i was cleaning off my frame to coat it in por 15 when i noticed rust flakes crumbling from the bottom of the birdcage near mounts 2 and 3.
im pretty p'd off as this is my second corvette and i sold the first one for this reason.
well,im at the point of no return with this car and it must be fixed.
i took out the dash and rest of the interior and looked further into the rust and it is only in the area of body mounts 1,2,3.everywhere else is solid all the way around.
i was looking at the car with my brother last night (btw,we are both full time technicians) and he mentioned cutting out sections of fibreglass and sliding in new sheets of metal and welding brackets around body mounts 2,3.
ive gone so far into this project im thinking the only way to fix this properly is to take off the body(ive done this before on my last 73 so i know what lies ahead,but it was alot worse and i ended up selling the car for parts)and buy the pieces from zip and weld them in.
can anyone tell me if there is a way to do this job without removing the body(i scrapped my body dolly from the last car and dont want to make another)or if anyone here has done a repair like this and not removed the body.
im having a heart attack right now as ive put all my time and money into this car over the last 4 months and this just killed any ounce of enjoyment i was having watching it come together.
any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

This is one of those, been there, done that, projects for me.
Body-off

 

im guessing you got the parts from zip corvette?
im removing the body as we speak,does it matter that i took the doors off already??
from your pics i guess you just had to cut out the lower rail and the inserts pop in.
on the site it says not to weld the inserts untill you mount the body and new mounts and only to weld them once the body is positioned.
im hoping that i can do this while the body is hanging over the frame on the lift.i have the suspension off the car right now so this is going to pose as a problem getting the body away from the frame.

 

btw,do i buy rubber or poly bushings?

 

Sorry but I see a body off in the horizon. Did my 73 inserts and channels. Welded them in while it was up in the air. Then back on the frame. This is the worst job you would ever encounter on a vette.

 

I removed rubber bushings and know that I would never install rubber, ever! They were badly deteriorated, by oil, grease and age. Poly is the only way to go!

 

when i got home i took a closer look and realised what needs to be done.
me and my brother worked our butts off and now the body is almost ready to come off.
can anyone tell me the best place to get the parts if not zip.im planning on ordering tomorrow morning.
im in too far deep now.at least i can do a better job on the frame this way.

 

i feel your pain. i started off with a simple engine rebuild and i am now at the point of a complete rebuild of the entire car. the only things that are not going to be new or rebuilt on the whole car are the frame and the body. so far everything has gone very well for me. it is a lot of work but enjoy it. dont get frustrated. it is only time if you are doing all the work yourself. dont rush it, take your time, do it right, and you will have the car that you want in the end.

 

I have been very happy with ordering from Corvette Central www.corvettecentral.com so far..easy online etc though It looks like the vendors get most of the parts from the same suppliers.

with my body off I ended up replacing both rocker channels, seat belt reinforcements, header bar reinforcement etc
once you start it doesn't seem to end

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...channel+mayhem

 

you just madxe my day showing me that link.it answered any remaining questions i had.i actually feel alot better now that i see what the inserts look like and how everything will go together.
my car luckily is not as bad as your,but close enough.

 

can anyone tell me if it matters that i pulled the doors off?
i noticed in the provided info that neither pulled off the doors.

 

Doors removed on a coupe is not an issue. In fact, it is less weight on the body dolly.