jkredwing

Hi guys, I'm a newbie here and want to thank you for all the good info I've gathered while following this great forum. Back in around '91 I picked up a '66 basket case in the Four Corners region. It had been sitting covered up for many years until a guy bought and started to restore it, but then became ill and was forced to sell it. It's a #s matching L79, M21 posi 3:70 coupe and almost everything is there. It has been hit in the left rear behind the wheel but was repaired with what looks like a factory panel. The frame rail on the left of tank is bent in and up slightly just behind the diff cross member. The rest of frame is solid with only minor surface rust probably caused by ground moisture. The only serious problem is that the diff is slightly off plane as the rest of the car, and the rear cross member is even more off plane. My plan was to get it running and looking good so I could drive it before they take my licence away but now I think I might have to lift the body. Any suggestions?

dkleather

I think you will have to lift the body to see exactly what needs done and to make it possible to determine what needs to be done to straighten the frame. With the problems you describe, I see no other way if you want to do it right.

DansYellow66

It looks like the crossmemeber the differential is mounted to is tweaked a bit. Good news is that they are just bolt in and not real difficult to replace. Sounds like the left rear kick up rail is pretty screwed up. A good Corvette specialty shop might be able to weld in a new one without pulling the body. It's possible that the kickup portion is OK and only part of that frame section needs to be replaced with a spliced in part and the whole frame set right. But if it was hit that hard I would be worried about some damage to the underbody. To jack the rear body mount up and twist the whole rear crossmember had to do some damage under there that may only be hidden on the surface with some immediate panel work. Ultimately, to put the old girl back right, the body needs to be lifted.

jkredwing

Thanks guys, yes the cross member is slightly tweaked but I wonder if it could have been caused by someone torquing the heck out it in 1st as there doesn't seem to be any related damage to frame, trailing arm, springs etc. in the area of diff cm. The rear cm was moved in and down (not up as my 1st post stated) just behind the kick up. There is a crack in the under body in front of tank but has been repaired, I'll pull the carpet and look up top. Are there some good points I could use to do some diagonal measuring across the whole frame to make sure there isn't further damage?

jkredwing

Sorry, the rear cm is only moved down a little, the rail behind it is pushed in some.

jkredwing

Looking at it again I can see how a hit that catches the wheel could travel up the half shaft and cause the tweak. Like my wife says, sometimes I just don't look so good.

68hemi

Unless some of the people posting have frame straightening experience I would ignore most of it and take it to a good shop that has quality frame straightening equipment.

jkredwing

I talked to the owner of a major collision shop (in my town on Route 66) with a laser frame rig and he acted like that might be a little out of their scope, but I always thought these were pretty simple frames. I got the feeling they were gonna charge me up the ying yang even when I told him I might bring in a rolling frame, less drive train, just because it's a vintage Vette. Thats why I'm trying to glean as much info from this forum as I can so I can do as much of the job myself as possible. And I'm really trying to avoid project creep as I am on a limited budget. And I think after blending everyone's input I can come up with a workable plan. Thanks again all! I love this forum.

MikeM

I would take it to a frame shop. You don't need a laser anything and I'd leave the body in place to have it checked/straightened. That way, if the body is sprung, it'll pull it back where it belongs when you pull the frame.

A good frame guy once told me if you need more than three hours on a frame rack to fix collision damage, you need a new frame or new car so the cost shouldn't be all that great at the right shop.

jkredwing

That's exactly the info I was referring to about the beauty of this forum, sound advice that makes sense. This area of damage appears to have been repaired (I'm guessing '69,'70,'72) with a factory q panel. It looks good inside and out. Seeing hows the drive train was already out when I bought it, I'll pull it up on the trailer and bring it to a shop that maybe one of yous know about in Arizona. Hopefully N. AZ. That way I could start this journey on the right foot. And maybe then set my right foot on it many more times! In the mean time I'll keep cleaning, evaluating, buffing, taking inventory of parts, maybe send the dizzy to Lars, see who can rebuild the 3367, oh yea, and tear down the L79 to see whats inside. Not not mention the tranny. I need a beer, oh and the wife unit is yellin at me. You all have a safe and great Memorial Day and remember all of our fallen. Then an old car just doesn't seem so important.

68hemi

Where do you live? I am in Central AZ.

jkredwing

I'm in Flagstaff, although some day may relocate to the Verde Valley. Hopefully be able to afford a second home there for the winter but that may not happen. Winters here are getting old and we live a ways down an unmaintained dirt road. In fact when I finally get to fire up the Vette (which may at least 2 yrs off) I'll have to rent a storage unit to keep it in Like I do with my Goldwing. We have a couple of high mileage beater Outbacks that just fly through a foot and a half of snow!

Sounds like you've had lot of Vettes. Iv'e only driven a Midyear once back '70 when my older brother needed to use my Datsun PU for some yard work. I told him "Well, I need to do some driving around" so he gave me the keys to his '64 coupe. That was a fun day.