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Hello,
my Name is Markus, I am a relatively new Forum Member from Germany.
I am thinking for a few years now about making my childhood dream come true and buying a C3 Corvette! However I have absolutely no expertise whatsoever, just my common horse sense and what I read in this and other Forums.
I recently found a promising 72 LS5 Convertible and fle over to have a look at it. The car seemed to be in very good shape, not a NCRS show car but its certainly drawing looks! Testdrive was excellent, seller seemed trustworthy. He let me take off the kicker doors and some screws at the top of the windshield, looked ok. But I found a hole at the drivers side that looked very strange. I have some stills out of a video I took, can anybody tell me what I am seeing there? Is it overpainted heavy rust? Because thats what it looks like to me...
Please help me, I think I am falling in love with that car and don‘t want to make a big error here!
Thank you so much!
Greetings from Germany,
Markus
thats the location of the hole behind the kicker panel looks rusty, but felt solid when scratched with a screwdriver
Last edited by Magguspop; Nov 29, 2018 at 05:31 PM.
Reason: Insertion of pics
The area behind the kick panel , well that speaker is in the way so no idea on how much rust is down there.
But really the first 2 pics would be enough for me too walk away from it. Unless you want to do a restoration on it, which would involve removing the front clip all together.
Thanks for the quick post! About how much would it cost to get rid of that rust?
Seems some things are just to good to be true, the car looked to be in great shape otherwise, at least to my idiot eyes:
About how much would it cost to get rid of that rust?
Depends on who is doing the work. If could get very expensive. Would include removing the bird cage and fixing. Anything is fixable... However, the removal is basically a full body off restoration, so you will be deep in the 5 digits to have someone to this for you. If you are after a project car for yourself and know your way around a paint gun, welder etc it can be somewhat affordable. But this is probably a big multi year project.
There are better ones out there. Unless you are wanting a large project, I would probably advise to move on to something else.
Phew, looks like I dodged that bullett! Thanks for your help!
Don't know if I should feel relieved or sad now, I've already seen me driving around in that Beauty!
Looks like someone has done a "lipstick rebuild" on that IMHO. Looks great from across the parking lot, but you will do yourself a big favor by looking somewhere else.
To get at that rust area (s) ? Is it the same on both sides?
I am in the middle of doing rust repairs on a 69 . So I have been where you would need to go with that car
I did it myself because 1 I couldn't find anyone I would trust to do it.2 I have lots of hours in the job and at a workshop rate it would easily be in the 10,000,s
Most all of these C3's have rust somewhere, just a question of how much and how bad and where it is. Sometimes the rust can be under the windshield and unless the seller has changed out the windshield recently, it can be hard to tell how bad it might be. If you can find places with rust holes by pulling off the easy access trim items, then I agree, I would pass and keep looking. If you have to do major rust repair, it is pretty easy to be bad upside down on your new purchase.
I suggest you get someone knowledgeable to go with you and check it out. Also ask where the car came from and where it was used. In the US, Northeast with salt on the roads is tough. Southwest dry climates are usually a better bet.
Yep, all of these C3's are an emotional purchase as there is no logical reason to buy one, which is precisely why you should get one, ha! So, not that I ever took this advice, but it is good to go look at a half dozen or so to learn something every time and take some of the emotion out of the equation. And half the fun is the hunt anyway I say! Good luck!
Last edited by 20mercury; Nov 29, 2018 at 11:43 PM.
Concerning the other side: I did not find the corresponding area. If I remember correctly I think there was no hole there? I didn‘t give that to much thought at that moment, because the seller said about the rusty hole thats probably just some excess fiberglass leftovers from a previous repair, and I wanted to believe him.
yep. It definitely was love at first sight!
so it is indeed the birdcage rusting away, not some easy accessible part I could change. Too bad😞
Markus, Wie geht es Ihnen? If you're flying over here and looking at cars on the east coast, there is a very good chance you'll find rusty cars. Definitely stay away from the one pictured. Next time try flying over to the west coast and check out the rust free southwest cars in California and Arizona. I've owned more than 50 Corvettes over the years and the only one that ever had a rust issue was one that was brought here to California from New York. I'm sure CF members here would be glad to help you out if you're planning another trip over. Viel gluck, Greg
Mir geht es gut Greg, Danke!
