Rebuilding A Completely Rusted Classic Corvette - 54 Years of Rot! 

First time I have ever seen a body supporting the frame. What a shame somebody would knowingly sell such an unsafe vehicle.

I appreciate you didn’t drop the F bomb throughout the video. Nice to see someone use some class.

Excellent. Thank you. Just in time.

You really earn your money on this job.

You’re a corvette magician - in only 2.5 hrs you revealed the smoke & mirrors trickery of those unloading these POS. I’ll never roll the dice and buy another vehicle without a full inspection from an unbiased, reputable resource like y’all. Nice job educating those of us thinking “🤔 I should start looking for a clean, used Corvette”. Because I didn’t know how little I knew about how these cars were built and their potential landmines. 👊🏼👍🏼

The worst thing was buying this car and the best thing was finding out about the frame before he killed himself.

As you mentioned, the owner is very lucky it didn’t fall apart while driving down the road. As usual, it will be good to go after you get done with it.

Your boss is right on when he says , “ now you know why I charge $10,000 more for one of my C2’s “. I couldn’t imagine what a new frame and labour would cost . Obviously well above $10,000 .....Great content Junior , I’m new to this channel and I think I have gone back and watched everyone of your videos ....

Chevy planned on that car only lasting 8 to 10 years they did not know they were building their most Iconic models of the past century!

Anything can be repaired. Anything, any frame, anything. Even this.

At least we you are finished with it, it will be better than it was in the sixes, and it will last another 60++ years!

I once owned a 66 Vette convertible with small block/4 spd. It didn’t have the “active” frame suspension (CA car). Fun cars, and maybe another one some day. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and shop.

Anyone who know Vette's, (I live in the frozen wasteland of MI. where you can hear the cars rusting on a quiet night) knows the FIRST place you inspect is the point where GM "connected" the rear of the frame to the rest ahead of the rear tires. THAT is where they always fail. Sad this pour guy is going to PAY some serious tuition. Great Video though, Thanks.

One reason I always email a seller for a written description of the car for sale instead of a verbal phone analysis. With an email you can now hold them to their word and have a legal rebuttal.

that frame rail patch job was devious

Well the plus is he brought the car to you and your going to make it much better 😁

Love Your videos..!

Ok. You sold me. I just subscribed to your channel. I can't wait to see what kind of magic happens to this C2! Great video!

Holy Moly. No pun intended. That is simply amazing someone sold the car like that. Hopefully the owner will put the seller on social media blast. Nice video!

"you should not be able to do this with your frame" 😄

Omg! I thought my c3 was bad ! Lol. 🖖🏻

Wow. I just learned a ton of stuff. Great video . thanks

Here in New England this is all too common. As they say "rust never sleeps".

Half of the old Corvettes in Canada are like that. Rust never sleeps ( Neil Young). Winter is brutal.

Pretty common problem, same frame in the c3 generation. Lots of areas to trap dirt, clogs drain holes ect. Looks like these fellas know and do excellent work. Looking forward to more videos

Great video a must see for anyone looking to buy a mid year. I owned a 1958 Corvette for 30 years matching numbers 9 driver two tops 95% original. I sold my 58 to buy a 67 big block. I thought I found it in upstate NY and was going towards 6 figures price. At the 11th hour my neighbor who owns 5 mid year Corvettes said Ill go with you Id like to see it. My neighbor immediatly went to check the frame and much to my horror it was a rotted rusted mess. I COMPLETELY MISSED THAT IN MY EXCITMENT TO BUY AND SADLY HAD TO WALK FROM THE CAR. My neighbor saved me because no way could I have afforded a complete off body restoration on top of the price of the car..

Thirty years ago I met a fellow who was bragging about the great deal he got on a late C1. I asked him "Any rust in it?" He laughed at me "It's Corvette, fiberglass, so they don't rust!" He must have thought I was a rube. A few weeks later he got the bad news and sold the car on to another guy who had to have it.

I bought a 65 convert you could stick your fingers through every where turned it into best in show

Musta sat in the snow!

It's still winter and I'm mad I cant drive my corvette

What gets me is so many people don't even know they're driving a car with so much frame rot. My dad is a perfect example of this. Luckily his car was parked when it dropped. It wasn't a Corvette, but you get my point.

Calls for an Art Morrison chassis

looks like to new Art Morrison might be in the works

I've learned my lesson, not only on corvettes, but any used automobile needs a full inspection before buying. I took a real beating on a 97 Toyota 4Runner that had a bad frame.

