Rusty VIN Tag & Old Weather stripping
04-17-2022, 08:28 AM
#1
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Rusty VIN Tag & Old Weather stripping
For any of you wondering why your VIN tag is rusted, here’s your answer. For any of you wondering if you really should replace your weather stripping yet, here’s your answer. This is from a ’87 coupe where the weather stripping was in really bad shape, the VIN tag was rusted to nothing but everything else looked just fine.
I had to replace the windshield. When I pulled everything off, this is what I found. I have it treated with some rust stop now and plan on some extensive fiberglass work to rebuild everything. I thought about replacing the entire frame but parts aren't really available. I saw a number stamped on the top piece, ( 33586064 ). I thought that would be the part number but nothing comes up.
04-17-2022, 12:23 PM
#2
Drifting
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That is some serious cancer there. Do you have welding skills? I would try to cut rectangle pieces out and tig or even mig in sections. Even bend sheet metal to match the sides and weld it in as bent metal has more strength.
04-17-2022, 01:44 PM
#3
Melting Slicks
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2022 C4 of the Year Finalist - Modified
Ouch. Mine was pretty bad as well, but not that bad. But my vin plate collected water like a fish tank due to a hurricane. After windshield and vin tag was removed, I acid dipped the tag, then lightly glass beaded. Light mist of semi flat black made it look brand new (factory new). Re riveted back on.
The a pillar we cleaned up best we could before we used POR 15. The frame was solid. thought I'd have to do some welding but looked worse than it really was.. after the por 15, the frame looked great. No issues putting a new windshield in after that.
The a pillar we cleaned up best we could before we used POR 15. The frame was solid. thought I'd have to do some welding but looked worse than it really was.. after the por 15, the frame looked great. No issues putting a new windshield in after that.
04-17-2022, 08:14 PM
#5
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No welding skills, sadly. However, the structure seems to be quite stable, no give to it at all. Add some fiberglass and it should hold for a few years. I'm almost 80 years old now so I'll make sure my son sees this and is aware of the problem. He can deal with it later if he wants to. It's easy to get too, just pull the weatherstrip molding and there it is.
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Raidmagic (04-17-2022)
04-18-2022, 01:26 AM
#6
Drifting
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"Rust" in a Corvette is usually associated with the frames in C2 and C3. Yes, there are portions of a C4 that are prone to rust too.
There are some really good epoxy products that bond to steel, can be sanded and shaped prior to full cure, then cure harder than nails. These might be a better long-term cure than polyester-based 'fiberglass' repairs.
There are some really good epoxy products that bond to steel, can be sanded and shaped prior to full cure, then cure harder than nails. These might be a better long-term cure than polyester-based 'fiberglass' repairs.
04-18-2022, 09:01 AM
#7
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"Rust" in a Corvette is usually associated with the frames in C2 and C3. Yes, there are portions of a C4 that are prone to rust too.
There are some really good epoxy products that bond to steel, can be sanded and shaped prior to full cure, then cure harder than nails. These might be a better long-term cure than polyester-based 'fiberglass' repairs.
I'm curious. What state(s) has this car lived in? SE or NW where it rains a lot? I see you're in Florida. I know it rains a lot there, humid, too.
There are some really good epoxy products that bond to steel, can be sanded and shaped prior to full cure, then cure harder than nails. These might be a better long-term cure than polyester-based 'fiberglass' repairs.
I'm curious. What state(s) has this car lived in? SE or NW where it rains a lot? I see you're in Florida. I know it rains a lot there, humid, too.
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Raidmagic (04-18-2022)
04-19-2022, 05:33 PM
#9
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JB Weld is the easiest to obtain, Yes, it can be filed and sanded prior to fully curing. Full cure is about 24-48 hours depending on humidity and temperature. Spread it on, come back in 2-3 hours and it should be workable.
The other consideration is that the best primers for this job will be epoxy based. Epoxy does not bond to Polyester. So all materials used in the repair should be epoxy-based.
The other consideration is that the best primers for this job will be epoxy based. Epoxy does not bond to Polyester. So all materials used in the repair should be epoxy-based.
04-19-2022, 06:21 PM
#10
Have you removed the VIN Plate yet? How about a snapshot of it. Being in Florida you might reach out to the DMV and ask about a new 'fabrication' to replace it. There very well could be a few options.
04-19-2022, 10:39 PM
#12
If there actually is nothing or very little left you might want to reach out to your DMV and ask about a repair that required repair of the windshield frame/cowl/upper dash. A sale of the car later after the repair but missing the VIN plate could be difficult. This would be the ideal time to ask. If it spent as much time on the beach as you suspect, the VIN derivative that's used to ID also might be very hard to decipher. This would be the time to do it and confirm.