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I was considering this car to purchase but the seller sent me these pics of the underneath and now I’m not very interested. The seller maintains that this is all surface rust with no soft spots. Would you be concerned with this surface rust? And, do you think it could be cleaned up? Appreciate your input. The car is very likely all original and unmolested.
Last edited by bearcatfan9; Mar 1, 2019 at 06:24 AM.
You need more pics of the rest of the frame.....the kickups toward the rear and the birdcage mounts behind the kick panels inside......but if those are solid, by all means it can be cleaned up.......a lot of time with a wire wheel and some shake and shoot but not a bad project if you are $$$$ limited.......cleaning and replacing suspension pieces on a C3 is about one of the cheapest big projects you can do!
I did the front of mine three years ago......all the way back to the trans crossover......I had a fairly clean chassis that was fortunately covered in oil from leaks....this made it easy, but the scale in your photos will come off easy with a wizz wheel.......
I removed a lot of components, about 30 pieces in all and rather than clean them up myself......had my powdercoater blast and coat them......this save MUCHO time.....
Anyway....what does the rest of the car look like? What kinda $$$$ is the seller asking?
Most of us here have seen a LOT worse....especially me as I come from the Salt Belt Michigan......cars last about 7 years up there.
Looks like you are at a Vette corral.....if they deal with a lot of Vette's then they should be very receptive of you asking the rust questions and be VERY familiar with the word "birdcage".
I just went through the same situation. Look thru the posts for mine. Is it surface rust, no Its more than that. My opinion is that surface rust is removable and the metal underneath will show no real damage. Has it seriously damaged the integrity of the metal, no, so you have an esthetic issue. In saying that the price of the car should reflect that.
But as stated above you are missing some crucial pieces of the puzzle. The pockets were the trailing arms go into, the mounting points underneath the kick panels and the frame around the window. These are significant structural area that need definite inspection. Get some photos and get back to use and god luck!!! Ike
Last edited by general ike; Mar 1, 2019 at 10:20 AM.
If it’s surface rust only, it’s pretty heavy. As mentioned above, it certainly looks salvageable but you better get pics of the #2 body mount pocket to make sure the birdcage is ok.
There are a lot of parameters not written about here...Price and 200 other details.
However, sharp-eyed people, versus STARRY -EYED people will disagree.
I see 20 things wrong in addition to the pretty deep 'surface' rust....deep pits, rust EVERYWHERE. Remember the frame rots from the inside WORSE than the outside. There is more steel in a CORVETTE than a CHEVETTE...
I see people have given advice of wire-wheeling off the rust....personally the 100 hours could be spent in other places. And all you'd get is a bunch of black painted PITS.
People ask me to look at C-3's frequently, because this is RUST FREE AZ.....this car, I would walk away from.
Before some er-ah 'wiseguy' says 'Whadda YOU know about rust UnkaHal, you live in AZ"? lol THAT'S WHY I live in AZ...35 years of dealing with rust in NORTHERN VT.... "nevermore quoth the raven!"
I see a big "X" scribed into the rust above the differential cover. ???
I see somebody bent the drivers side strut rod to get the camber they wanted.
I see a oil pan that is listing to the right?
I can tell you that the '80 that I just got is very clean underneath - in a different universe of clean compared to this one, and while there isn't serious birdcage rust, there *is* some - I'd classify it as very early stage. This one has clearly been exposed to the elements a lot more than mine. Definitely have them pull the kick panels and interior upper trim covering the upper windshield frame and the outside t-top trim to see exactly what it looks like underneath. If you look from the outside at the top edge of the windshield where the forward edge of the windshield fame should be visible is there any obvious rust expansion?
Fourth photo down - I see what looks like a suspicious area on the crossmember, either some rot-through or pitting/scaling.
This car needs a frame-off resto. You can find much cleaner examples.
The piece of hay or vine that is attached to the car in photo 3 would lead me to believe that this car sat outside somewhere for a long time. There are many others on this forum with better capabilities in removing rust that I have, but I would pass on this one, unless it is something unique or special. Its too much rust for my liking.
kdf
If the birdcage, body, and paint are in good shape, and it is a numbers-matching big block car, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to put a new chassis under the car, either from a donor car or a new fabrication with a more modern suspension.
I guess it really matters what the rest of the car looks like and is.
But since I see a few other chrome bumper C3s parked in a row next to where this one was pulled out to have a look, I'm guessing it's at a dealership, and you'll end up paying far to much for this car even if it were in 10 times better condition.
If you blasted everything clean it will still look pitted...pass. Sometimes untouched isnt a good thing.
Lotsa rust but maybe fixable its the parts you cant see that Id worry about.
if you buy it and then sell it a couple of years down the road, your buyer will have these same concerns..
this car is only a good deal if you pay the right price for it.
rusty cars sell all the time, the secret is to pay the right price for them.
does look like a 'field' find vs. a 'barn' find.....
drop the price accordingly.
and remember, the rust you do so see is equivalent to the the rust you can't see. ( like the birdcage)
To be concerned or not
