Need replacement frame

[BarryK]

Hi all

hoping someone might be able to help out here......

At our Corvette Club monthly meeting last night a member told us about a friend of his whose 17yo son has been saving his money for a long time to get his dream car, a Corvette, and he bought a 1980 recently.
It's a nice driver car and runs great BUT it turns out that the seller did not disclose a MAJOR problem with the car and the kid didn't know enough to realize the problem which is that the frame is cracked. He went back to the seller who basically told him tough luck, it's his problem
NOT a nice intro for this kid into the Corvette hobby.....

The mother had contacted our club member asking if we knew anyone interested in purchasing the car as a parts car so the kid could at least get some of his money back out of it since he can't afford to pay someone to replace the frame and doesn't know anything about working on the car himself.

We came up with the idea of trying to help this kid out and we have club members that have volunteered to do the labor for free to lift the body, pull the motor, strip the old frame of the suspension and reinstall everything on a replacement frame and get this kids car back on the road and save the car from being destroyed as simply a parts car.

Our club is in Delaware and we are hoping that someone may have a good condition frame that works with an '80 within a reasonable distance from us that either we can purchase at an attractive price or that they may even be willing to donate if they aren't using it.
After spending all of his money on the car the kid has nothing left to spend on a frame so any expense would have to be obsorbed by our club so we are hoping to find a decent frame very inexpensively since we are also donating our time to do all the labor for this kid for free to try to help him out.

If anyone has or knows of a good condition frame in the Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, or New Jersey areas we would GREATLY appreciate hearing from you. You may PM me or send me an email with the information.

Thanks!!

Barry

 

[fine69]

I hope you'll be able to help the kid. Is there any way a cracked frame can be repaired?... perhaps when you have the body off the frame?

 

[BarryK]

it seems that the previous owner had already tried to weld the frame as there are weld marks at the cracked area but it didn't hold so we are assuming without having seen the car or frame yet that it may be beyond repair and replacement is the best option

 

[Evolution1980]

it seems that the previous owner had already tried to weld the frame as there are weld marks at the cracked area but it didn't hold so we are assuming without having seen the car or frame yet that it may be beyond repair and replacement is the best option

If the frame is beyond repair, then it's likely due to rust, which makes it a complete loss. However, if rust is not the issue, then it's just a matter of finding the right guy for the weld job. I cracked my frame years ago. My mechanic (and ace welder) simply took out the bad piece of frame and welded in a new piece. Probably the strongest part on my car now! The only issue it would seem is that your guy will have to cut out a slightly larger section to make sure he takes out the schlock section of the previous owner.

 

[oceangal]

I hope the kid takes pictures and considers taking the guy to small claims court. Thats just mean.

 

[BarryK]

We are arranging to have someone go down to look at the car, hopefully in the next 2 or 3 days and after inspecting it carefully we will be in a better position to decide exactly what needs to be done to the car, whether it's a matter of "simply" welding and repairing the existing frame, replacing a rust rotted frame, or honestly telling them that the car is worthless except for parts if it's a matter of both a rust rotted frame AND birdcage.
once we know the full information we will have a better idea of our course of action.

 

[Andy]

We have gotten a good number of replies on this issue. The frame appears to be a loss, but we are waiting for pics. The Vette has been inspected by a few local shops as well and the consensus is the same..the frame is a lost cause, but we will know more soon. I want to thank everyone for their comments, knowledge and help in order to start this young man on the right foot in this hobby. Barry or I will keep this post going until its fruition.

Kudos to you Barry for coming up with this idea my friend....I know our club will help this young man anyway we can. Talk to ya soon.

Andy Rumford
President...Corvette Club of Northern Delaware

 

[navy2kcoupe]

We are arranging to have someone go down to look at the car, hopefully in the next 2 or 3 days and after inspecting it carefully we will be in a better position to decide exactly what needs to be done to the car, whether it's a matter of "simply" welding and repairing the existing frame, replacing a rust rotted frame, or honestly telling them that the car is worthless except for parts if it's a matter of both a rust rotted frame AND birdcage.
once we know the full information we will have a better idea of our course of action.

