I have a chance to get a rolling chassis for my 79, that is said to be in good condition. My 79 has some frame damage at the front left crosmember, but otherwise is in good condition with no rust throughs. The birdcage area shows some rust, but not severe & I have arrested that with POR-15 and cured the water leaks with a new windshield & sealant. The damage looks to be caused by someone running over something. The lower A-frame and mounting shaft were replaced and some crossmember damage was welded. The welding is very poor, but I can repair that. The car drives and tracks straight & I drove it back to San Antonio from Little Rock with no problems. The car never tried to pull or drift in either direction. I have not yet done any suspension work, but I anticipate the 'usual' mods; i.e. brakes, jeep box, perhaps new VB&P front end. The car has a new 9 leaf rear & the trailing arms show signs of being newer than the car. Now to the question:

Should I repair my frame & add parts to it or should I get the rolling chassis, rust proof the frame, add all the suspension components to it & then pull the body off & switch rolling chassis. I am going to build a new motor & tranny so I would add that to the chassis before I dropped the body back on. If I go with the chassis swap, how long would the swap take?

 

^^ this is what I would do, get the new frame/chassis ready before you take the body off. You're saving lots of "downtime". Sounds like your car runs and drives already, might as well drive it while you get the new stuff ready.

Timewise though? Anything from a couple weeks to many-many years...

 

I should have made myself more clear. I would drive my car until the switch was ready to be made. The engine will be new, but the TH400 will come from the 79 & will need a rebuild & install in the chassis before the body swap is done. As far as the swap time goes, what I am looking for is an actual conservative estimate on body removal & replacement. The screwing around time, well I am very familar with that.

 

Still the ?

 

If you have some help and stuff to work with forget about breaks
for beer and have the new chassis ready to go it can be a fast job.
Friend of mine took his 67 apart in 85 its still not back together.
24 hrs in a day depends on a strong will to get it done, air tools help.

 

Anyone else have an opinion?

 

If you have all the other parts ready to go, you can swap a frame out in a weekend with no problem, I have done many of them over the years fixing crashed cars.
The big time is if you run into unexpected rust in the rocker area and frame bolts that do not want to come out.
In the mid 80's at the body shop,me and a helper would tear a wrecked truck or surburban down swap frames and hang new sheet metal on them in a 8 hour day, then send to paint running and driveing, this was useally swapping the suspension out also.

Mark G.

 

If you plan on all that suspension work and a new engine, it may be easier to do the swap. Suspension work on these cars, especially the rear, goes alot easier with the body off. But you have to watch the time devil, I pulled my dash to do a tach swap 3-4 weeks ago, still not done working every night. Two daughters, two dogs, 2 acres to mow, cat (my dog is set on eating her), the wife, new stereo, new speakers, painted metal trim pieces 4 times due to fish eyes and paint lifting (stripped to bare metal twice), all new dash lights, some new toggle switches, new relays, new power window switchs, new headlight switch, Oh yeah ! the Tach. I'm dyin to drive the thing again !!!!!

 

If you can get all the parts rounded up, I would build up the new rolling chasis and have it set and ready. Do the swap over a weekend and get it done. Then if there is other stuff to do (interior, paint, etc) do all that after the swap is complete and your knuckles heal.
Isn't there a VIN somewhere on the frame? would that be an issue?

 

I would think SA had some good frame shops. They did when I hung around there in the late 60's. You can get yours straightened and rewelded in a few days. Tackle the suspension stuff as weekend projects.

Now if you just want to do a frameoff, go for the rolling chassis, "weekend swap".

 

After the swap, fix the old one up and ebay it

 

I had the same thought & I think this is the way I'll go. My current frame is good (my current belief) but by using the replacement I'll be able to coat the frame with rust preventers & not have to worry about it again. Wife likes the idea too, as my rebuild projects tend to run very long & she enjoys the rides in the country. I'll have time to enjoy the car while not having to rush through suspension mods. Now if I can just convince her that sidepipes are better than sliced bread.....