Would you consider piecing together separate sections from different corvettes and creating a frankenvette? I live in Spain and I want a C3 so bad. It doesn't have to be original. I just want the people to go "ohhhh" when I drive by.

I had a 1963 from Buffalo, NY. The frame was so rusted I couldn't even jack the car. Sold it to a person would had the time, talent and money to restore it. I miss that car

My dad and I bought a 69 roadster low miles car from the original owner that had been sitting for nearly 20 yrs. It looked really clean, but once we got it out of the garage, the rear crossmember and frame was completely rotted. when we took it off the rollback, the frame broke. Needless to say, we had to replace the frame. Lesson learned!

Just in the nick of time !!

Poor SOB just paid twice for this car that he was told was totally restored.

Art Moresen makes frames for C2 corvettes

The big problem with the was the "A" pillar rusting from the bottom , up ! I've owned three with the same problem.

Hi Junior,, I'd love to visit your shop when we come down from MI in April. I've had 7 C2s from my first bought in 1970 til my last in 1984 and would like to purchase a 64, 5 or 6 once I make room in my garage (selling my Gto of 10 yrs ). Your work is incredible.

It's pretty easy to get upside down on these cars by the time you put the car back in good condition you have more into than it's worth

Same thing. Same place. 1963 convertible. Had it welded. Bought for $1500 in 1970 with a hardtop and tonneau. Sold it after it broke in 1979. Sold it for $5000

So how much for a new frame? At this point would it be better to go with an art Morrison frame or something like that and do some kind of pro touring thing.. not necessarily one of those 300k cars, just a chassis upgrade

The basic problem for the average 60 to 80 year old buyer of these classic cars is that we remember them when they were new or late model used cars. So when we see shiny paint we are transported back in time when we didn't have to think about a rotted out frame.

If that was bought by a Dealer, that's a lawsuit providing is hasn't been too long since purchased.

Yikes. Scary that this car just rolled in. And my guess the owner was told he was buying a "rust free" car.

Working on my dads 68 that was like this or worse. New used frame going together now.

Did this car not require a safety inspection for road worthiness? ... Any wet behind the ears mechanic would have seen this frame rot as a potentially deadly issue.

wow...guess the body was holding everything together. Is the birdcage salvageable? no doubt the owner just wanted a fun car to drive and did not know where to look for the pain points on a corvette...cant blame him for not being an expert.

Beyond a doubt that is the worst frame I have ever seen. The guy that sold this car knew what was happening and should be Publicly Flogged for selling it.

One of the positives about this terrible situation is, that there's plenty of aftermarket solutions available including modern frames being made. I've seen the Roadster Shop and Art Morrison make some great looking frames that offer way better driving and handling than the factory could ever had imagined. I'm sure this shop could find a clean used frame too and this car should turn out sweet when done, but major dollars either way. At least the customer brought his Vette to a specialist who knows what they're doing and will be able to fix it properly. Thankfully the customer wasn't injured due to all the frame rot and it could have ended badly for him, had it finally let loose. The classic car hobby has been and always will be filled with snakes who sell cars like this, knowing they're death traps, and only care about the dollars signs.

So the door gaps when on a lift is basically due to frame rot and not " flex due to being a convertable on other cars in general????

How did it pass state inspection? Michigan ain't a dry place so you must expect rust issuer.

Driving this car prior to disassembly gave no indications of the extent of rusted out frame?

HI, No No ! That's " Corvette's _ Special Secret Adjusting Ride Height " Option !!!!!!

Curious on how that chassis got that bad? What would have caused it? Most C2 Vettes are somewhat low miles, only driven in near perfect weather, not exposed to salt or winter driving. Also… too expensive of a vehicle to not take care of them. What’s your opinion of how this one got so bad???

You should have rolling chassis ready to go rust is the norm

You didn’t mention the body birdcage as a potential rust problem. I would suspect it to be very rusty judging by the frame. That is a much harder problem to fix than a frame swap. Also the frame transmission crossmember is welded in instead of bolted. Welded crossmembers are used for manual transmissions not automatics which this car has. No telling what has been done to this car.

What is your pic in the new mid engine Corvette as far as convertible or coupe?

Don't worry they're all clean cars I worked on one that was burnt front end and had to sand blast it and rebuild it and swap parts as well that a dealer wanted done the car should have been used for parts but the dealer wanted it restored... after sand blasting the fiberglass to get rid of the fire damage and re glass things...

