I have been putting this porject off for 3 years now and I am ready to finish this car. I have a 72' vert. that has a rusty windshield cage. The rust is all the way to the bottom below where the doors mount. It is very bad around the door mounts--it has thinned the metal greatly. I need to either patch this or replace the hole cage. Has anyone ever done this type repair before? What am I in store for? What would be a general estimate to have a body shop take care of this? The body is off the frame and on a rolling stand. I would appreciate any advice.

 

I just replaced the windshield frame on my 72 Convertible, but thankfully the rust did not extend past the lower corner of the windshield frame and the rest of the birdcage is in great shape.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1304846


If you've got damage all the way down to the pillars (where the doors hinges bolt to) it is alot more involved and much more expensive. Some patch panels are available, but if it's as bad as you say it is, it might be easier just to find a donor birdcage. There's usually a few on eBay at any given time. Actually, I saw some NOS pillar/windshield frames on eBay last week. If they are still available, that would be the best way to go as you'd be starting with brand new metal.

BAsed on your description, the cowl and firewall will probably need to be removed, as well as all the fiberglass that cover the pillar and rocker panels. I didn't get estimates for replacing the windshield frame because I knew I could do it myself, but based upon the cost of parts and the amount of time involved, it wouldn't surprise me if a body shop would charge $1500 to do it. I wouldn't be surprised if a body shop would charge 2x that to also replace the pillars. I'd look on ebay for a donor in good shape and splice it into your birdcage. You'll probably have to remove all the fiberglass (cowl, firewall, rocker covers, etc) to find out how far down and back it goes.

 

Thanks you for you help. That gives me a little better idea of what I have to deal with. I will probably go the route of finding a donor cage and tearing the car down and letting the body shop finish it. Will the coupe and vert cage be the same? I realize the coup has the "T" at the top but hoping the lower part would work.

 

The 'Vert birdcage has some additional reinforcement brackets, mainly in the cowl area, but you can turn a Coupe birdcage into a 'Vert by removing the "T" and adding the additional brackets, if you desire. If you have the AIM, you can easily see the minor differences.

 

I am about to have the same problem.... I have a 69 convertible and where the birdcage meets the rocker channel its pretty rotten. The metal housing where the driver's speaker sits and the the body mount bolt resides is toast...

 

Thanks for all the help. I am going to did into this the beginning of next month. Vetteman_lt1 keep me posted on how it is going.

 

I did a windshield frame replacement on my '72 vert over the winter. I found a rust free T-top wreck inSt. Louis and went out and chopped it out just below the upper hinge brackets. I came home and while it was being sand blasted and painted I removed the windshield and dash from my car, broke the front frame away from the cowl and chopped out the rusted frame. I match cut the new frame with the remainder of the hinge pillar and carefully welded it in. I sealed and riveted the front of the frame back to the cowl and you would be ard pressed to tell that it wasn't the original frame. If you have the time and tools, which it sounds like you do, the go for it. There seems to be a lot of wrecked C3's in the St Louis area for some reason. I am sure you can find a good frame somewhere, check e-bay i've seen some there from time to time.