NEW TO VETTES, COULD USE SOME HELP

[tak]

Not new to cars, I'm actually into 71 Roadrunners but now I'm looking at getting into vettes for. Found a rough 80 with a L48 auto 130,000ml. decent body but BAD interior. Has a small rust hole in the frame and floor pan, but restoring cars is a sinch for me. Is this car worth roughly 5K ? and are they more or less desirable than the STANDARD 350.
Also, under the t-top where the seal is, there is some rust on the metal frame work, is that a replacable part or are the tops junk and where would I look for the part ? I have seen some places rebuild tops but are pricey.
The t-tops are my real concern on this car, definetly would like some info on those.
Thanks for any and all info,
Tony

 

[BarryK]

Tony
The L48 is the standard base motor on the later C3 vettes where the L82 was the optional more powerful motor. The difference in '80 was:
L-48 = 190hp
L-82 = 230?hp

if there is rust in the frame, than what the bigger concern would be how bad the rust is in the birdcage. Frames that are pretty rusted thru can be easily (relatively speaking) replaced but birdcage rot is another matter altogether and depending on bad it is can easily make repairs on the car exceed the value of the entire car. If you find major birdcage rust damage I'd run away from the car.
The T-Tops are not what you should be concerned about - the frame and birdcage are.

As for the value, an '80 with the base L-48, 130,000 miles, needing a new interior, and major rust issue I'd say $5K is WAY too much money.

JMHO

 

[tak]

Maybe I have the L48 wrong, it is a 305 Ca. engine. I have went over the frame pretty well and really have only noticed the one hole. the rest seams to be very nice and doesn't even have much surface rust. This hole is in front of the pass. rear wheel. Have actually seen it in the same spot on a few other cars I looked at here in Oh.
What is the area you call the birdcage ? Don't want to sound dumb or anything but I,ve been into Mopars for 20 years now and Vettes are new to me.

 

[DRTH VTR]

I believe that the 305 CID engine was available for one year, and then only as a California car. It cranked out an anemic 180 HP.

 

[tak]

So people, what is the birdcage area ? Are they know for rust problems ?

 

[BarryK]

the birdcage is a metal framework that surrounds the cockpit area of the car. It goes up the the windshield pillars, around the windshield, along the dash, overhead, and down along the doorjamb areas. It's what strengthens the fiberglass body of the car.
The birdcage is like the skeleton of a Corvette.

Vettes are known to leak a lot and thru the years the water leaking in rusts the birdcage. The gain total access to the birdcage for repair requires that the fiberglass bodypanels be seperated from it and removed - they are bonded to the birdcage at the factory.
Frame repairs are considered major work but they are childs play compared to having to deal with birdcage repairs. The other problem with birdcage damage is that repro parts are not made. The only option to repair rusted sections of a birdcage once the body panels are removed are to find another donar car that the birdcage is in good shape and cut out the sections you need and weld them into the first car or else you need to be able to somehow fabricate your own replacement sections.
Most people looks at repairs this serious as making the car far beyond worth while to deal with it and scape the car or part it out.

BTW, that areain front of the rear wheels on the frame you referred to is called the frame "kick-up" area and it's very common to see rust problems in that area. The drain holes in the frame get clogged up so water gets inside the frame rails and can't drain out so it sit in there and rusts the frame. That oner of the biggest areas to look at on a vette when shopping for one.

 

[tak]

That is exactly what happened to the frame. The left side is in great shape though, feeling up inside the frame it feels nice., even the right if you get past the rusted area feels as no rust is there.
As for the bird cage. Is there an easy way to check for rust ? This car was SUPPOSE to be stored inside MOST of it's life, I would imagine that would help, but I will need to check it thuroughly, This is why these sites are great, they help people get a feel for the cars and what could be wrong before diving in head first.

Any more info from anyone would be great.

 

[67HEAVEN]

Welcome to

Here's what a birdcage looks like under all that fiberglass. This happens to be a midyear or C2 birdcage (1963-67)

 

[red70vette]

If you want to check the birdcage remove the kick panel covers(Under the dash on the inside of the car in front of the doors) and remove the interior molding surrounding the windshield. If you see bad rust in either iof these areas run do not walk away from that car.

Price does seem quite high as you can get a restored or good original 80 for about $8000. These are not desireable or collectible because of the smog crap on the engines and low HP. Could be a fun car to trick out if all is good.

If frame is rusted thru in that kick up area you need to be real careful and inspect the whole frame by tapping with a small hammer and listening for differences in the sound. If there is trouble in one spot there is probably much more than meets the eye.

 

[red70vette]

Oh by the way welcome back from the dark side. If you liked MOPAR you are gonna LOVE Corvettes.

 

[tak]

The 80-82 Vette has always been one of my favorites. It sounds like I should look at this area on any Vette. And I thought I wanted a Vette cause Chevies were the easy cars to work on.......Thanks really, this advice could really save my butt when I find the one to buy.

Hey Red70, I still have my Mopar, so I only come half over