Bluewasp

Hi,

I'm trying to restore my 1980 corvette. I have lots of rust on the drivers side of the car. Frame, and bird cage. I haven't removed the body but when I removed the interior I can see lots of rust around the drivers door and floor. The body mount in that area is a pile of rust. The metal in that area is very weak. I also need a new floor pan.

For those that have replaced/repaired the bird cage how hard was it to remove all the fiber glass and reinstall?

For those that bought another body. What did you do when it came time to transfer the VIN plate from one body to another?

I think a new/used body would be the best way to go and cheaper in the long run. thoughts, suggestions, PLEASE!!!!


thanks
robert

EDIT:



parts 6, 5, 13, 4 are rusted. Much more on the drivers side

Twin_Turbo

It's a lot of work to remove the front clip, the firewall, the pillar covers and all the other stuff to get at the bare metal. Then replacing the metal is even more work, you have to be very carefull to cut out exactly the same lengths as your replacement panels so that all the dimensions stay intact. I replaced the whole 5, 13 and front of 4 section on my cage because it was all crumpled up from an acident and it was a lot of work. While I was at it I cleaned all the rust off the cage and luckily didn't have to do any patch work anywhere else. Mine was pretty solid apart from the damage.

For the cost of a replacement body it might be a better option, it sure is a lot less work.

markdtn

Did you get my note on replacement body Monday? If not, send me another Email with a good address and I'll send it again.

Bluewasp

email sent.

markdtn

Keeps coming back. Here it is anyway:
********
If I read your original post correctly, your car has a rusty birdcage but is all there. You found a decent 82 body shell that you were intending to put on your 80 frame and use the 80 rolling chassis. You were going to use your 80 interior too? You were concerned that having an 82 VIN would cause problems with emissions inspection. You asked about the pros and cons of changing the VIN. I want to be sure we are on the same page as far as how deep you want to get into this project. Any C3 that is on a rolling frame/chassis and has a good front clip attached is on a very different level pricewise than a nice, stripped out, cowl-back body or shell.

As far as the 80 shell goes, you will have to talk to John about prices, I didn't ask. He is a good friend of mine, and I don't get in the middle of money dealings. You can reach him at 770-461-5211 9-6 EST Mon-Sat. They repair and part out Corvettes as a business. Vettes is all they do. I called him to see if he had anything for you. I asked about a shell with good metal. He said they had an 80 that they bought to fix, so it must have been pretty nice when he got it. Clean (non-salvage) Georgia title. They ended up selling the interior out of it and then some other parts. Think it was originally hit in the front-I don't remember, but it has some minor damage on the rear quarter he said. He said all the metal was good in the birdcage and would make a nice shell for someone who had a car with rusty birdcage-which is where you are I believe. If you wanted more parts, I'm sure he has them too. But again, all I asked him about was a shell. They don't do much with internet or photos, but the description he gives you will be honest. He knows what it takes to build a "no apology" car, and he will shoot straight with you. If you want a clean-title 80 shell/cowl-back body only to put your interior in and front clip on, then this will be a good one. If you want a roller with installed front end, this is not what you are looking for-but he may have something there too if you talk to him.

Hope that helps clear things up,
Mark

NHvette

All said and done, I think the extensive BC repairs will end up
fairly expensive, tons of work, and not a forgiving task.
I'm "pretty good" with metalworking, and I "gave up" on this ...
ended up getting good deal on a rolling chassis and cowl-back
body shell for $1200. I needed the frame, too.

I don't know your abilities. If you think splitting off the nose
and re-attaching it to a new rear shell is within your abilities,
then that's the way I'd go. The rear shell should be under $1000,
price depends on included parts - like glass.

If installing a fiberglass front end is not yoru cup of tea,
then look for a complete body shell. I've seen some on Ebay
that need minor body work in the $1000-$1500 range.

As for VIN, your best bet is to buy a clean titled body and use that VIN.
I did, so now my 75/70 hybrid is a 70 by virtue of the frame and body VIN.
Some will argue the frame VIN is the REAL VIN, but no-one
checks it unless the car is stolen and parted.

You could even make a 74 body work, with a little bit of work
in the gas tank area ... emmisions free - (depending on your state laws).
Definitely catalytic free.
Well, I guess you'd need to put some new bumper stuff up front, too.

PS - If you do rebuild the birdcage, I've got some old rocker channels ...

Bluewasp

If I read your original post correctly, your car has a rusty birdcage but is all there.
-correct...

You found a decent 82 body shell that you were intending to put on your 80 frame and use the 80 rolling chassis.
--correct

You were going to use your 80 interior too? \
--YES

You were concerned that having an 82 VIN would cause problems with emissions inspection.
--Yes, I would need to convert my 1980 car to a crossfire setup to pass VA emissions IF I USE a 82 body on my 1980.... That is why I wanted to switch the vins on the rear clip/body... The rest of the car is 1980... doors, trans, engine, trim, glass, windows, lights, wires, etc...

You asked about the pros and cons of changing the VIN. I want to be sure we are on the same page as far as how deep you want to get into this project.
--YES

My grandfather pastaway this past saturday and I drove to ATL GA for the funeral. My father is down there now so I'm going to ask him to check out the Body for me. I'll let you know how it goes.

thanks
robert

NHvette

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Are you serious ... they check to see if it's still got crossfire ?
That's more nuts than CA ... almost hard to believe.

Bluewasp

thanks,

yes, They apparently have some kind of list with all the emissions equipment that came with the car for a given year. They do the visual inspection off that list. Doesn't matter if the car passed the sniff test. All emissions equipment must be on the car, O2 sensor, smog pump, AIR pump, EGR, ETC.... I went to the inspection station yesturday and asked.

If I had a 82 I could swap out the crossfire with a TPI setup but I couldn't go carb...

Bluewasp

I just talked to my father.. He said he would drive over to check out the body. He suggested I just part out the 80 and start over with something different.