I spent a lot of time working on muscle cars 15 years ago. I myself had a '67 Firebird 400 and a '69 Roadrunner. But I was introduced to the Vette through a friend who had '68 327/300 Roadster. Later we both found a '69 427/400 Roadster in rough condition. After so careful consideration (and my nudging him), my friend relented and purchased the 427 car.

The car was in 5 different shades of primer, the intrerior was thrashed and full of cans. But the car was a numbers matching 400hp air car. My friend and I spent time working on it, and getting it back to solid driving condition. This includes replacing a majority of the interior, and new paint. During that summer my friend took a job at the top Vette restoration shop in the Bay Area, so he was able to do alot of the body work and paint himself (with their help.)

The reason I bring this long story up is this: My friend may be looking to sell this car to me in the near future as he only puts about 100 miles on it a year and has a new child. And he would prefer to keep the car in the "family", rather then sell it to a stranger.

Prior to reading this website (I've been a member for over a year) I had never heard of the term "birdcage". I asked my friend about the condition of the birdcage on his car, and he also wasn't familiar with the term.

So, while I know his car is a solid driver, I want to make sure I check for any possible hidden issues on the car prior to my purchasing it. So, where and what should I look for? And technically what is the definition of the "birdcage'? The car is in another state now, but I will ask my friend to check the necessary areas and mail me digital pictures if necessary.

So, any advice on what to look for would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

The birdcage refers to the metal structural section that makes up the windshield frame, door support (front) and TBar back. The fiberglass body pieces are attached to the birdcage.
During resoration any serious issues with 'your car" would have come to light already. They are notorious for rusting out at the base of the windhield, and the areas behind the kick panels are good access points to see if rust existes there. If it does, you can be pretty sure that rust is around the windshield frame.

 

The Bird cage is the part that supports the body to the frame. It is the strength of the cockpit.

 

Well the car I am talking about was restored around 15 years ago. And while it is garaged and has never seen the rain since then I want to be 100% sure it is solid!

So where are the best places to look to try deduce the overall condition? I have seen in other posts that people mention around the base of the windshield is a common place for issues. Any other major area that I can check without disaasembly?

 

Well I personally don't think that you can be 100% sure it is solid without dismantling the car , but to get a good idea I would start by taking a flashlight and looking in through the windshield at the lower section of the side posts below were you find the serial number and examine both sides for signs of any rust problems. Another popular spot for rust is at the number two body mount, it's behind the inside kick panel which you remove easy enough and for which I would not buy a vette without doing, if you happen to find a lot of rust scale deposited there you most likely have a big problem you wont want to deal with. I have some good rusty birdcage pics you can check out if you wish at my personal site http://www.vettemod.org it should give you an idea were to focus some of your attention. Also a forum archive search on birdcage should produce some good horror shots .

Hope this helps some.
ikwhite

 

Thanks for the helpful responses!