How Rusty Is My 1972 Corvette That Sat In a Field For a Decade? Do Texas Cars Rust In Fields?
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- čas přidán 21. 10. 2021
- At least 50 people assumed that since this car sat outside in grass for more than a decade the frame HAS to be rusted beyond repair. What say you?
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What a beauty I think early 70s Vettes were so beautiful.
Given how she was neglected it's amazing how much of a solid survivor she's turning out to be.
besides this beautiful shaped Vette, i also, love the Tea for Tat intro music..nice touch..please continue to resurrect this Vette..
Hell for a 72 Vette after sitting in a field for 10 + years I'd expect the frame to be in horrible shape. To see the condition it's in is absolutely amazing!
Always liked the chrome bumper C3 way better than the latter models with the 5 mph ones. The first Vette I ever drove was a 1969 LT1 four speed car with headers and off road cam and was wicked quick back in 1973.
Gday Ben, This is perfect for a frame off resto and filming it everyone would follow you along .
I know I would. Cheers from Melbourne Australia
The egg crates really made a difference!
Such a great looking car (says sad man in the UK). They should be saved wherever possible.
Agree
Western car bodies are amazing, unbelievable to someone originally the from mid-west, like me. Hard to not be jealous of this field find.
So glad to see all of those important parts still with the car and back in place, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Shark got her smile back!
Definitely a worthy rescue and refirb, Ben! 👍
Hi Ben. just stop by to tell you what I found . About 6years back. I got hold of a 72 vette. guy said it was in the garage for 35 years. when I got it to the shop. Looking the car over. I
t was true. 60 k miles. had to replace tires. F&R springs . brake system , engine gaskets & seals , carb kit. exhaust system. power steering box. rebuild the trany. radiator . heater core. hoses & belts. and some vacuum controls. headlight switch. clock. and like your 72. mine has no rust.
and a sheep skin for the drivers seat. Now I enjoy the car very much. but I wont buy another barn find ever again. this one was my second one. Thanks for your video. well done. carry on Ben AZ
Nice to see you doing some chrome bumper stuff. I've done a few late 70s corvettes but now doing these 2 68s, there are quite a few differences. So thanks and keep them coming
Absolutely gorgeous car, wow 🇺🇸👍
Not much surface rust either, very clean frame/structure. There are more expert critics on CZcams than there are experts in real life. When you give them a mention you are giving them the attention they crave.
Very satisfying.
I’ve been following you for years and I’m impressed with how professional your videos have become. Good work! Cheers from Istanbul, Turkey - formerly Houston, Texas.
another great video, Ben. Nice work
Great video glad you posted keep them coming thanks
that frame def looked good for sitting in dirt all those years. it wouldn't have looked that good up here in the PNW. car is looking better and better as the work gets done...but its crazy that the previous owner just left it to rot. I'd pull the kick panels and check the #2 body mount...after the kickup for the rear trailing arm, they seem to rot the most.
_The absolute best point you've made about parting out chrome bumper cars Ben. (It's not done)! Now for any of the non-aficionado Corvette naysayers, chrome bumper C3 Corvettes (especially those Texas cars) are beyond collectible. Again for brining back to original, or resto-modding._
The same goes for Camaros as well, the early 70-73 cars are very very hard to find so not many ever get parted out but on the other hand if you need used parts for a 74-81 camaro they are fairly easy to find because there are still plenty of them out ther getting stripped for parts because the cars aren't worth much as a compete car. Certain cars and motorcycles are just that way.
Won't be all that much rust its fiberglass lol. New engine and a paint job and she's good to go! I can't believe someone gave up on that! It's a collectors dream
I LEARN SO MUCH FROM YOU. Thank you, Ben. And I would trade my '77 C3 for a '72 or '73.
I love Texas field cars.
👍👍 don’t let the guys who don’t know the difference between a 1/2 inch and a 12 mm get to you if they don’t believe what your saying it’s their loss
The new grill on front does look great, I can see the appeal of moving that center section forward. Great work man!
My back yard neighbor has one...been out there in the new england winter for atleast 15 years.
great starting point! a car like that is a prime candidate for not only a frame-off resto job, but also a unique personality-charged build. i wanna see a 1970's-style renegade hotrod corvette with all the muscle car bravado, bold multi-coloring and '70s-era-motor-sports-inspired detailing you'd see in vintage hotrod meet photos.
Ben, I've been subscribed to you since the Cadiallac.
Sounds like you should make molds of those grill inserts.
