Thank you! Hoping they will help someone along the way May even help me if I need to know how I did something.

The tool with the red head is a rivet nut tool. It is amazing and so handy. It is a must have for builds like this. It basically swages a nut into a hole just like a rivet. This allows you to use bolts to secure items rather than self tapping screws. I got mine from Amazon. The one I bought is no longer available but this one is very similar.

That wire stripping tool is a radio shack brand I have had for a really long time. Doing a quick search in Amazon this one looks to be built exactly the same.

I also picked up the crimping tool from Amazon and it has been great. I have found its limitations and have ordered a second crimp tool from summit for the weather pack connectors. This crimping tool crimps both crimps on the contact at the same time. The weather pack connector contacts don't like this so I bought the summit one that does one at a time.
Summit Racing Weather-Tite Crimping Tools

While we are at it I am going to add this cable lug crimping tool that I recently bought and have been using to build battery cables. They do a decent job and make tight crimps. Not the prettiest in the world though. For the price it is doing well. I haven't post anything about the battery cables yet as I am still working on them. They are part of the next video. I will also list out the battery cable materials I ordered at that time.

Here are some other really helpful materials I have purchased to help with the wiring:

- These are amazing! The 3:1 shrink is great and the adhesive lining ensure it stays sealed. I should have no issue with connections corroding.
- This came in handy when I had replace a broken connector but the contacts were fine. Extracted the contacts and moved them to the new connector.

 

I guess I need to get my plastic out and spend more money.
Thanks!

 

Holy crap...This is an amazing build. Where did you learn to do all this ! I hope you continue to post on this build. It is truly amazing...
Wish you would do this to my 1977 Vette which is all original and i have had it since 1980...I guess i am dreaming...

 

Thank you for the compliments. Honestly, this is my first build like this. I have always been involved with and worked on automotive stuff. I have been gathering tools and knowledge for years. The vast amount of knowledge on the internet has also been a huge aid in figuring things out. Only thing I can say is you have to try it or you will never know if you can do it.

I am taking the chassis to the frame rack today. Hopefully they can get it all straightened out.

 

Good,
Many people start a project and skip this most important step.
Good luck.

 

Keep up the progress.....I'm jealous!

 

Got the chassis back from the body shop. They said it was pretty twisted up but it wasn’t too hard to get it back within specs. I have put the body back on and everything looks straight now! I do still have a gap at the #4 body mounts. I have shimmed the forward three mounts until the body is sitting solid (it was rocking without shins) and the door gaps look decent when torqued. There is about a 5/8” gap at the #4 mounts. Estimating about 3/4” considering the mount will compress about 1/4”.

At this point the only thing I can think to do is add a spacer to fill the gap. I have an old set of solid mounts from an early C3 and two of those stacked together are right at 3/4”. It appears the bolts are long enough too.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

 

You still have a 1-3/4" gap between the frame and the body.
That seems like too much to me. My 72 solid mounts are not very thick, maybe only 1/2" or 3/4". IMO you are still an inch low in the rear section. The curve at the rear upright is relatively weak/highly stressed.
Did you give the frame shop one of the C3 frame dimension drawings?
If not they may have just leveled the rear section left/right and not front/rear.
My frame shop did not even have dimensions in their expensive frame machine database for that old of a car.
I would measure it yourself to confirm, and then go talk to them.

 

The frame shops I talked to wouldn’t check the frame for my GMC truck build because it was to old and the specs were not in their computer data base.
I found a guy that has been in business for decades and specializes in vintage body and frame work.
He did frames the old fashion way and got my twisted truck frame pulled to 1/8” of factory specs.

 

Thanks for that great info. They didn’t say anything about not having the measurements and I assumed they had them. this is my first time getting a frame worked on. I mentioned multiple times about the rear body mounts being low. I made it a point and they acted like they would fix it. I will get the chassis set up tomorrow and measure it the best I can using what I have. Will be hard to get a straight datum. I’ll talk to the body shop too. Hopefully it’s what leigh1322 said and they just straightened it and they will work with me.

 

But you are looking for a huge 1-1/2" drop. That should be easy to measure in a garage.
Base you "datam" line off the #1,2,3,body mounts. I use a 5 or 6' ft long piece of 1" square aluminum from Home Depot to measure the floor and other uses. With a level on top.

 

Don’t forget, garage floors are not level and make your measurements accordingly.
Mine slants about 2” from back to front and about 1” from center to each side.

 

Part 8 of the corvette build is up. Thank you for the help with the chassis. I think its all straightened out now.

 

These videos are so helpful.
Thanks again.

 

I decided I didn’t want to spend $400 on a new core support. I repaired the one that came out of the car. This was an AC car and the support for the condenser was completely gone. The support for the radiator was in great condition. Just needed to replace metal around the bottom.

 

Wow, the support came out amazing.
Nice work.
It must be nice to have a complete set of shop tools.

 

Glad I stumbled across this one! Gave me some videos to watch and get up to date. Well done on the work so far! Looking forward to see this progress.

 

Thank you!

Is the set of tools ever complete? Haha I have been buying and gathering tools for about the last two decades. When I need a tool to do a job, I buy it, if I can afford it. There are still a lot of tools I want to get. Most of them at metal working tools. I think a tubing bender is next on the list.

but honestly, for this job I used common hand tools for the most part. Hammer, clamps, piece of steel I used as a dolly, hole punch (could have used a drill), welder, cutoff disk, die grinder, sander, and grinding disk. Should be more info in the next video.

If I had a press break it would have been easier and better looking, but I don’t. Only way to learn how to do it is to try. Sometimes it doesn’t work and buying a new core support was my backup plan.

 

Nice,
Santa just dropped me a nice tubing bender, two sets of dyes for single and double flares, a new tubing cutter and a few other goodies.
All from Eastwood.
Last Christmas Santa dropped off a new welder, welding table, helmet and again more goodies from Eastwood.
I wonder how he knows that Eastwood has many top quality tools?
Check out Eastwood’s website.
A break is on my wish list, but I don’t have a very large garage so I have to make choices.

 

Very nice! Eastwood does look like they make good tools. At PRI this last year I found JMR Manufacturing. There bender/notcher combo is good quality and priced well. I think its the one I will go with.

https://www.jmrmfg.com/collections/t...tcher-fab-pack

We did buy my dad one of the Eastwood welders many years ago. Many people don't understand that you have to use .023 wire on body panels. A lot of welders can't handle that small size. I purchased a Miller 215. I also recently picked up the spool gun for it so I can weld aluminum. The TIG kit is on the list for the near future as well!