Even if you keep your Corvette...
Even if you keep your Corvette off the road in the winter, there is a good chance you will end up with a rusty frame. Luckily, there are replacement frames now available for C2 and C3 vintage Corvettes. This story is about a Collier Technologies frame being installed in a C3 Corvette by the car building specialists at Jory's Race & Custom in Westland, Michigan.
So you have a C2 or C3 Corvette that drives a little less "tight" than it used to and you are starting to wonder why. Well, it could be that your frame is rusted in a few key areas, allowing the suspension to move askew ever so slightly going down the road. How you check whether a frame needs to be replaced and how to fix this issue are what this story is all about-and if you are thinking this problem doesn't apply to your summer-only vehicle, think again. This issue is very common to all the early Corvettes. The Corvette shown in this story was a summer-driven car (and cold stored in Michigan during the winter), but the frame rusted out anyway . . . so an all-new frame was ordered from Collier Technologies and is shown being installed here by the pros at Jory's Race & Custom in Westland, Michigan.
Frame Checking
Besides a frame that is damaged from a car crash, the next most common reason for having to replace an early Corvette frame is it being rusted out. The early generation Corvette frames are susceptible to rusting from the inside out at the rear mating point of the two frame sections, just behind the seating area. It's hard to see the damage with the body on, but one of the most common methods to investigate this issue is with a long screwdriver, a flashlight, and spending some time under the vehicle.
To investigate the condition...
To investigate the condition of your frame, plan on spending some time crawling around underneath the car with a few different-length screwdrivers and a powerful flashlight. Use the screwdrivers to lightly poke the frame everywhere you can reach and the flashlight to see any areas that feel soft. Softness is bad and means you need a new frame.
The screwdriver is used to poke at the frame in various areas while the flashlight lets you peer into the small openings in the frame to see what you can see. If you feel any "soft" areas on the frame with the screwdriver, you will need to replace the frame.
While the area where the main framerails and the rear suspension framerails mate together is the most common area for "softness," the frames can rust in multiple areas. You want to look for areas where dirt, moisture, and other debris accumulate, as this is what often leads to a rusty section of the frame. The only solution to fix a rusted out frame is to replace it. This is an involved process, as the entire car is built off the frame, but it will make your Corvette like new again, or better-setting you up for many more years of enjoyment with it.
This is the new Collier Technologies...
This is the new Collier Technologies frame being delivered to Jory's Race & Custom for install in the '75 Corvette. It was ordered already powdercoated.
To get the rusty frame out of a vehicle, the short answer is you need to take the body off the chassis, and then completely disassemble everything off the frame. It's a big job that is best done with a two-post vehicle lift. This allows you to get underneath the frame to access all the fasteners (spraying them with penetrating fluid first, then loosening them) and also to easily lift the body off the frame when it comes time to separate the body and chassis.
The body/chassis separation is probably the easy part when compared to completely disassembling the drivetrain, suspension, steering and other systems from the rusty frame, stripping these components of many years of road grime, inspecting the parts for damage or excessive wear, and then painting or powdercoating them in prep for reinstallation. On this frame swap, the prep and paint work took the longest amount of time and definitely took the most effort.
To start the frame swap, every...
To start the frame swap, every fastener should be drenched in penetrating oil, like WD-40. Be prepared to have to cut a few bolts off their nuts as they will be fused together. A set of lift straps are used to grab the body at strategic points to lift it off. The team at Jory's use their two-post lift to carefully separate the body and chassis.
You can order a Collier replacement frame with just about any setup you like. Want a C2 'Vette with a C4 suspension? No problem. Want a frame built out of stainless steel? No problem. Want that stainless steel frame fully polished? What do you think? That's right-no problem. The Collier team is a very talented bunch and always enjoys a challenge. In this case, we ordered one of the off-the-rack, powdercoated frames for a C3 Corvette. Collier had it delivered and we started installing new or rebuilt parts as soon as it arrived.
One of the most impressive aspects of the Collier replacement frame was the accuracy of all the mounting locations. Sometimes with fully fabricated frames, it is hard to hold position on the locations-but the Collier replacement frame is spot-on. Very impressive.
Before lifting the body off...
Before lifting the body off the frame, the various connectors for systems like the electrical, steering, drivetrain, and others need to be separated. Here, the steering system "rag joint" has been unbolted and is being carefully pried apart as the body starts to lift off the frame.
Surprisingly, this Corvette...
Surprisingly, this Corvette was a summer-only car since it was purchased brand new, with its winters in an unheated Midwest garage-but as you can see that wasn't enough to keep it rust-free. This mating point of the framerails was completely rusted out on both sides of the vehicle. Note the frame bolt that was "hot wrenched" (that's code for a torch!) off the frame...
The remaining components left...
The remaining components left on the rusted out frame were unbolted at this time. This included the drivetrain, suspension, steering system, and other components. All of the components were inspected for damage and then sent out to be sandblasted before coming back in for painting. A lot of reproduction parts were ordered at this point to replace worn-out components (the advantage of being a Corvette!).