The car is in Vancouver right now, the seller said the dealership he bought it at some years ago imported it from Tempe, Arizona. I did not have a look at the paperwork yet, no idea where it has been before. 45 years is a lot of time, the car could have been anywhere.
Is it possible to do a vin check on such old cars? I tried it once and it said Vin not found/correct
Magguspop believe me the dealers will do anything to cover the bad spots on the car.
I bought my vette the same way. It looked awesome but the whole of the underside of the car was just painted over to look good.
The fuel lines were just painted with the silver paint and so on.
Fortunately my frame and birdcage look good but bodymounts need to be changed. But that is normal in 47 year old car.
These are just some issues to be aware of when looking at a vette.
Once you have it here in Europe the whole experience becomes more expensive because you have to buy the specific stuff in US and import it in Europe.
If you don't have an option to look the car yourself get some third party to take a look at the car. Maybe someone on this forum lives near the car and can take a look for you.
I think Primo is correct Markus.
The car in question could have come from AZ. But that was probably decades ago, so all those years in Vancouver's wet climate have taken their toll. If the cage is that bad, there is probably another mess where the trailing arms fit into the frame. That car is dead.
Why don't you post what criteria you're looking for: years, coupe/convertible, drive train, colors, etc. and see if there isn't a member in CA. or AZ. Or any other dry clime, that has what you're looking for.
Greg
P.S. You are right, a VIN check on cars this old generally do not turn up very much information.
These cars did not have anti corrosion prep when they were new and THEY ALL HAVE RUST to some extent. Surface rust is not an issue. Rust is a problem if has eaten heavily into the metal and weakened the structural integrity. As long as the car is not exposed to moisture on a regular basis and the metal is not rusted through I would strongly suggest POR-15, Eastwood rust encapsulator, or Eastwood Chassis rust spray which can be applied right over the rust with minimal prep and will STOP IT COLD!
I have yet to see a 40/50 year old non protective metal not have some rust..............
Last edited by jb78L-82; Nov 30, 2018 at 03:35 PM.
I had a brief interest in that car, but not enough to spend the three hours riding the ferry to check it out. The current seller bought it from Sherwood Park Dodge in Alberta last April. The story is (there’s no documentation) that it was brought up from Arizona in 2006, and was in Alberta for the past dozen years. The engine is claimed to be a recent rebuild with a performance cam upgrade to 330 hp but there is no documentation. He also claimed the car was rust-free, and you could see the frame was “clean and nicely detailed, and has been sanded and painted in some areas” At his price the lack of documentation, the frame touch ups, and the quick flip nature of the deal made me lose interest.
If you’re interested at all in a ‘69 427/400 4 speed coupe, this is the nicest big block C3 for sale in this neck of the woods if you want to see a nice C3 while you’re here:
One of the previous posters said to avoid the northern part of the United States but if you're worried about birdcage rust you also might want to avoid any coastal areas of the US particularly Florida because cars tend to rust from the top down vs from the bottom up due to road salt.
just noticed the left trailing arm area has its re-enforcement cut away , they are usually full of mud and stones anyway. Also has a new seat belt mount that's just pop rivetted on ,so yes looks like the easy to get at rust was taken care of ….kinda !
Now I am really glad I posted here...
the 69 looks really clean as far as I can tell, but I don‘t like those blue interiors.
I am looking for a chrome bumper vette convertible, not a NCRS flight but original motor and color and as little modifications as possible, properly restored so its a reliable daily driver. I love the big block hoods, but do not necessarily need a big block, maybe a LT1 would be best.
colorwise I really like black as exterior, with Black or red interior. Blue/Black is also one of my favourites, or red/black. I dont like green/silver/brown exteriors, and as mentioned above I am not a fan of blue or brown (maybe) interiors.
I think I prefer a shifter over a automatic, clima would be nice, and the frosting on the cake would be those lovely front fender louver trims!
Long story short, I want what I most probably can‘t afford!
Is this a rusty Birdcage or harmless?
