Duncan’s 78 with the windshield removed to inspect the full extent of the rust. The windshield is bonded in and can sometimes be removed without breaking but more often than not will crack when the screen is removed, so be prepared for a new one. The cost of the replacement screen is normally covered by your insurance.

Uh-oh! Someone's been here before!

A corner cutting previous owner or an unscrupulous dealer has been busy with a tin of body filler and some bitumen paint, I guess that will hide the problem for a short time, but we are looking for a much more professional and permanent repair…..

The first step is to remove the interior. Theres a lot of grinding and welding with this  job and we don't take any chances. The next step is to cut out the rotten metal. We can do this job without hurting the bodywork and exterior paint. This is Corvette keyhole surgery….

Most people would want to remove the front clip to do this job but we go from the inside out. This requires a great deal of skill and care and Ronni is superb at this work. She has the patience of a saint and the delicate touch of a surgeon!

This panel is not available as a repro part so we used the replacement piece from a donor car, here you can compare the old and new.

Here you can see all of the lower windshield frame corner removed, leaving the fibreglass panels exposed. It is important not to damage the metal and fibreglass that we need to keep.

The replacement outer windshield frame section trimmed and ready to weld in. This is an original piece removed from a donor car.

And that’s that part done. The replacement panels welded into place, sounds easy if you say it quickly….

Now the attention turns to the upper corner. Whilst not an easy task it is an easier one than the lower corners. Here the rotten metal is cut out. Again this has to be done carefully so as not to damage the bit we need left behind.

The new windshield corner welded into place. This is a reproduction part and whilst the fit is generally good it is still not a particularly easy part to fit.

Once the repairs are carried out everything is sprayed with black primer to give it some protection. We also coated the inside of the windshield framed with Dynax S50 rust inhibitor to afford this car as much protection as possible.

The new windshield in and the interior reinstalled. Looks good, no more wet footwells, and no need to repaint the front end, only at CK!

As is often the case, a good deal of time, effort, and money on something you can’t see but my opinion is if you are going to own a classic car you need to treat it right, and that’s what Duncan has done here. By having us carry out this work he has ensured that the car won’t deteriorate further and will survive another 40 years or more.

Sadly not all Corvettes are treated this well and become donor vehicles!