1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

[Steve V.]

I have located a 1971 coupe w/365 hp 454, numbers matching engine, 4 speed, AC, PW, PS, Leather . The body is fair with a 1970's pearl white paint job and pink and purple stripes and fender flares on the rear. Not as bad as it sounds if you are my age and remember the 70's. The engine "ran when I put it up seven years ago". That's all I know about the engine.

Now here are the issues I am aware of: the crossmember in the front that appears to support the bumpers and radiator is rusted out and the bumpers are not secure and the fan shroud appears to have hit the fan with no serious visible damage to the fan. The birdcage on the drivers side where the a-pillar meets the body appears to be rusted out.

The frame at the rear appears to be sound with no visible rusted out places. The kick up looks good.

What is involved in repairing the front crossmember and the birdcage?

Thanks,

Steve

[Joe L.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

I have located a 1971 coupe w/365 hp 454, numbers matching engine, 4 speed, AC, PW, PS, Leather . The body is fair with a 1970's pearl white paint job and pink and purple stripes and fender flares on the rear. Not as bad as it sounds if you are my age and remember the 70's. The engine "ran when I put it up seven years ago". That's all I know about the engine.

Now here are the issues I am aware of: the crossmember in the front that appears to support the bumpers and radiator is rusted out and the bumpers are not secure and the fan shroud appears to have hit the fan with no serious visible damage to the fan. The birdcage on the drivers side where the a-pillar meets the body appears to be rusted out.

The frame at the rear appears to be sound with no visible rusted out places. The kick up looks good.

What is involved in repairing the front crossmember and the birdcage?

Thanks,

Steve

Steve------


From what you've described, my guess would be there's a lot more hidden corrosion damage. However, even with what you've described, I would say pass unless they're practically willing to give the car to you and you're prepared for a lot of effort and cost in a restoration effort.

[Steve V.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

Joe,

Help me get a better understanding of the work involved. What is involved with repairing the birdcage?

Steve

[Kenneth B.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

Steve------From what you've described, my guess would be there's a lot more hidden corrosion damage. However, even with what you've described, I would say pass unless they're practically willing to give the car to you and you're prepared for a lot of effort and cost in a restoration effort.

Take the advice above as he is a very wise man You will need a different frame & rebuild the whole window frame. Rebuilding the window frame is VERY HARD TO DO.

[Michael W.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

Joe,

Help me get a better understanding of the work involved. What is involved with repairing the birdcage?

Steve

Been there done that. The hidden damage is far worse than the visible in most cases. If you're looking to pay someone to do the 'cage swap, count on $15K in labour. DIY part time will take a year at least.

[Chris E.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

Steve,

As others have said, a rusted birdcage makes for the most extensive level of repair for Corvettes. When the factory built the cars, they bonded fiberglass panels onto a metal cage around the driver/passenger. If that underlying metal structure is rusted beyond just mild surface rust, it is very time consuming and very expensive to fix. Can it be fixed? Sure, but does it align with what you want to do with the car? If you are going to keep the car for a very long time and want the enjoyment of the process of restoring it, then maybe its OK. If you want one you can drive for a few years and sell, I'd suggest you move on to a different car.

Here is what a birdcage looks like without the body panels attached to it.
http://www.lbfun.com/warehouse/tech_...rdCage%202.jpg

[Terry M.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

The C3 birdcage is somewhat different around the top of the doors. I also believe the bottom runner (where the rocker panels would attach) is also different. I have been told on the C3 that rocker area is triangular shaped.

One friend had to replace those birdcage runners, and employed the services of a shop with a body plate (a level surface that the body could be mounted on. This shop then fabricated the replacement runners and installed them. The bed plate was necessary to maintain the alignment of the body. It sounded like a lot more expense, skill and talent than I could imagine.

[Phil W.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

Hi Steve,With the price of the car as a consideration, would the car be worth parting out? Depending on where you are located I might be interested in the engine & trans if you decide to go this way. Thanks

[Edward J.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

Steve, truly the best way to find out the extent of the rust is pull the windshield and trim this will give you the extent of rust damage. then you could decide. Once the windshield is removed you could have someone that does this type of restoration work take a look at the corvette and price out what it would cost to restore. body and frame. keep in mind that the value of this car and cost of restoring. and then add another 10k because nothing is etched in stone when restoring older corvettes big block C3 corvettes (70-72) correctly restored maybe worth about 30/35K. PLEASE SOMEONE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG.

[Timothy B.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

Steve,

Look for a nicer car, it's a project that will go on for years.

[Russ S.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

Steve, to answer your question, the front cross member is easy to replace. It bolts in.

[Thomas H.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

Steve, to answer your question, the front cross member is easy to replace. It bolts in.

Interesting......... The front cross member on my 71 LS5 is an integral part of the frame.

As far as the car in question goes, it sounds like a major project in every sense of the word. The birdcage issue will quickly become the determining factor on how much $$ will need to be put into the car. This could easily be one of those cars that is worth more in parts then done. If it is selling for <5k it might be worth it. Also a determining factor is how much work the new owner can do, especially if he is the owner of a fully equipped body shop.

Tom

[Michael W.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

Interesting......... The front cross member on my 71 LS5 is an integral part of the frame.

I think they both mean the radiator support.

To me rotted rad support + crumbling birdcage = rust bucket, run Forrest run!

[Joe L.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

Interesting......... The front cross member on my 71 LS5 is an integral part of the frame.

As far as the car in question goes, it sounds like a major project in every sense of the word. The birdcage issue will quickly become the determining factor on how much $$ will need to be put into the car. This could easily be one of those cars that is worth more in parts then done. If it is selling for <5k it might be worth it. Also a determining factor is how much work the new owner can do, especially if he is the owner of a fully equipped body shop.

Tom

Tom-------


The problem is that most owners just cannot come to grips with the real value of a car which suffers from significant corrosion. In other words, they just can't accept that their "classic, big block" Corvette is only worth a few thousand dollars. An example I've mentioned before: once-upon-a-time I was looking at a 1965 coupe for which the owner was asking $16,000. When he saw that I had observed the extensive and serious birdcage and frame corrosion the car suffered from, he dropped his price to $13,000. I told him that if he offered to GIVE me the car, I'd have to think about it. I wasn't being silly or insulting; I was 100% serious. I have no interest in parting out cars and certainly no interest in selling parts harvested therefrom and that's all that could have been done with that car. Period.

A very simple equation that many folks fail to understand:

(cost to buy the car) + (cost to restore the car) = (value of a car already restored to like restored condition)

[Steve V.]

Re: 1971 LS5 - To buy or not to buy?

In spite of my signature, I believe I will have to pass on this car. Thanks for all the advice.

Steve