How much rust...

...is TOO much rust?

Now that I've been under the '78, and spent a lot more time with my head
under the hood, I've got a pretty good sense of the car's overall condition.
What I'm trying to figure out now is--how much of a problem is the rust I
have on the frame?

I'm not surprised that there's rust present, of course--even a California
car of this vintage is gonna have its share. Fortunately I don't see any
glaringly serious problems--no holes, no cracks (other than in the shock/
spring area I posted about earlier, elsewhere on this forum).

But the frame is definitely covered with rust. It'll flake off if rubbed. My
gut says it's not yet bad enough to compel a full frame-off restoration,
but I'm not really confident about that conclusion at all. Maybe it's wishful
thinking on my part--since if a full frame-off is called for, this whole
project to resuscitate this shark will become, essentially, DOA.

I got bottles of Bondo rust treatment (never tried it before though), and
this coming week the car is going back up on jackstands and I'm going to
paint everything I can reach with this solution. I don't expect any miracle
cures, naturally--I'm just hoping to remove some of the topmost rust,
and ideally 'seal' the metal a bit better to help slow or stall further
deterioration.

I'd sure welcome any opinions you guys have on this subject, specifically
what degree of rust is 'acceptable' for the forseeable future--and any
ideas on additional/alternative treatments to try at this stage.

 Flaking rust, is metal lost just my thought

Covering up rust is only delaying the inevitable...it WILL come through anything you put on it, plus the decay is continuing even though you might not be able to see it.

Try pushing on the frame with a screwdriver and see if you have any soft spots. Look near areas of joints and bends. Sometimes water will collect in the low points.

Jack,

In an effort to make you feel better about your frame, here's a pic of what mine looked like. My car spent most of it's life in Chicago.

  http://www.VetteRegistry.net/member_pages/8301_8400/8356/rustyframe.j pg 

Now this pic might not make you feel too good. It's a receipt from Corvette Central for a new frame.

http://www.VetteRegistry.net/member_pages/8301_8400/8356/reciept.jpg 

There are always options - don't give up!!

I would be a bit more aggressive than pushing with your fingers to assess your current frame. I would use a hammer at knock away on the bad spots. If you go through or you get a non-metallic thud instead of a crisp clank (like you normally would when rapping in a frame), time to consider how far gone or how extensive the bad parts are.

Frames can be repaired. However, if the stuff is scaling off in a lot of places, be careful The rust teatment stuff is just a chemical that reacts with the oxidizing metal. We used to used ut to seal parts that the rust was cleaned off of, prior to painting.

If the frame is in good enough shape to save after you assess it, I would go with the POR15 system. That stuff works miracles. But you will need to get as close to good bare metal as possible to use either of these products with good results.

Have a look at this...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/corvette-1981-rolling-chassis _W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ34200QQitemZ4646155768QQrdZ1QQss pagenameZWD1V

I can also hook you up with a parts/resto guy that buys out corvette junkyards on a regular basis. I'll bet he can come up with a decent frame at a good price...PM me if interested.

Good luck either way!

Paul

LukesVette38873.0550462963

to my experience rust is often worse than it looks at first.. when  sandblasting pits are always much deeper than expected... take a good look at the corners etc like indy99 already mentioned... see if you can push through with a screwdriver... if you can make a small hole you can bet on it a much bigger part is badly affected.

some spots to check : the inside front of the doorframe for bodymount 3-4  and the inside corner of frame where the rear trailingarm is connected.. on my vette first look didn't really show a problem.. but poking with a screwdriver gave me a big hole:












good luck with your frame and decision :)

art-corvette