When do you call it quits?

[Michael W.]

Re: When do you call it quits?

When buying a shark corvette with an IBM card

You're showing your age Lyle!

[Eric J.]

Re: When do you call it quits?

Yes I thought the same thing I was wondering what IBM was.....

[Paul J.]

Re: When do you call it quits?

Frank,

I had the same problem with my '68 and was uneasy about what to do. The problem did not surface until my friend (Greg Gorniak) and I (he was the brains to the operation) were sprucing up the rear suspension and trailing arms. A ton of rust falling from the frame as we were removing the trailing arms was an omen. After we removed one of the trailing arms we looked into the frame pocket were it was attached and we saw a huge rust whole. I felt taking off the body was an automatic $10K in expense for sure. I went through a check list of alternatives. I had portable welding services come out an give their opinions. I even visited a frame shop to see what they could repair with the body still on the car. Everyone said that most likely there would be other repair areas that we could not see with the body on and removing the body from the frame was the best thing to do.

I would have never attempted this type of project without my friend Greg's help. If you are a member of a local Chapter you will have a network of members to rely on who can give you advice or assist you in the repair. We did the work in Greg's garage.

After we took the body off, there was no doubt I had made the right decision. The rear dog leg was patched with body puddy to conceal the damage by a previous owner. The car had been so dangerous to drive and I had no idea of the damage.

The frame was so bad that it had to be replaced. While the body was off I had the engine and transmission rebuilt and other little problems corrected. I could have never have done it with out the help of Greg and the friends from the Chapter.

The car has been completed for 2 years now and Top Flighted in 2007. Yes, I did spend more than 10K on the restoration but I feel that it was worth it because I love the car and the hobby.

I have attached pictures below. Let me know if I can help you.

Terry

Terry:

That's a great story, just the type of comment Frank needs in order to make the right decision. Good pictures, too.

Paul

[Tom M.]

Re: When do you call it quits?

If you can get the body off in your garage or shop, you can call a welder to do the welding for you on site,that the cheapest way.

Tom

try this http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...427-400-a.html

[Tom M.]

Re: When do you call it quits?

Frank this is for you , Tom: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-general/2223699-restoration-pics-1969-427-400-a.html

[Richard T.]

Re: When do you call it quits?

Frank if your frame looked like Terry's what choice do you have but to lift the body off and fully restore or replace the frame. I check this board all the time for ideas but I was shocked to see the pictures of Terry's 68 frame. The C3 frame has allot of spots for dirt or salt from roads to get into and cause rust out. If your frame is that bad you should have seen the rust out with the hood up unless someone undercoated the frame to hide the rust damage. Maybe your car was in a accident at one time and a quick cover up repair was done on it. The tried and true hammer test will soon tell how bad your car's frame is.