When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I pulled my kick panels last weekend and my ‘69 looks just like yours, with less rust, but the same configuration. The bolt and washer clamp against the birdcage which sits on top of a large aluminum bushing that sits on top of the frame.
Yes there is no rubber bushes on 68 to 72 Corvettes. You both have original set up body mounts. But there will be shims on top of the aluminium bushes under the sill panels.
Of course badly rusted cars can just have a big blob of rust that were shims originally..
Dorian, to be clear your rust is not horrible in fact it is not bad at all and does not look to have impacted structural integrity at all. Removing the bolt may prove to be a bit of a challenge if you were so inclined, but I don’t want our comments to cause you to think your birdcage is about to fail!
Dorian, to be clear your rust is not horrible in fact it is not bad at all and does not look to have impacted structural integrity at all. Removing the bolt may prove to be a bit of a challenge if you were so inclined, but I don’t want our comments to cause you to think your birdcage is about to fail!
Many thanks, @Factoid that's reassuring . I indeed don't like too much the rust I qm seeing but it doesn't seem terrible. I suppose one of these days I'll pull the body off of the frame and closely inspect and repair what I can. That's going to take a lot of rigging in my little garage.
Many thanks, @Factoid that's reassuring . I indeed don't like too much the rust I qm seeing but it doesn't seem terrible. I suppose one of these days I'll pull the body off of the frame and closely inspect and repair what I can. That's going to take a lot of rigging in my little garage.
Many thanks, @Factoid that's reassuring . I indeed don't like too much the rust I qm seeing but it doesn't seem terrible. I suppose one of these days I'll pull the body off of the frame and closely inspect and repair what I can. That's going to take a lot of rigging in my little garage.
Until then you can chip aloose all the chunks of rust/vacuum the area/saturate the area with a rust inhibitor/paint.
To answer your second question, '69s were built with the aluminum "puck" bushing spacers.
What you'll likely find (like I did) is that all of those puck have succumbed to the dreaded dissimilar metal corrosion disease.
Mine were mostly coming off in chunks or dust as I removed each mount.
Sandwiching aluminum bushings in between steel washers, frames and bird cages made for Bad, Bad JuJu (otherwise known as galvanic action). Add in moisture, salt, vibration, and time............and you've got a lot of P'd-off C3 restorers trying to free seized bolts from cage nuts nation wide!!
I recently replaced all of mine with a poly bushing kit.
One side lifted partially at a a time.
Lot's of threads on here on How-To.
Good Luck, and Stay Patient, My Friend!
To answer your second question, '69s were built with the aluminum "puck" bushing spacers.
What you'll likely find (like I did) is that all of those puck have succumbed to the dreaded dissimilar metal corrosion disease.
Mine were mostly coming off in chunks or dust as I removed each mount.
Sandwiching aluminum bushings in between steel washers, frames and bird cages made for Bad, Bad JuJu (otherwise known as galvanic action). Add in moisture, salt, vibration, and time............and you've got a lot of P'd-off C3 restorers trying to free seized bolts from cage nuts nation wide!!
I recently replaced all of mine with a poly bushing kit.
One side lifted partially at a a time.
Lot's of threads on here on How-To.
Good Luck, and Stay Patient, My Friend!
One side at a time is encouraging. On other hand I suspect the frame might need a little attention with a welder.
You actually have enough room to work on the car if you enter the garage closer to the right side of the door frame.
And you would have even more room to spare if you installed shelving on the right-side wall....and /or wall anchors with hooks to hand all the "stuff" up high out of the way
I am thinking I might use a couple of the below along with those C3 corvette body straps - and attached to beams. Raising looks like a cinch. Carefully lowering... Hmm.
I am not going to have space for a dolly - can the body stay suspended for a couple of weeks while I make repairs on frame ?
Actually...you can cut some 4" by 4" by 4" tall pieces of lumber..slowly lift the body and place the pieces between the body and the frame.
Then cut some 4" by 4" by 8" tall pieces of lumber....lift the body higher and replace the 4" tall pieces with the 8" tall pieces....
Then you will have plenty of room to make repairs/weld braces in place/etc
These are "rough-cut" 5" tall pieces....I was able to make repairs, but 8" tall pieces would have made repairs much easier.......
NOTE: THE NOSE SECTION AND THE REAR SECTION OF THE CAR WILL HAVE TO BE SUPPORTED ALSO TO PREVENT FIBERGLASS DAMAGE FROM THE WEIGHT OF THE SECTIONS DURING THE REPAIR PROCESS.
Those body lift kits are available from Corvette Central.
I think the item number is 182200.
Most guys I've seen also run a strap up to the radiator support to help support the front end.
The metal ends hook into the body channels so you won't mess up the body.
Last edited by OldCarBum; Apr 29, 2021 at 01:30 PM.
Actually...you can cut some 4" by 4" by 4" tall pieces of lumber..slowly lift the body and place the pieces between the body and the frame.
Then cut some 4" by 4" by 8" tall pieces of lumber....lift the body higher and replace the 4" tall pieces with the 8" tall pieces....
Then you will have plenty of room to make repairs/weld braces in place/etc
These are "rough-cut" 5" tall pieces....I was able to make repairs, but 8" tall pieces would have made repairs much easier.......
NOTE: THE NOSE SECTION AND THE REAR SECTION OF THE CAR WILL HAVE TO BE SUPPORTED ALSO TO PREVENT FIBERGLASS DAMAGE FROM THE WEIGHT OF THE SECTIONS DURING THE REPAIR PROCESS.
How about that Aluminum spacer?! I found one that wasn't rotted. Because it's a Resto-Mod I rem oved the original floating cage nuts and welded Wwld-Nuts in their place...then welded the original brackets w/ Weld-Nuts to the frame,,,,,,,,and coated the repair with bearing grease......
Amd another thing...I added 1/4" thick cloth-reinforced rubber pads on top of the new body-to-frame spacers....and 1/4" thick reinforced rubber on the top side of the frame under the thick flat washer to each body mount location.
Something with a two piece design is really the best way to go/ they have a steel inner core with rubber bonded to the steel. and consist of two mating pieces.......the body is completely isolated from frame vibrations.....
Harley Davidson uses a similar design.
Last edited by doorgunner; Apr 30, 2021 at 02:45 AM.
Body mount bushing - no rubber on top
. I indeed don't like too much the rust I qm seeing but it doesn't seem terrible. I suppose one of these days I'll pull the body off of the frame and closely inspect and repair what I can. That's going to take a lot of rigging in my little garage. 
