Visited the body shop Sat that's straightening the frame. Spoke to them wed and got some bad news, bent & twisted in a few directions. He needed me to pull the engine & trans out so it can be pulled correctly. With not many options to get the car back & forth to the shop, Babylonvette came to the rescue. They moved the car two blocks down to his shop & Artie pulled the engine & transmission out, along with everything else

So now I've gone from this



To this





If everything goes as planned they set the car up Friday and pul the frame on Sat. Then it'll go back to Artie monday to drop the engine & transmission back in the car. I'm keeping my fingers crossed

Jim

 

Good luck to you...and I hope everything goes as planed

Rod

 

I admire people who have the courage to take on such major projects. I do not.

 

Hi BB,
Try to look at it this way....
In the first picture it appears that there's a more complete car, but that's a false impression. It's nothing more than hidden problems.
Now the car's more apart, but soon it will actually be put back together PROPERLY!!! That's PROGRESS!!!!
Regards,
Alan

 

Make sure that you install a brace from one side of your motor mount area to the other. This is so that when pulling the frame, these points do not change and cause for more drama when you go to put the engine in. It is a preventive measure that I use while pulling. Also if you can remember, how many shims did you have in the upper control arm mounting area on both sides. If the shim thickness was very thin, you should have him stretch the cradle again so you will have a good amount of shims installed when it is aligned. Without the use of the aftermarket "spreader bar" that joins your upper control arms together. These points will begin collapsing in torwards each other every time you bottom out the front suspension while going over bumps, etc. Then the next time it is aligned the mechanic will remove shims to allow the upper control arm to be pulled back into correct position. The longer it goes on , more and more shims are removed until you have none left and have no ability to align the car unless you stretch the cradle or install one of the off-set upper control arm shafts. It is something I perform on every off-frame I do at my shop. I don't need the drama when it is all done and painted. It was just a thought. Job is looking good from your photos. I hope that you are going to gelcoat your body "DUB"

 

Alan

I know it's only a temporary set back. Can't build anything without the proper foundation. Hopefully that is what I will have again once it comes back.

grandmastercorvette

Thanks for the tips, but the major issue is another shop pulled on the frame without fully measuring and screwed it all up. They stretched out the curve in the right front frame rail making it longer than it should be by a large margin. As soon as the engine came out the motor mount bracket moved forward out of position. I didn't post that pic because the camera angle makes it look worse than it is. The center link and tie rods are angled as well.

The shop knows to keep the upper control arm dimension in spec & I do have a spreader bar on the car. It's just removed for the straightening work.

Jim

 

Why do you recommend this, as it is not factory-correct?

Steve

 

more money more money. Why do i love theses cars

 

It's also 1970s boat technology.

We use Epoxy primer here in the 21st century