Hello all,

I'm hoping you guys can give me some insight into if the car is worth buying and patching or replacing the birdcage or not.

Back story is a few months ago I went to go look at the corvette and was going to trade a Harley for it (Approximately 9k value). The car looked great for the most part but following others advice I asked if I could remove the kick panels to inspect the birdcage and it was rusty with holes. As soon as I seen that I told him I would have to pass based on the work required to fix it and the owner had no idea of the rust there. He said he was driving it a couple years ago and he parked it to do some engine work.

Fast forward a couple of months and I messaged him to see if he still had it and was interested in selling it. He said he was and we settled on $3200. I’m supposed to be picking it up sometime next week and wanted to know your guys opinions if it was worth that much and if it should be a mission to save it or part it out. Any and all advice is welcome. I’ll attach the photos I got when I first went to go look at it but sadly didn’t take any of the rust behind the kick panel. I will update with pictures later after I pick it up. Thanks for any and all replies!

Also, based on the VIN and his information I believe the car was originally a 350 4speed car if that helps the decision to save it.

 

Frame doesn’t look that bad..check body mounts and windshield area..pic if vn may tell something too.

 

Thanks for the advice, I’ll attach a picture of the VIN now.

 

Rookie advice...
the birdcage does not need replacing, but you can buy replacement sections for parts of the frame that have rusted-through.
IF you plan to keep the car...rebuild it. Otherwise it will cost you several thousand dollars to make it safe enough to sell.

 

I seen the replacement sections and I’m also decent at welding and have a pretty good garage setup. The 73 is my favorite year corvette along with it being red with black interior. It’s hard to pass up for the price, I was just wanting others opinion if it’s worth the time and effort to replace or if I should save up and just buy the 20-30k finished vette years down the line.

 

Sometimes the vn area may show corrosion around it on a pillar.

 

I agree: for the most part, the frame looks fine. However, you didn't show pics of the frame in front of the rear wheels where it "kicks up". That short vertical section where the trailing arms bolt is subject to heavy rusting because of the pocket the arms sit in - dirt (and moisture) collects in there.

Will you post pics of the A-pillar body mounts? I'm surprised that you said it was full of holes while the rest of the frame looks pretty solid. From the exterior, inspect at the top of the windshield just below the bright trim. Examine it all the way across and about a foot down from the corners. As interpon mentioned, examine the structure right around the VIN tag on the driver's A-pillar. If the body mounts down below are compromised then I'd think everything above them would be too.

Why do you think it was a 4-speed car? It appears to have the correct bolt-in crossmember, deluxe console, and pedal.

 

The price seems about right for a fixer upper.
if the only real concern is those number 2 mount areas. They are realitivly easy to repair with replacement sections. Windshield frame and those lower corners of the windshield frame are a much larger concern.
is it worth fixing?
That's totally up to you. It's a great hobby that'll keep you busy and out of the pub.

 

L82, deluxe interior, coupe, AC, pwr Steering, pwr brakes, auto.... Other than the color, its the same as my car. Whats not to love?

 

79ProjectVette
Don't go falling in love yet. you haven't shown the edges of the windshield nor the are behind the kick-panels..... nor all the other viewable body mounts. You should get pictures of those and post them.... and a picture of the area around the VIN somebody already asked for.

 

Thank you everyone for the replies. I wont be able to take anymore pictures until sometime this week when I go pick up the car. Once I do I will take pictures of everywhere that has been suggested and upload them here. Fingers crossed I wont run into more problematic areas. Again thanks for the replies and I will get the pictures posted ASAP.

 

She’s officially mine. I’ll attach pictures for the interior, pictures where the VIN is, and the rust pictures I’ve been super worried about. Again any info or help is appreciated

 

for some reason it won’t let me add pictures? Idk what to do. I’ve tried WiFi and off WiFi and trying to add pictures I’ve already taken and pictures I take and try to upload and nothing is working….. maybe someone can give some insight….

 

Hang in there, I've seen a number of people on a few threads complaining about loading pic's. It just took me 3 try's to get one photo up on a different thread. Site must be having issues. Give it a day or 2 and try again. Cheers, Doc.

 

I have been trying to upload pics for the last couple of days. You need to do it two or three times to get it to work. The counter stalls at 50%, wait, if it goes blank and doesnt advance to 100%, try again......Eventually it takes.

 

My thought is, not to squash your dreams, but to give a reality check: Do you have 500-800 hours of your life to dump into that car? And maybe the next 5 years? You're dreaming of what it *could be*...and not looking at ALL the time it's going to take to get it good.

