pretty unimpressed
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,130
Likes: 1
From: mesa,az
pretty unimpressed
with the welds on my 75s frame. I had it blasted so i can do a full weld on it and box the front horns. after it was done i got a good look at the originial welds. 
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,289
Likes: 3
From: East Waterboro Maine
Much to my surprise most of the welds on my frame looked disgusting after I sandblasted the frame. Many still had slag on them! I ended up touching up a lot of them. It looked like they were done by a 4th grader...
The ORIGINAL and bestest
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 10,009
Likes: 240
From: Toronto Ontario
Toronto Events Coordinator
I found the same poor welds on my frame during my body off restoration, so I ended up welding every single inch of the frame, as well as adding the recomended gussets to it, with the exception of covering the round hole on the drivers side, I forgot to do that one. I guess I will do it in 30 years when I do the next body off on the car!! 
A few areas where I did a lot of welding work are: the front shock towers, the front lower control arm brackets,the motor mounts,the rear diff crossmember, and the rear kick ups. Its no wonder these cars rot out in the kick up area, there are at least 4 different pieces of metal all joined here with poor welds, but I fixed all that!
People ask me all the time if all the frame work was neccessary, or made a difference, since it took me about 6 weeks here and there to get it all done. It took me 7 years to finish the restoration, and honestly I can't really remember how it drove before, but I will say that the car is extremely tight, and handles really quite well, considering the shortcomings inherent in the factory design. I also have a full VB&P suspension kit and all poly bushings.
Here are some pics from recent track time that show how flat the car is on the corners:
A few areas where I did a lot of welding work are: the front shock towers, the front lower control arm brackets,the motor mounts,the rear diff crossmember, and the rear kick ups. Its no wonder these cars rot out in the kick up area, there are at least 4 different pieces of metal all joined here with poor welds, but I fixed all that!
People ask me all the time if all the frame work was neccessary, or made a difference, since it took me about 6 weeks here and there to get it all done. It took me 7 years to finish the restoration, and honestly I can't really remember how it drove before, but I will say that the car is extremely tight, and handles really quite well, considering the shortcomings inherent in the factory design. I also have a full VB&P suspension kit and all poly bushings.
Here are some pics from recent track time that show how flat the car is on the corners:
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,098
Likes: 378
From: Las Vegas - Just stop perpetuating myths please.
The front cross member is a common problem.
Beware of that front crossmember to frame weld. Mine was found separating and welded before complete failure - others have not be as lucky to find it in time before some major frame twisting.
A year or 2 ago someone posted his pix of some ugly bent-up crossmember that hurt the frame also. I recall it was the Xmember seam (mine was on the joint with frame). He was able to bend it back and reweld but left frame scars that don't help car value - even if it was never in a collision it shure looked like it.
cardo0
A year or 2 ago someone posted his pix of some ugly bent-up crossmember that hurt the frame also. I recall it was the Xmember seam (mine was on the joint with frame). He was able to bend it back and reweld but left frame scars that don't help car value - even if it was never in a collision it shure looked like it.
cardo0
