1970camaro

Body mount bolt #2

Drivers side under t top trim. This looks somewhat fresh.

Behind guages

These are my very sad looking guages.
Im a vette newbie, and I traded a 240z for my 69 350 l46 4 speed car. The frame had been gone through and powder coated as well as all suspension. The muncie had been rebuilt, and the rear end with new u joints etc. I have worked on camaros and chevelles and when those have rust its not hidden like in this stingray. I looked in the kick panels and there appears to be some rust, I actually think they are not too bad. But the rust is overwhelming. I guess my question at this point is do I need to find a birdcage or is this repairable? I know my guages are trash already. Please excuse me if this is something others have asked, but I want to know what you guys who know these cars think.

Thanks in advance.

Jon Hekking

Wow, all I can say is yikes as I would have run after seeing those gauges and what looks like more rust in the steering column. The bird cage in these things can’t be patched together, I would be looking for a new one and hope there’s enough integrity left to hold it. Good luck this looks like a tough one.

AllC34Me

Having restored a rust bucket I recognize some of the rust areas you are showing. I believe further investigation will show many more areas that will need attention. With the body in such rough shape internally I would suggest you get the car up in the air and look closely at the birdcage channels, lower channels of the body, look at the seat belt mounting hardware for rust, tunnel support metal brackets, anything attached to the body that is metal may be rusted badly, or the fasteners rusted to the point of being unsafe. You really won't know the full extent until you gut the car of carpet, all gauges, dash pads, etc. The good news is you can make this car your own because the stock parts appear to be toast. I didn't run away from mine, maybe I should have, but it came out beautiful in the end. Lots of time, care, and money to repair one of these but if you have the skills to do the work yourself you can help reduce the labor portion anyway.
Tough to see these rust so badly but not at all uncommon.
Be safe and good luck with your decision.
David Howard
AllVettes4Me

74Ken

WOW, I think this car has been under water. How else would there be rust in the guages.

If I were you, I would gut the interior and wire wheel/grind out all the rust you can get to, then paint the surfaces with POR 15.
I already did this with mine, I also sprayed Krown/Rust check down the inside of all channels that you cannot get into. Like the bird cage.
As long as the metal is strong and not brittle, you can save it. Anything that is brittle needs to be replaced.

Get yourself some EVAPO-RUST and trays to remove the rust. I did every bolt, nut, washer and clip. All perfect 24 hours later.
I used a wall-paper tray for my seat tracks, painted and greased them up the next day and they are perfect now 5 years later.

Sounds to me like the guy did a lipstick job on the frame to hide what happened.to the car.

Being that this is a 69, the floor pan is fibreglass like mine so no rust there. You just have to deal with all the metal areas.
My kick panels looked like yours when I started. It took a wire wheel and several hours to clean them up and paint them. They look new now, so I drowned them in oil before I closed up the covers. let it slosh around in there to stop any further rusting.

Good luck.

PS. The more you can remove and clean/replace the better.

cv67

Dont even get started dump it as is.

jamiecantar

Welcome 1970camaro,

Im a junior newbie here too. I'm no expert, just a weekend warrior, but for the last 3 weeks been doing a ton of research...I got my first vette. a 1975. I traded another car i had already loved and played with for this new toy. So no real investment. straight trade up...Unlike yours, mine only has rot in the rocker channels of the frame and I suspect the mounts that lead up and are tied into the birdcage. which are common on these cars from what ive read. I'm at that stage were i'm trying to determine whether this is a parts car? or a semi-restoration, or full body off project...I'm not trying to be negative here, however you have to ask yourself, is this car, this year, so special that I'm gonna sink 3000, 5000, 7000, $10000 into it? Plus the labor ! I see you have a 1969 there, its a tough call 69's are more rare, more pricey even in rough shape. hmmm if you have the cash, the room, maybe keep this as the parts car and find a better 69? Perhaps a better less stressful starting point...this is the point i find myself too. Maybe do the math first...tough call. Although if your a mechanic, If you have all the resources and connections to restore this then ya,do it! I see a lot of work...

If I can make an observation, I think your car is a "flood car". i have never seen rust like that on any car in the interior. if the seat brackets and pull leavers, dash and any metal part is rusty on the inside, that car was exposed to some major major elements...

ps. this guy has a ton of 1969/70 graveyard vettes. Maybe you can piece a few together and make a Frankenvette...http://www.autosource.biz/Ad/1969_Corvette_New.htm

keep us in the loop.
cheers :-)

CA-Legal-Vette

When I looked at the first pic, I thought to myself, “I’ve seen worse”. Then I looked at the rest of the pics and corrected myself. Wouldn’t surprise me if Ken is right and that this is a flood car. I’ve seen the plates on the back of gauges be rusty but not the faces. The pervasiveness of the rust would really concern me. You need to investigate the frame and birdcage further to see if this is even salvageable.