I can see it needs a lot more than bird-cage work. If you don't have fabrication skills, time, patience or deep pockets (for parts), to redo the front,, the nose, COMPLETE refinishing (if it needs it...maybe it's not too bad, I can't tell), the freekin' interior, engine work, fix the broken headlight assemblies, new suspension bushings/ball joints, complete brake work, renewed steering, new wheels and tires, new carpet, new door gaskets, maybe new tops ...and everything else ....and buy the hundred expensive parts it's going to need, ....stop right now, back out of the deal, find a better one for $8k-$10k or whatever that's got good paint, driveable, looks nice .....and enjoy it all summer long. Seriously. Unless you have 500-1000 hours to dump into that car. It looks like it's got the usual 5 coats of paint that needs to be completely stripped off and completely repainted. That's TIME consuming and costly. And if you had to pay someone, you'd have far more into the car than it'll ever be worth.

People think parting out is good ....but If you REALLY count your time, including taking off and cleaning the parts, taking pictures of EACH part you go to sell, answering emails, etc...meeting people, putting stuff online, boxing up parts, dealing with the occasional unhappy customer complaint, listening to people's stupid stories of someone who has a lot of corvettes...time away from your family. I bet you'll be lucky to break even. Plus it's eating up garage space. ....your time ain't free either! Even if you came out a couple grand ahead.....you'd be FAR better off putting that time into something you can 'create' real value with, like another sought-after classic car.

Back out and go find a good deal on one you can enjoy right away. One you can take kids or grand kids for rides in...next month! And if you want to fix up a car as a project, go get a rust-free Gen II classic Trans Am, Mustang fastback, or another classic car that you can tripple or quadruple your investment in and be worth many times more, after you put 500-800 hours into it.

(or some fixer-upper real-estate that improves your wealth that you can borrow against or whatever)

.

 

OTOH, if you're a car pro, have painted a few cars, single, and work quick...then it might be a good car for you.

I don't know your situation. A guy I know real well is a lifelong bachelor. He has all the time in the world, tools, money, good welder/painter ...and no family distractions to spend his time on cars. He knows what he's doing, and can knock a nice car out pretty quick. And cheap.

If that's you ....then it might make a great project car. Nobody can tell what the birdcage beholds till you get the trim off, windshield out, and hit it with the sandblaster. Even if it's rough, if you have the time, buy the parts and put in. You can make something nice out of it.

 

I am married with kids but have the last 6+ hours of the night to focus on a project. I have pictures of the rust I was worried about, I haven’t found any other rust so far, I’m looking at buying a complete car wiring harness and a fuel injected motor from Eckler’s. The t-top cage looks solid and feels solid. I don’t see any rust by the VIN or anything. At some point an owner put some tar like substance in the t-top frame area. If there’s any other pictures you guys want please let me know. I still can’t add pictures to this forum but when I can I will. Thanks again for the replies.

 

How are your fabrication skills?

I mean, overall... maybe the birdcage isn't the first thing to worry about. It might not even be Defcon-3 levels. You could certainly finish the motor work, stick a new nose on it, clean up the interior as is, and drive it around for a while. Heck it might turn out to be easier than I initially pointed out, and maybe the rest of the mechanicals have been dealt with at some prior point?? Depends what you're looking for. Honestly, there's something liberating about driving around a Corvette, or any classic car that isn't super-cherry!! You don't have to worry about every scratch/ding or rock chip...and enjoy it even more ...just for the experience. And I've got a Land Rover like that.

Sort out the mechanicals ....Then come back, address the birdcage down the road...or in a few years. There have been some pretty rotted birdcage cars which owners had been enjoying for some time ...and probably didn't even know how bad the rot was. Just because it has some birdcage rot, doesn't mean it's not road-worthy or a car that can't be fully enjoyed. If you elect to go that way, I wouldn't even pull off any trim...just leave it and deal with it later. That's one approach.
Given that you have limited time, I would personally ditch the idea of parting it out. I've been there with kids and all. I advocate putting your time to fixing it..or another car you can add value to and have something 'real' and fun at the end of your labor. But that's just me...

I'm playing both sides of the field here. These projects are difficult to endorse online b/c unfortunately we all don't know other owner's skills, budget, time, expectations, etc. Best of luck though, regardless which way you go!!

One thing for sure, when you get done with it, you'll be a Corvette Expert for sure.

 

I really do appreciate the pros and cons. Maybe I’m being too optimistic due to seeing it and loving it already…. Haha. But for a little background this is the 3rd c3 I’ve owned, the first was a 79 when I was 17 and done some fiberglass work and redoing the interior and then selling it to another corvette enthusiast when I joined the military, second was a completely restored 77 corvette that I traded a Jeep and some cash for that I unfortunately had to get rid of when the family started, and this is the 3rd that I got for a fraction of the cost that I had in the others but it’s my dream year. Unfortunately it’s in the rust belt but it’s something I really want to rebuild, enjoy and either pass on or run the wheels off of by the end of its life or mine. I’m 29 and have almost every piece of equipment I could need. And a decent monthly budget to buy what it needs/what you guys recommend. Thanks again.