Hello all,

My dad purchased a 1978 C3 in the hopes of doing some 'moderate' wrench turning with me to get her up to speed. The car needed some things that only a shop could do, but the remaining items we felt we could do: (heater core, cap/rotor, interior, engine freshening).

Just to document everything, I had someone take pictures of the underside- very surprised by what I saw. Come to find out that there's a TON of rust on the frame, control arms, and just about everything (see attached pictures).

Given the extent of the rust, is it even worth trying to save this car? What would be involved with something like that?

 

You need to inspect it a lot closer it may be just surface rust. Next question would be how far are you willing to go, to clean it up right it will need the body removed and all the rubber replaced and anything else that needs repaired.

Could get very expensive.

 

Wouldn't that be up to your Dad? It's his car.

 

Hi d,
That really looks like pretty typical rust for a car that's 37 years old.
You should determine the integrity of the certain parts of the frame that are vulnerable to debilitating rust and also look for signs of rust around the windshield frame and hinge pillars on the birdcage.
What you do about the rust visible in the pictures depends on how much work you want to do on the car.
Again, a frame with surface rust and rusty running gear isn't unusual. Many, many, restorations start out looking like your pictures.
Regards,
Alan

 

Point of my asking is to get a second set of opinions so as to properly gauge what's involved in this and if it exceeds his (and my) skillset, budget, and available time.

...apart from my not wanting dear 'ol dad driving around in a car that's falling apart and unsafe, yeah- his decision.

 

JMO...If you have about $20,000 or so extra laying around it can be restored. Ask me how I know..lol

 

what Alan said plus inspect the frame where it kicks up in front of the rear wheels where the t-arms go into the frame, a notoriously rust/rot prone area

 

The pics you posted show fairly normal surface rust - not pretty, but nothing really structurally weak or unsafe. That doesn't mean it is not bad, you just have to look in the right places. Like Alan & redvetracr said, look at the frame - especially where it kicks up in front of the rear wheels. If that is OK, then the other common problem is in the bird cage (body cab frame). Check out the sticky at the top of the page "ten rules". If you keep on working on this car, one of the first things I would do, would be to change the catalytic converter for a modern version - or remove it if allowed in your area. That old style bead cat is extremely restrictive, and the scrap value for it's platinum will help offset the cost.

 

Hi d,
I don't see anything in the pictures that makes me think the car is unsafe to drive.
I also DON'T see anything that indicates you shouldn't continue on the course you've described.
If it turns out your dad and you enjoy the car you can then begin to consider what things you want to work on and at what pace.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

 

As others have said, it looks pretty typical of an old Corvette. The real problem areas for rust, can't be seen in your pictures, so a little further investigation should to be done just to be sure. Looking at the condition of the floors, a common spot for rust on a 76-82, I'd think chances are good, that the car is pretty solid.

Check the ends of the frame at the kick ups, under the rear door jam. Also check the frame at the body mounts, especially around the number 4 mounts, behind the rear tires. A few other places to check are the windshield pillars, where they meet the cowl, the rocker area under the sill plates, and the door hinge pillars, where they meet the rockers. These are all typical Corvette rust areas.

 

What is the skill set for the two of you? Do you have shop space for this car? What budget do you have in mind? How much time do the two of you have? What do the two of you want to do with the car? Have a driver or restore it?

Why not have Dad join the forum?

 

Look closely at where the body mounts are and the gussets (triangle shaped pieces that strengthen where the main outer frame rails attache to the cross sections. Also where the control arms in the rear connect for the usual weak spots. It is not difficult to lift the body off and blast the frame (have it dipped if possible to get the rust inside the rails) as you need to replace the mounts anyway.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for sharing the before and after photos, Alan- really beautiful work. We are trying to figure out how much work this is and gauge what we're willing to do. My concern revolves around damage that's debilitating, like you mentioned. I have more detailed pictures now; going to post them- they're shots of the rear end, some ladder fram cross members that look to be in bad shape, and body mount points. Would be interested in your opinion if on visual inspection these look to be 'normal-ish' given the cars age and/or if it's the kind of thing that makes the car a money hole. Also concerned about anything that makes the car unsafe to drive.