How bad was the rust on the lower parts of the birdcage? Did you have to do any work on it too? Sometimes the frame is all rusted but the birdcage somehow still looks fine. But the way the body flexed, I would imagine the sill channels were shot.

You can tel a SCAB once owned this car

How much would a frame restoration job cost? Seems like a tough job but doable to a professional.

I knew the C-3's were notorious for this but didn't realize that this was a problem for the C-2's.

I was watching your videos about this 66 beauty and feeling rather happy about my 94 which is in a Jupiter FL Corvette shop getting some relatively minor work done. Then I saw the frame of the C2 and started feeling ill. I immediately called the shop about my car. I suspect mine is fine being a FL car and thirty years newer. By the way, it is difficult to get many parts for my C4, especially electronic sensors for ABS and spin control, which I figure the C2 don’t need. How difficult is it to get parts for a C2?

So I'm looking for a C2 convertible or coupe where is the main spots to check the car out before purchasing if we don't have a professional Corvette guy look at it for us ? Any tips what to look out for and what would be a no no before purchase any help would be much appreciated

when you say chases, do you mean frame? They were known for frame rot, I believe. I would guess someone is. making replacement frames?

Hopefully the birdcage isn't rusted and needs replaced.

When buying a 'hot' model it's often best to buy a tired and scruffy car with thin original paint - if the chassis is solid and the motor turns by hand then it may well be worth the funds and tim to restore it - so many shiny turds on the market.

My69 has a rusty frame too.

Was this C2 really running legal on the streets? With that amount of damage? In that case the Fiberglass parts have become the stabilizing chassi frame, holding the whole car toegether xD.

What will you do for a new frame? Are reproductions available? Great video!

Question .... was this it a northern car ....... appears to be SALT Damage ..... my 65 coupe had a few bad spots on the frame .... thank god nothing like the one in this video .....but I caught it early enough to totally restore it .... I had it, and all major parts, dipped, blasted, and epoxy coated ..... my car came from St Louis in 1987 ..... I purchased it in New Orleans ..... now the salt ain't the worry ....the hurricanes are .... thankful it hasn't been flooded in all this time ........

how much you charge to do some body work on 78 corvette and paint a 55 chevy ?

That car must have been up north and drove it in the winter time when there was salt in the roads evidently to be that Rusty

Not familiar with C2s, I work on mostly C3s. Where are you going to get another frame? Is that all there is to the frame? Does the C2 not have a "birdcage" like the C3?

that c2 corvette s one big mess.....but the guy brought it to the right place .it will be better then new when you are done with it.......great work man...what frame are you putting under it ..?

Customer going back to stock its a numbers matching car great choice save the original cars for future collectors

Cant you just cut the connecting areas off and refabricate, or is the rest of that metal that porous? and apparently what does this is GM has two holes on the framerail somewhere towards the front that allow water and rust and even leaves to get in as you drive and rot that rear section out, as theirs a guy on here who has a 68 he restored, found it in a barn, and he had that whole section just about fail on him too, and that was a barn find that had been sitting.

Wooooooooow 🤦🏾‍♂️

Was this a PBI or did this guy get hosed on this car?

I can not believe that the buyer would not see all that rot ? he should have had it inspected.

Awesome work. What type of plastic cover are you using for he 65 vette?

Pffff - what’s the big deal? There’s a nice big driveshaft there holding the two halves together, no? 😂🤣😂

Art Morrison chassis?

It is a great car, just needs a new frame and will be iconic for another 30 years or if you build a carbonfiber frame maybe more!

Sadly this is pretty common, and has been for a long time. A fifty plus year old car in an environment with humidity and salt in the air is just gonna rot from the inside out.

What is the price of a replacement frame? How much could the whole job run?

I feel so bad for the owner.

$ 30 000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in the hole !!!!!

Forget the speed bump just let it go once and power shift...

Ho Lee Chit!

Fools and their money soon parted.

Ya can buy a new after market frame!

Hello sir your shop location please

Alcohol is safer than laquer thinner will soften the resins...

Whoa, I wonder what he paid for it pre-resto?

I have a 69 Camaro. The guy I bought it from deliberately hid all the rust with bondo. I wanted to drive it into his house but then I would be in jail. He lied about the entire car. I can't understand how someone could do this to someone. I have it completely apart with thousands of dollars in parts ordered and many many hours of repairs.