I am a new member of this site and a first time (1976) Vette owner. I am NOT a Vette expert, and with family and job responsibilities was not willing to travel the US looking to purchase the "perfect" Vette in my price range ($5,000-$6,000). I purchased one for fun, but it needs some work. Primarily, there is some rust in the door pillars and it even looks like both pillars where the fenders meet the pillar may have had some work done to them. The previous owner of the car is not the original owner and he said the pillars always looked like that and he had owned the car for 12 years.

I probably have a problem on my hands if I want to do a full restoration. However, if I just want a fun car to drive around in on weekends for a few years, am I OK?

welcome bill! i would think if you are just looking to drive her and not do a full restoration you'd be ok but there are alot more knowlegable people on this forum who can tell you more....enjoy your new toy

Welcome, and not everybody here has a show quality vette.
If you can get some pics of the questioned area posted, that will probably help other give you some advice or suggestions.
As a 76 owner, I would advise you check the floorpans inside under the carpet for rust. My floors look great from underneath, but when I pulled back the carpet, I found plenty of surface rust from leaking weather stripping.



|UPDATED|5/13/2003 5:31:34 PM|/UPDATED|

On my 75 they are also in pretty bad shape. I've been driving it a lot(rain shine snow sleet or hail) and haven't had any water come in through there. My advice would be to close the doors gently(too much rust there and they'll just drop off hinges and then you've not even a driver!) and watch for leaks, if it leaks you really need to look into it seriously. Word of warning. DO NOT TAKE OFF THE DOORS Unless You REALLY know what you're doing(especially don't use your garage wall to take it off, but that is beside the point). My door had to be replaced, and I spent 5hrs getting it drivable...and then my bodyman put it on properly when he painted it. Don't take off the doors unless you plan to fix the problem totally. (IE Just for investigation? NOPE!)

Scot

Thanks everyone for their responses. I will post some pics for further review in a few days.

I wouldn't be using the A-pillar (windshield post) to pull yourself out of the seat either (like I've seen so many other C3 owners do).

Good advice on not taking the door off! They are unbelieveably tricky to get lined up right!

Using the "wall" for removal,...........is that a tool I haven't heard of before? I'm trying to collect them all.

Scot,
Ya gotta tell Rick the PROPER way to use a wall for removal

windshield post rust is a common problem in C3's. they can be replaced but it is very costly. what i did on mine was i removed the inner trim and cleaned out all the rust i could with a small wire brush and then coated the metal with por15. i then went to a windshield repair shop and had them remove the outside windshield trim and coated it with por15 afterwhich they recaulked it.

Well Rick, using the wall for removal of the door is a bit tricky, and even I didn't get it right...I nesseitated removal with a wall, but I guess I just wasn't going fast enough to pop all the bolts out(THANK GOD!). I replaced the door, but there STILL problems with the car that can be traced to the one incident! Anyway, door was open car was on. Decided too many fumes in the garage, checked to make sure the garage door was open...put it in reverse...back up..hear crunching...look over..door? what door? Driverside door was perpindicular to the car. Messed up the door, the hinges, the pillar we were discussing. EVERYTHING. Neighbor owns a bodyshop. He fixed it up, looks PERFECT. Absolutely amazing. Recent experiences have left me wondering what weatherstripping is for though. Replacement door doesn't have any, and I'm too poor to buy new(and just now realized I have the OLD door and its weatherstripping still! LOL). But driving home from NJ in a torrential downpour last night, car interior was nice and dry. Who knows!

Scot

I joke about it but the truth is I have almost done the same thing myself more than once. One time I missed the garage door frame (pushing non running car out of garage with my left foot and the door open) by less than 2 inches. If the car had been 2 inches farther out of the garage I would have never gotten the door closed fast enough.

I think the rest of us have just been lucky!