Barry, do you have an address that we can send donations to? I ain't rich, but I could part with a few bucks to help defray the cost of anything that has to be purchased. Makes me mad that someone could be that much of an a$$hole! Gives all "Vetters" a bad name. Let us know!
Andy

 

[BarryK]

Andy (navy2kcoupe) - that is VERY generous of you.
Right now we want to inspect the car ourselves first and really get a better idea of what is going to be involved in this project, what we think expenses are going to run, what parts we are going to have to end up replacing, etc.
After that and once we have a definite plan and course of action to follow than we will worry about how to cover expenses and a donation fund is a definite possibility altough we may also try to get parts donations and/or significant discounts from some of the parts vendors as a goodwill cause.

We will keep you informed though. THANKS!!

 

[vetdog]

A body shop certified to straighten out bent frames from accidents should be your next stop. Some of the larger parts houses like Paragon have new replacement frame sections and some of the Corvette recycler certainly have frame and possibly frame sections for sale.

 

[MikeMc71]

I have gottnen some stuff from this gent:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CORV...oryZ6763QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[navy2kcoupe]

Andy (navy2kcoupe) - that is VERY generous of you.
Right now we want to inspect the car ourselves first and really get a better idea of what is going to be involved in this project, what we think expenses are going to run, what parts we are going to have to end up replacing, etc.
After that and once we have a definite plan and course of action to follow than we will worry about how to cover expenses and a donation fund is a definite possibility altough we may also try to get parts donations and/or significant discounts from some of the parts vendors as a goodwill cause.

We will keep you informed though. THANKS!!

Barry, THIS sounds like a project that I would LOVE to see documented with pix and put up on this site, or photobucket etc.. I think that this is the essence of what being a Corvette owner is, and having pictures available to be able to follow along in the process is something that I'd like to see. Let me know if you do start a fund.......this kid sounds like he can use all the help he can get.
Andy

 

[Bwmurph]

Barry,

Count me in if you need help with anything; wrenching on the car,small donations, etc....I'd enjoy being involved in a frame off' particularly if it's not my car !

Bernie O

 

[BarryK]

Hi Bernie

would love to have your help. i'll keep you informed of what's happening on the project.
I spoke to the guy in our club that brought all this to our attention today and he is going to look at the car early next week and depending on when he goes and my schedule I'll try to go with him so we can really evaluate what is needed.
At that point we will have a better idea of our game plan.

 

[bossvette]

A local Corvette club member offerd me a 77 frame several years ago but its in Ohio do you want me to see if its still availabe?

 

[BarryK]

Andy

if you ever looked at my website you will know that I photo document EVERYTHING!!!!!
If you haven't been to my site the addy is here:
http://lbfun.com/index.html

go to the Corvette Pages section and you will see everything I've documented on my own cars as I've worked on them. If we do end up doing this you can be sure it will get documented also.

Yes, this kids will need a lot of assistence since he knows nothing about working on car....yet, but he will by the time we are done with him.
i'll keep you informed if we do start a donation fund.
Thanks!

 

[fine69]

Corvette World lists many frame parts in their catalog.
Give them a call 1-800-327-0185 and speak with Jared. Perhaps he can help you out.

Ralph

 

[BarryK]

A local Corvette club member offerd me a 77 frame several years ago but its in Ohio do you want me to see if its still availabe?

Craig
thanks, but if i'm not mistaken I think there are some differences in the frames and we need an '80-'82 frame. also, we will need to find a frame (if we do need one) somewhat more locally as any cost on a frame will be a majot expense for us as a club to begin with let alone the expense of shipping one in from OH.
We would need to find one in either DE, PA, NJ, or MD that we could pick up oueselves within a couple hours drive.

 

[oceangal]

since the seller was such a snake in the grass, i wonder if he welded it himself or took it somewhere. I agree to bring it to a welder unless a visual gives the nod that a new one is needed.
Poor kid, my son just bought his first new car and thankfully had a much better experience buying his '60 Olds.

 

[BarryK]

Oceangal
have no idea but from we have been told the comments from a few bodyshops the kid took the car to to see about repairing it after he first found out about the cracked frame is that it looks like the attempted welding on it to try to repair it looked like someone had just gotten their first welder from xmas and were having a field day "learning" on the frame while trying to repair it :eek