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I took this video of my C3 nose off the frame, before I put a support under the nose.
I was surprised how much it moved. C3 Nose Flex
Yeah it's scary how much the nose moves off the body! I've had a ratchet strap from the radiator support to the T top bar this whole time to keep it from sagging.
I couldn't resist starting to work on the body work and started messing with the underside this week
I got some green degreaser, a bucket of soapy water, scotch pads, rags. and a lot of elbow grease to start cleaning up the underside. The natural look isn't bad at all once you get the gunk off.
Unfortunately, Bubba put some kind of underliner on the wheel wells and they wouldn't scrub off - and I couldn't leave it like that...
Out came the heat gun and the razor blades! I was surprised at how easily that crap came off once it was heated up!
Since that worked so well, I figured I'd try out the ole "razor n heat gun" paint stripping method: Paint came right off!!!!
Well I can definitely make some serious work in one day with this method, but stopped here until I degrease the car and finish the underside. What's intriguing is all the little blisters/pimples go through all the layers to the fiberglass! And this scares me!!!!! Some kind of oil or solvent? How do I neutralize this mess??
I hit it with some acetone and it dissolved some of the primer and exposed the original layer. Whatever this is, makes me nervous that it could ruin the next paint job. Anyone have experience with this?
I did have some more fun tonight: started stripping everything off the cowl and degreasing it
First I decided to put some more support on the front end, because Leigh & Rescue planted a bug in my ear Well I decided to do some of my fine redneck engineering: Hey it ain't stupid if it works! lol
I started stripping parts off the cowl in preparation to sand it for paint: latches, hinges, master cylinder, and the heater box are gone!
I think these hinges need to go to the powder coater to get that pizazz like Oldcarbum!
So I now have additional support on my front end - will this be sufficient to remove all the radiator support and associated from brackets? These all need to be sand blasted and painted. I think it'll be fine as it is - what say you ?
Sure it is light and does not need that much pressure to hold it up. My finger could push it up an inch. I just raised mine another inch for good measure and then supported it with a 1x2 under the cross car headlight metal support bracket.
Thanks for the boost.
If you are going to start sending small parts to have them powder coated, decide how much gloss you want everything coated.
My body and paint guy suggested to go with 60% gloss black because it is close to the factory chassis black, has a slight gloss but won’t show any slight scratches you might get in it during assembly.
Personally I think he made the right call and I’m glad I followed his advise.
If you want to build a body dolly for it, I used Alan's plans readily available on this site. I made the front a little longer to fit under the nose, for support. It's roughly 9 ft long. Then the blue line shows where I put my vertical 1x2 support to hold the nose. I actually could have made my frame say 6 inches shorter. The rear I used a similar vertical support up to the tub as well, just because. Those screw to the rear of the frame and straight up to the #4 body mount. I put those 3 supports in after the main body was down on the birdcage channel. It's been like that for a couple years now.
Here is Alan's plans. I did not like all the flimsy vertical supports to the body mounts. I just sat the birdcage directly on the 2x8s.
My hesitation on building the body dolly is the driveway coming from my barn is all gravel , so it would be a paint to push it out there and back into the barn with caster wheels. I have to paint the engine bay at least the way it sits, and then strip the paint off the body. I want to sit the car in the sun for a few day to make sure whatever is in my fiber glass comes out, so putting the body on the chassis may be the best way to do this. It's a long gravel driveway from my barn to the concrete pad that get's sun in front of my other garage.
Thanks for the boost.
If you are going to start sending small parts to have them powder coated, decide how much gloss you want everything coated.
My body and paint guy suggested to go with 60% gloss black because it is close to the factory chassis black, has a slight gloss but won’t show any slight scratches you might get in it during assembly.
Personally I think he made the right call and I’m glad I followed his advise.
They powder coated my frame a color called "lava" that was a satin black they commonly use for frames. I'll have to ask how much gloss is in it. What'd you do with your hood latches and hinges?
My hesitation on building the body dolly is the driveway coming from my barn is all gravel , so it would be a paint to push it out there and back into the barn with caster wheels. I have to paint the engine bay at least the way it sits, and then strip the paint off the body. I want to sit the car in the sun for a few day to make sure whatever is in my fiber glass comes out, so putting the body on the chassis may be the best way to do this. It's a long gravel driveway from my barn to the concrete pad that get's sun in front of my other garage.
Put bigger wheels on the dolly for your situation.
Put bigger wheels on the dolly for your situation.
This would help! But how to you get under the dolly to clean/paint/body work the underside of the car? I have it high up and wide open now. Once the underside is done, the dolly would be amazing for blocking out the car
I've discussed my paint blisters on the FB page "Budget C3 Corvette Projects" (very active group) and there are three theories that are all feasible:
Car was previously stripped down with chemical stripper and some was left behind causing the blisters
Car was previously stripped down, moisture in the fiberglass and primer , primer then piled on. Would blister up , and PO would sand down and paint over every time the moisture would pop up under the paint.
Solvent pop from improper mixing of paint
These are all feasible and I don't think it can be narrowed down. My plan is to:
strip car down to bare fiberglass
Let sit in the sun and bake for a few days, thoroughly wiping with acetone at the end of every day
block out bare fiber glass with 80 grit, specifically in the trouble areas that are visible.
lay down 4 coats of primer (feather fill?) and start body work
This would help! But how to you get under the dolly to clean/paint/body work the underside of the car? I have it high up and wide open now. Once the underside is done, the dolly would be amazing for blocking out the car
I have seen a similar dolly built waist high, to get underneath easier. I think that is also the idea with the vertical 2x4s. Easier to get under and not much in the way. I just thought those looked wobbly. The one I am thinking of had the rectangular frame waist high. The bare body weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 450 lbs if nothing is on it.
And Harbor freight has a variety of wheel sizes.
When I get to my body work I want to keep all that dust away from my nice clean frame!
I put the Harbor Freight 12” wheels on my dolly.
They take 30 psi in each tire and those will roll right over any gravel you have.
I also placed my uprights exactly where Alan71 shows them on the drawing above and they aligned perfectly with the body mounts.
The paint and body shop added the front clip support to the dolly when they set the body on.
Basically they laid a 1x4 across the front of the dolly to add the proper lift.
I would strongly recommend Alan71’s dolly.
I built mine to exact specifications and it works great.
Just try and get it as close to square as possible and pay close attention to the measurements as they are precise.
Looks like an awesome event.
There is a thread specifically for posting pictures for shows and events.
Those pictures would be a great addition to the thread.
I could be wrong but I thing the thread starter was 4Vettes.
I was fighting a limited height of 9'2" wanted to use it to lift the body, have a center beam strong enough to lift the engine if needed ((2)x2*8s), as well as store the whole body & dolly 3 feet in the air for the last 2 years so I could use the floor below it for storage of major heavy subassemblies.
Has worked out well so far.
I like it! I have a 4 car garage but I use the other three bay regularly.....especially with winter on its way. I want to do something for a few hundred dollars to get the body off and in the air so I can roll the chassis in and out underneath.
Well I decided to do some of my fine redneck engineering: Hey it ain't stupid if it works! lol
