I have found some rust on the inside of the door pillar at the bottom. The hinge mount area seams solid. It is rusted through in the area facing forward about the size of a quarter. I can see this would be a major repair should I choose to fix it. If I spray the rust inhibitor in there will it stop the progression. Also, how does the water get in there. The surface rust doesn't seem to go very high up inside the post (pillar?) should I not worry about it? The upper hinge area seems to be ok.
Thanks for any help on this

There are drains down in the bottom of the cowl area there that get stopped up with leaves and stuff over time. Then when it rains, or you wash the car, water pools up, and that's what causes the rust. If it's not too bad, you can clean the area as well as you can, and spray it down with whatever you like to use, but...you need to make sure the drains are open, or it's just gonna continue. You should be able to see the drain hole from underneath, in that area. They are hard to find, but they are there. I might have a diagram/pic of the area somewhere....not sure.

Thanks for the reply. I will look for the drain holes. I have the factory assembly book. I'll see if it shows the holes in the diagrams.

BTW Joel
The red color you have on the 1974? is the like the color I am thinking for mine. What color is it?
Is it the same color as the late model Vettes. I saw one the other day and that is the color I want.







|UPDATED|6/12/2012 10:17:19 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

My '73 also has a fair amount of rust around the lower door pillar area. I would like to know more about the "Drain Holes" you speak of.  A picture would sure help...

Bill, my '74 is "Medium Red Metallic"...original color for '74. It is fairly close to the color of the 50th anny cars, but not exact.