A pic of the VIN plate area and under hood would help.

joewill

I agree, sell it for as much as you can. rusty cars do sell.
better than the thousand hours and 5 figures you will have to put into this car to make it right. as well as being down for over a year.
clean it up to the best of your ability and skill set, sell it.. and look for your next dream car.

I made the same rookie mistake 25 years ago...

Jstan2014

Best of luck to you, OP. If you don’t mind telling us, from what part of the world did this car come? I too have never seen rusted gauges as in yours. If not under water, maybe it was left in the elements with the top down or windows down?

1970camaro

You may not believe this but it is a california car. I have the plate with a registration sticker from the early 90s, the last year it was registered. Do california cars look like this if they are at the coast? Or does it take them being IN the coast to look like this? Lol. As far as I can tell it had some form of restoration done in the early 90s. Reuphostered it, changed the paint from green to black. The original l46 engine had maincap and rod bearings dated 1990. So somebody had rebuilt it around then. It must have been in a flood then. The power windows are trash. I appreciate all the input so far. This has been an eye opening experience for me.

7T1vette

No. Coastal cars may have some surface rusting, but not internally...and certainly not INSIDE the gauges. This car was in a flood...somewhere. Hopefully, it wasn't in a salt water flood....

1970camaro

Salt water flood would explain why the inside of the t tops are rusty, and not the outside. They sound like maracas when you turn them.

joewill

I have seen gauge rusting in 'field' finds.. this car has probably sat somewhere for decades.

1970camaro

I appreciate your honesty, its what I need to hear. I like projects and can handle a little rust issues here and there but this might be too much. The frame looks amazing, i find it interesting that the previous owner redid the frame and rear end then sold it. He rebuilt the 4 speed too. I have reciepts for all that stuff. He probably found the rusty birdcage and dumped it. Or maybe the frame is from a different car that was less rusty. Im starting to get the feeling its not a great one to restore. Its a shame it is a numbers matching 350 and 4 speed, which are both in good shape.

general ike

That has to be salt water intrusion. Salt crystals embed everywhere and continue to draw moisture even after the initial flooding allowing rust to continue to grow. Too ad. My two cents unless it has sentimental value to you get out now!!! Ike

69ttop502

Well there are bodies around. Pull that one off and finish up the chassis and keep an eye out for a body. The link below is an example of stuff that’s out there. The forum member is a good friend and good guy. He might be a guy to touch base with as he has sold different bodies over the years.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...body-only.html

standardbyke22

heres my opinion, i can tell you already you need the outer lower windsheild corners, the inners, the top of the windsheild frame,and corners at MINIMUM. the front clip will need to be off and probably firewall. check your rocker rails as well, they are probably rusty, i know this from experiance, i have the front clip off my 68 and once i get a XXL cup of mud down this morning im going out to weld the lower corners and upper corner on my 68s windsheild frame. it sucks i know. if your anywhere near chicago i got a good 71 front birdcage section, minus the outer lower windhseild corners of course. the work really isnt bad at all, just dirty rust, dust and metal shavings all over.

chevygod

I'm working on a 70 Monte, California and Arizona car all its life, so no salt, mostly dry areas with minimal rain, should be good. All windows up and fairly well sealed up.

But enough water trickled into it thru a badly installed kick panel vent from every little storm, and sealed as it was it just created a sauna inside. Very heavy corrosion in places not usually seen, incuding inside the gages. If this Vette sat outside sealed up it would have had the same effect.

cv67

Good point, condensation can do damage also. Heck just from sitting this winter my cabin filter in the daily started growing some kind of mildew/mold.
That is super bad in post 1...if you see that much outside cant imagine what lurks. Some cars are just too far gone to even bother with.

1970camaro

So I did some research and I think I have found a complete body. The owner says it is rust free, it is a 70 though. I would lose my numbers matching status, but I think, based on everyones input, that was gone before I acquired the car. He said 2k for the rust free body with doors and t tops. I feel like the price is fair, I am just trying weigh my options at this point. Part of me feels I should cut my loss, but i do like these cars a lot, and more as I work on this one.