C3 Frame rust? Repairs?

[William B.]

On a 69 vette with frame rust below rear of door. I have a welder sure he can fix it easily after the body is lifted. The different sections avaliable are they good? Any recomended products or are they all the same? Once the body is up are there other common rust areas or should frame replacement be considered? Where is the serial number on the frame? Thanks for any help. BILL

[Joe L.]

Re: C3 Frame rust? Repairs?

Bill-----

Frame repair sections are manufactured by Corvette Products of Michigan or Caledonia Classic Cars. The sections that I have seen look good. Or, at least, as good as a repair section can look.

If you have a frame that is suffering from corrosion damage in just one or two specific areas, then the frame repair sections, in conjunction with a competent welder/frame repair specialist may be the best way to repair the damage. If, after removing the body from the frame and CAREFULLY and THOROUGHLY inspecting the frame, you find more extensive corrosion, I would recommend replacing the frame.

The frame VIN derivative stamping is found on the rear upper surface of the left side frame rail a bit forward of the centerline of the rear tires.

[Jack H.]

Re: C3 Frame rust? Repairs?

Don't want to scare you, but there's a chance you may have more than the 'simple' frame rust/rot damage than you suspect.... I've seen more than one Shark with undersill frame rot that was the result of faulty windshield glass to bird cage seal.

In these cases, water had entered the upper windshield frame area, trickled down the bird cage, pooled on the bird cage's sill plates, and rusted through the bird cage THEN into/through the frame rails from the TOP!

One car that came in for a frame 'transplant' (you can still buy used frames with solid metal from older Corvette wrecks) had its bird cage turn to DUST, folding tip to tail, during body lift.... Needless to say, what started out to be a straight-forward frame swap for the owner quickly turned into a bona fide body integrity NIGHTMARE!!!!!!

So, before you set sights on executing a frame section repair, you might want to pull the windshield reveal molding and eyeball the windshield frame's integrity as well as move the body GENTLY/SLIGHTLY off the frame in order to get an inspection mirror and light on the underside of the bird cage's side rails. If you happen to be one of the unlucky few who's got MAJOR body and frame rot, you might re-think the economics of attempting to save/repair this Corvette....