 

Thanks for replying. My skillset is very basic, and my dad's is better (more background knowledge), but in general we're both new to this. I'd say our intent was to give us both a bit of a challenge doing what work would could to preserve budget. Also wanted to get into some work that we've never done before and be proud of the result.

To be more specific- In terms of shop space, very limited and limited tools. For example- can easily handle replacing the heater core and fixing some interior dash issues (along with the other items I mentioned). Pulling apart a rear end and ensuring everything's done right? Fixing debilitating structural issues on a frame? I think that's outside our skillset which took me down the path of my original question of: 'is it worth saving'. When I asked that question I was thinking of two things: 1) Is the rust on the frame debilitating where restoration is impractical; or 2) Is this type of repair going to break the bank budget wise?

As far as budget goes, my back of the paper napkin estimate was about 10-12 grand to get the car up to reliable, safe, daily driver quality.

 

Not sure which body mount 1 and 2 are; so hoping someone with more experience could identify on sight. The others are definitely the body mounts rear of the wheels.

It's clear that all are going to have to come off and new rubbers put on. Looks difficult. However, the real question given comments I've read is this:

Surface rust, or debilitating rust?

 

These picture show the control arms and the bolts that connect the leafspring to the back of the control arm. I've also included some additional pictures of the entire rear end assembly.

My take on this is that the car needs a new rear end. Not sure based on what I'm seeing if it's worth doing. Is this debilitating rust or, is it more a matter of time and money?

 

In these pics, I've identified areas that look like rust through or just areas of general concern. Same question - does anyone see anything that'd be a safety or cost prohibitive frame repair?

 

In your post #15, the first two pictures appear to be body mount #1. The cushions are shot, not surprising after 37 years, but the frame and mount area look solid.

The third and forth pics are the #4 mounts. The box on the body, containing the cage nut, is shot. This is pretty common, and not terribly difficult to replace. They're only riveted to the body, and easy enough to replace, for someone with some automotive skills. More importantly, the frame portion of the #4 mounts, look to be in good shape.

I don't see anything of concern in post #16. The brake hoses and trailing arm brake lines, look to be fairly new. Even the rear spring cushions, look to be in good condition, for their age. The rear crossmember cushions are showing some age, but I've seen much worse.

The only thing that might need a closer look, is the condition of the trailing arms. The arms get rusty inside and get weak. In doing an old Corvette over, you really should have the rear wheel bearing assemblies rebuilt, at which time the rebuilder will refinish or replace the arms.

In post #17, I can see that the brake hoses, front sway bar links, radiator hoses, power steering hoses and slave cylinder have all been recently replaced. Obviously, the pan has been dropped and the pan gasket replaced too.

The black spot circled in red, just looks like a clump of grease on the crossmember to me? Even the rear end pinion bushing, looks to be in good shape. Again, the floors look very good, not something you would expect to see in a car that would otherwise have series rust issues.

Pictures lie, and there's no way of knowing how solid the frame is, just from looking at pictures. If you or your mechanic, aren't comfortable checking the frame, than you should get someone more familiar with Corvettes to inspect it. There are plenty of knowledgeable Corvette people around the Country, many on this Forum. Some will look at it for free, as a favor or friend, while others may charge a fee. Either way, if your still not comfortable with what your looking at, then reach out to someone who can inspect it properly for you.

Where are you located, maybe someone here will step up and volunteer to look at it for you.

 

Thanks for the insight. Completely agree that pictures lie- had a friend look at it and his reaction was much worse based on what he saw in person.

The car is now in NW Indiana; Crown Point. I'd love to have someone who knows C3 Corvettes to look at it in person. I'm currently in Texas, which is making this a bit more difficult.

 

Nothing that I've seen so far scares me, it's been shown some love as far as the brakes go. Members here have had a lot less to start with. Decide what you want to do, get a game plan. Make it stop, make it turn, make it go, good luck.