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IF you are doing it to make money....you are really making a mistake.
Worth repeating, I have done frame off restorations on two C2 and one C3 and am living proof there is no money to be made doing a frame off restoration. The only way to break even (long shot at best) is if you do 100% of the labor yourself including PAINT. Out sourcing paint will put you upside down faster than Jesse Jackson can pick up a $20 bill off the sidewalk.
Paint is especially expensive in my area of California
But who says this bad boy needs paint?
We had a thread in the C2 section of pictures of peoples cars whose paint looked like hell
It was awesome
As many of you have, I have spent countless hours and dollars over the years getting perfect paint jobs
My 63 has one right now
But to be honest, it is so nice it is stressful to keep it that way.
Consider having a car without that worry.
This one, or one like it, is doomed to live outside
I have friends in the same boat.
In fact, one just bought a super cheap C5 and is going to turn it into a buggy
after dealing with a clients car that was pristine.
Last edited by gleninsandiego; Jul 6, 2021 at 04:37 PM.
Well my friends, the discovery phase is pretty much done
As suggested above, I stripped everything away from the windshield surround part of the birdcage
The above the fender A pillars are nasty, the corners are nasty
The back of the T bar is solid
The lower birdcage under the fender down is solid
The huge question is, can that area at the fender be repaired without pulling the fender or front clip?
And for how much?
Here are the pics
Sorry they are not in the correct order buy you get feel
Is a little bit more rusty than my 69's windshield frame, but it's definitely worth fixing. The rust appears to be confined to the uprights and header area, so a new windshield frame should do the trick. I went ahead and had my windshield area fixed since I figured any other
69 except for the show cars would be in similar condition, or maybe much worse. A Corvette guy I know around here told me probably every C3 that saw any use will have windshield area cancer. I figured that it might as well be done and than you will know it is good and sturdy. Besides, the old windshield had some bad scratches and a 69 roadster was well worth keeping.
funny, my 75 vert is in worse shape all around, but my windshield frame is way better than that. maybe they figured out a few details to improve the longevity of the windshield frame in the early 70's.
Sorry to see all of that, over my personal limit for cut and fit patches, I think. And, if you took a dremel tool and cut back to good metal to patch, these holes are likely going to double and triple in size so it gets worse, me thinks.
The huge question is, can that area at the fender be repaired without pulling the fender or front clip?
FWIW, on my 68 I am working on I had an area at the base of the RH a pillar that my welder could not access. I elected to cut the upper RH fender piece out instead of removing the front clip. I have removed a front clip off a 69 and as you likely know it is a lot of work plus it is a challenge to remove a front clip without some fiberglass damage somewhere. I fiberglassed the cut out piece back on and VPA'd back to original profile and to me that was a lot better than the clip removal route. I suppose it depends on how much weld repair access you need as to whether you can get away with the cutout route.
All the best with whatever you decide. And as above, if you have a good title and the rest of the frame is good, I would still fix it, but maybe not the best money route forward for a base auto as Greg says.
Last edited by 20mercury; Jul 12, 2021 at 12:31 PM.
I dunno, i love gold C3s but Id let it go just the way it is. Insure your 63 and just get some drive time in dont worry about a lousy rock chip.
Life is too short for long term projects, rack up some miles instead let someone else tackle that.
I'm thinking REPO parts, POR-15 and JB Weld. Replace the worst of the worst with new metal, POR-15 everything and use JD Weld as a filler. Sand smooth and call it a fun daily driver.
I have never used JB weld on a Corvette, might work great. I have used this POR15 product though with good results
says it is good to repair cinder blocks too.
Today was an interesting day as every option is on the table
1 I am running an ad on Craig's list with pictures of the gory rust details in full display.
I have a couple of lowball offers of $5000 and $6000 and an offer to trade for a worn, lifted 67 Ford pickup truck.
These are funny people and I told them so.
2. I explored swapping cars or bodies with a local C2 and C3 parts wholesaler. I don't care about originality
and this has some nice original parts that could make the car attractive financially to part out.
3. One of the wholesalers has 'a guy' who he says is an amazing welder. He took pictures and is going to show them
to him. Once done he is going to come back with options, either an offer to buy or an offer to repair.
Sitting here tonight, there is a lot to like about the car. The key will be the feasibility/cost of the windshield surround repair.
I have a couple of lowball offers of $5000 and $6000
No offence intended Glenn but I think those offers are pretty fair for the car being offered. That's about the max that I'd want to be in on this one, if not lower.
And by your own admission in post number 6 you said: "Then this fell into my lap super cheap." So if $10K is your hard line number to sell the car as your craigslist ad says now, I think the only way left to go is to do the repair.
I believe you're overthinking this one and talking yourself out of the battle before it's begun. All you seem to need is a kick in the *** to get you started. This is a simple labor job. Having been there before, here's what I would do again; Buy a decent used windshield frame. They're plentiful, affordable and readily available. The car needs complete paint anyway so section off both upper fender tips (only 6 or 8 inches) to access the lower area clearly just as 20merc said. Then grind/wire wheel all of it down to bare metal to find the true core strength. Section in (weld), piece by piece exactly and only the pieces needed. Fill rough spots with JB metal weld or similar. This will leave the best integrity of the original frame and once done, be as good as new. This is a little time consuming on the welding part but it's only labor, parts cost is very minimal. Glass the fender tips back on, ready for paint, Bingo!
You can have this job finished in one day and for a few hundred, not thousands of dollars.
Cheers, Greg