So glad this one is in such good shape. True, there is higher humidity and moisture in some parts of Texas and the South, but it all depends on whether dirt has collected inside panels and frames or supports. I brought a 1970 Nova and a 1972 F250 from the arid part of the Northwest down south and the more humid climate coupled with lots more rain did cause rust to show up. But areas that rusted had hidden dirt or leaves collected in them and the humidity and rain caused the foreign material to stay damp alot and rot some things out. Another thing you have to look for is leaks like Windows and such. The Ford truck actually has a bead of sealer near the top of the firewall under the dash. It's where the window section and front hood vent are mated with the firewall, and that sprung a leak. Every time it rains water gets in the cab if I leave it outside so I have to watch the weather. Discovered a little late and there's a small couple of rust holes in the floor. The rear fenders and quarter panels rusted on the Nova because debris collected under rear window trim. This caused rust holes which in turn let water into the trunk. Water collected around fenders and rear quarters and rusted them out. You don't have to be in the rust belt to have rust if dirt collects where it shouldn't and water leaks where it wasn't intended. Great video.
I'm in western NY state. Anything sitting out in the grass for 1 years looks 10 times worse than this!
Cheektovegas?
10 Min away Mr. John. My daily driver is an 05, garage kept and I still had to patch massive rot in both front floorboards and replace the rusted oil pan. Dread every repair under the car because everything is a rusted mess and even the most minor repair is a battle. I laugh at the CZcams videos where things just break free with a little spray of penetrating oil.
I had to replace my frame when I restored my 73, back in the late 90s. I wish I had the resources and knowledge I have now. I would have done it all differently. Starting with a Big Block manual car instead of a small block/auto that I turned into a big block manual 😳.
It's amazing with many things but pretty obviously with cars and maybe Corvettes especially what "experts" everyone thinks they are because they've owned one or several at some point in their lives. Before I owned it my '72's frame rotted away so bad it was being held together by the body (the entire back half was eventually replaced). Many years of being daily driven on salty winter roads did that, not sitting in a field. My current project sat in the same place for 25 or 30 years and the frame is fine.
.Hey Ben. Love the 72 rebuild. I bought a 72 in 77 and i paid $3000 for it. I lost a front grill and to buy a new one from Chevrolet it cost $100 for 1 piece Wow . I loved that car but being young and dumb I sold it in 82 and bought my first Harley Davidson lol.
Just inherited a 77 from my uncle. Trailered it from Buffalo NY to small town SC. It's all there but there is no title. Buddies of mine ran the VIN and it not hot. I sent in all paperwork and am waiting on a title... should be interesting... Any suggestions on getting the HP up on this thing besides a LS swap ??? 😆 🤣 😂
First, run a compression check on the motor, to see if the piston rings still hold. Next, remember that before 1973, the 350's had better breathing heads. And they are worth something! But you could go to a set of aluminum heads--ONLY IF you choose correctly. Because changing out the intake, carb and cam will be your other moves. Is your car an automatic or 4-speed? If automatic, not only the fact that you have the 350 tranny (which can safely handle only up to around 450 hp/400lbs of torque) but also driveability. And if you have a/c you can't expect the engine to stay up running a decent idle with too wild a set-up. What typical RPM range will the car be operating under? You have to be honest with yourself about this: daily driver? Street/strip? Or full-out drag? I would call the Jegs or Summit tech support, just to give you their ideas. ALL of this has already been mapped out by these guys with the combinations having already been attempted by these guys. And, if your early C3 is a numbers car, the car is worth much more intact, than doing all this engine stuff to it.
@@allenvaughan1 thsnk you. That's alot of I fo that I've absorbed... Much appreciate the time and knowledge
Last of the Chrome front and rear Vettes, certainly worth restoring seeing the value go nowhere but up.
I've have a completely restored 68 vette that's international blue with the L-79 4 speed muncie not quite sure on the rear end if someone can tell me, my dad bought it for me as a surprise birthday gift but he wasn't aware that I wasn't a fan of Corvette's minus the new ones, he bought it in Kentucky off the show room floor from a Toyota dealership in 2014 and a semi delivered it to his house in Florida in 2016 we trailered it to his Summer home in Michigan and its been Garaged kept ever since never drivin in rain and only driven durring summer months it's definitely a head Turner and I can't count how many thumbs up I get from passer by's, but if anyone who knows Corvette's knows that year was the only year the 68 came with a steering wheel fit for a semi and me being 6'3" tall and 260 pounds when in the driver seat I looked like a monkey humping a football and were not going to mention what it took me to exit the go cart I mean car I would hate to get rid of it but I think its something that's going to happen soon.👍🙂🇺🇸 made
GREAT ....... video! My 1973 corvette is from Texas (engine fire) and it seemed to have been sitting in a dirt floor barn or something with a cover over it, because the interior is in VERY good shape. YES ....... you are correct, the rust from a car in Texas is NOT that bad and mostly surface. Most people desire cars from either Cali or Arizona because of the anti-rust climate. I had 2 Karmann Ghia Convertibles 1 a 1973 was from Michigan (top still in place) and the other 1958 lived all its life in Cali (no top). Guess which car had the most rust? The east coast car. TRUE: with the snow and the salt on the road- it can eat the metal on a car. I had a GREAT time in Texas at the F1 races( practice) The race is tomorrow- Sorry I missed you(you shoulda been there).
