.

You're not really hurt yet. Everything on the passenger's side looks factory, including the gooped on sealant. Driver's side is where you want to check for a leak.

CorvetteFirstTimer

Well, I'm not experienced with this stuff, thats why I came on here. I only said that I thought the posts were replaced because they look cut out and welded back in or something on the shots that I show of the door jams, but I am like an ant doing a bees job, I have no clue what I'm looking at. I vacuumed out all the crap I could and I'll post some pics of what it looks like a bit later tonight. The thing is, I don't know what a clean one looks like to compare and I can' find any pics online easily. It seems solid, but I don't want to dump a few grand in the engine if I'm gonna have to sell the car because I can't afford to fix the problem. So far this post has been helpful. I just wish I could be ordering my block right now instead of worrying about this.

Please let me know what you think when I post those pics later.

CorvetteFirstTimer

The car will never again be driven in the rain (hasn't since I owned it) and I also don't hose down the car when I was it. I use a wet cloth and spot treat. I don't even take the car out if there is a chance of rain. Thanks for the help.

CorvetteFirstTimer

Well, I vacuumed out those two spots of most of the debris. Here are the photos. To me it looks mostly like surface rust, that I'll need to stop:

Driver's side:





Driver's side up the post:



Passenger's side:





Passenger's side up the post:



Let me know what you guys are thinking? Thanks!

Skip Burney

I used POR 15 on the 66 El Camino I am doing and I like it a lot

CorvetteFirstTimer

Is POR 15 like rustoleum? Is it like a 3 step spray? And where can I get it? Thanks.

I think I'm gonna run by Corvettes & Classics, a vette shop near me, and have them look at it really quick. Any other oppinions?

Scottd

Ive got some serious perforation rust at the end of my rails and in the metal above the trailing arm mounts. I replaced some spots with some patchwork welding and hit it with rubber underspray. Some may call it bubba, I call it fixed. Sure, there may be more up inside, but Im certainly not going to have the car another 30 years.

champs65

I think things look OK in your pics. I don't know how POR-15 specifically works, but I think it works like a rust converter/encapsulator like a product called Defender by State Chemical. (which I've used)

Brush it on, and it chemically converts iron oxide into an inert compound and stops any rust from progressing. Seals the surface.

Should be easy to find in any vendors' product lines, or places like Eastwood, Grainger, etc. Commonly used product that many people have used to paint their chassis' and have had good results with.

CorvetteFirstTimer

How would I get up in the pillars with that? It isn't a spray like Rustoleum.