Ron R

I have the option of buying a 63 rolling chassis and working driveline real cheap and I've been working on tracking down what I would need to basically build up from there. Do any companies make a birdcage or is the only option a donor car?

Bluestripe67

I saw a display and demonstration at Carlisle this years from a manufacturer of components for some serious repairs of rusted birdcages, but I don't remember the name. Maybe some on here saw the same and will recall the name. Hope this helps Dennis

Ron R

I wonder if they have some extra's ... If I buy this it doesn't come with a birdcage to repair, I'll have to find one somewhere.

53 Blue Flame Brett

I have a friend who has a decent birdcage. I'll send you a PM.

Brett

67's

Dennis,
It was either Caledonia, or Cannons at Carlilse, cant remember which one, but they are till 2 parts away from a complete cage I think.

Tom M

JohnZ

It's Caledonia Classics, in Belding, Michigan.

eddievette

I'm in need of a birdcage too. I have rot in both kickups and windshield.

Eddie

Ron R

Thanks everyone for your info & PM's, unfortunately I found out today that what I was looking at got sold out from under me...

It's got me wondering now though, for those of you who might have done this before, what was the total cost of the project when you were done? Basically what I would have been starting with was a fully functional drivetrain and frame (carb to pan motor, radiator, tranny, wheels, exhaust, gas tank, etc.) - and that's it. Basically ready to drop a body and interior on and turn the key.

Is $15,000 a reasonable estimate for everything else I would need? That's birdcage, body, doors, glass, chrome, interior, lights, and so on. Or would I be a few G's short?

Pilot Dan

I spoke to the owner of Caledonia at Carlisle in Aug., and they are working on a complete birdcage assembly. Most of the pieces are available individually now except for the last few I believe. The project could be done with a ton of bodywork, but you would be so far upside down on it when you were finished, it would not pay unless you had a very very rare car. Pilot Dan

waynec

IMHO, you'd have to buy a fairly complete project car and sell its chassis piecemeal to get it down to that price (buying body and interior and chrome and electric pieces will be more expensive and require a lot of hunting and Fedex), and you'd still end up having to refurbish & paint & upholster & rewire & rechrome, so it'd probably run considerably more ($10k+ more, unless you can paint it yourself).

If you don't already own a project car you want to restore, you are generally better off financially to buy a restored car than to buy and restore a project car. People do it for the experience and joy of preserving an old Corvette, or modify one to suit their dreams, not to save money.

How much was the rolling chassis? Was it recently restored, or just still decent enough to be drivable? Did it have a title, or would you have had to get that from the seller of the body?

Ron R

I can paint it myself and do most of the work, it's not about saving money, more about just doing it. I've always bought original cars in "needs nothing" condition, but I've always wanted to build one from scratch. Just never really had a good clean starting platform, this was about as close as I could get to that without doing something crazy like an SR-III setup.

KC John

There are a couple on eBay right now. I searched under 63 Corvette and just happened to see it.

JohnZ

$15K wouldn't even get you started. It'll cost about four times what you estimate, it'll take three times longer than you think it will, and when you're done it'll be worth about half what you have in it. Be happy someone else bought it.

Save some more money and buy a complete, running car.

Ron R

Again, I already have complete running cars, this will be my fourth vette (still own 2 of the first 3). Money isn't the issue, and neither is resale value - I've just never built one before and have always wanted to.

Why, doing everything myself, would it cost more than $15k? This is what I'm trying to figure out. I can buy a complete body (front and rear pieces) for $2k, complete interior for $3k-$4k. That's only $6,000 ... you're saying it will cost more than $9,000 to get a birdcage, doors, glass, chrome, and little misc. pieces like door handles and lights and stuff? That seems kind of high. If it's more then so be it, it's more, I'm just not sure why it would be more.

KC John

SMOKINGJOE

I wish that I was able to get away with $15,000 on my coupe. Way more for all the right parts,body and paint Like John Z said $15K wouldn't even get you started. It'll cost about four times what you estimate, it'll take three times longer than you think it will.
Good Luck

67's

Yes, If you have been to any of the big corvette shows, a plain birdcage with tags are over $10K by themselves, you would be better off starting with a driver car, but if money is no object......well a fool and his money....

Tom M

Ron R

That much just for a birdcage? Jeeze, I figured maybe $4k on the high end... I've just always wanted to do a full resto and basically build from scratch, but I guess I'm better off starting with something that already has a good cage instead.

John McGraw

Just wait until you see what prices are for most of the 63 stuff! If you want a real shock, just look at what a set of rear window trim for a 63 coupe will cost, It will take your breath away! 63 used lots of parts that were only used on 63 cars, so that makes them very expensive, and hard to find!


Regards, John McGraw

Klamath Stoogie

Hah, You gotta love the Google ad for walk in bird aviaries on this page.