Texas is where most vette frames come from in Minnesota vette frame off repairs
I have read that the bird cage and around the windshield frame are areas of concern for rust. How do those areas look on this car?
Ben great job. Have you ever fixed the lip on the inside door jamb?mine needs some serious fibreglass work to fix.
Not bad at all looks great
Dennis Collins says “ Texas cars rust from the top down” !!!!!!
Same with florida cars and any cars found along the coast lines, all the intense sun burns the paint off then all the rain and moisture causes all that exposed metal to rust very quickly and because it's super humid all the time the metal never gets a chance to fully dry. The rule of thumb is that southern cars rot from the top-down, inside-out and northern cars rust from the bottom-up outside-in.
I had a 1972 back in 1980. I was very young and took the front grills and painted them black. I thought they looked better. Not a very good decision.
Nice car 🔥🔥
I got a set of high back corvette bucket seats for sale
👍🍻
Sir Ben. Do you like the Cooper Cobras? I think they look great white wall out of course . Keep up the great content...
I say C3 frames are so beefy (thick metal) that you would have to leave it in a swamp for 25 years before it became unserviceble. I did a frame off on my 77 with no rust. I bead blasted the frame, had seams MIG welded in areas with gusset plates, polyurethane primer and paint. It will last 200 years.
Makes complete sense I don't understand why people have too tell you how your cars are rotting, IT"S TEXAS, here in Wisconsin ya it would be rotted in two months.
I knew that you wouldn’t be investing this much time and effort if the frame was trashed.
Looks better than my 74, mine has much more surface rust.
I had an aftermarket fiberglass spring on my 77, and the car sat too high. It was spongy also. I replaced it with a 7 leaf. Much better!
You're damn lucky.... I would never let one of my project cars sit out for 10+ years not even 10 days... some asshole would be hounding me to sell .... 😆😆😆
I can tell you that in Indiana the fiberglass will rot.
That's 72 Corvette is really coming along nicely but I have a question are the doors completely fiberglass or is there metal in them? Enjoy your videos.
Outside is fiberglass, inside is metal
I was wondering who it was on CZcams that wanted plates for there wall I got my old plates out and forgot who it was as i watched this i noticed the wall of plates now how do i or where do i send them ?
Thanks for sharing the info. I know the car is farther along already, but a question - as you were installing bumpers one can see orange under the white in the chin, yet blue underneath on fenders. Is this from an old repair? I'm guessing probably a lot of Vettes where curbed at the nose/chin.
That is correct
How often do you part out good frames?
Are you happy with ther max jax lift?
I would love to know where this car went and what the new owner did with it. I would have Loved to buy it from you!
Went over to jolly old england, it got a paint job and looks brand new now
@TheCorvetteBen My financial fantasy at this point in my retirement would be to buy one of the cars you fix up and drive it back to Connecticut. That car would have been perfect. I love your work and presentation. I hope you are doing well.
*cries in Michigan weather*
I'm just guessing, but I think that trim would have been a lot easier to clean before putting it on the car.
I have a 94 Corvette. What. Opti Spark would you buy. The stock one on the car has no writing of the name of it
What about cars from East Texas near say Louisiana? That area can be swampy. I suspect this vette came from north or west Texas.
Yes you need to watch out for those
WHY?!
What was the reason for neglecting this car like this?
Where are you in Texas?
Are you going to sell this car? How much?
I just can't wrap my head around replacing a bunch of parts on a Corvette...just to park it in the middle of a field. No barn, no overhang, no tarp. They loved it enough to fix some things, why not preserve it if you can't drive it? Kind of a headscratcher.
Previous owner was a drunk. That should explain a lot.
What rust? On a fiberglass body Corvette with aluminum subframes. The steel engine block might be rusty.
Lol a c4 maybe, C3s have steel frames
You and your Texas minimum rust. 😂😂😂
It’s true though. I live near the Pacific Ocean and the fog is laced with salt.
Really Ben? Just 12 minutes? I want at least an hour of you working on this car! 😆 🤣
So if the owner did some replacing of parts why did he then just park it in a field for ten years? That's a bit weird.
Something wrong with the motor? That's a 350 right?
Previous owner is a drunk. That should give you enough information right there.
@@TheCorvetteBen Then I guess it's better he parked it in a field rather than wrap it around a tree.
corvets need to be saved
seen lots worst call that good
calipers always go bad
also rubber lines
Werthe car
Sure could use a good degreasing and pressure wash.
Trie not buy from the rust belt
why have we not seen your cute wife lately???
Nobody likes a big hole…
Texas cars dont rust They dont use salt on the frozen roads in winter time