Koz

Is it just me or do most of you think about doing a frame off restoration job on your vette? Something about making her new again excites me but is it worth the effort? Is it a lot of effort or just a lot of money..:lol: or both. For those of you who did it.. was it fun? Would you do it again? How long were you down? Did you know what you were doing or learning along the way.? One or two person job? Just wondering if I'd be biting of more that I can chew..

73-454

You do a frame off, when the frame is rotten no othe reason, everything else can be done with the frame and the body as a unit. One of the best ways to keep a frame from rotting is by oil spraying the frame.

paso

Enjoyed fixing the 77 so much decided to buy a 76 with a bad frame I changed the frame and kept going. No rush to finish it's one of three projects going on at the same time. This allows me no irritating wait time for parts. :)

454Big

'cause you want to do it?????? :blueangel:

70 LT-1 Convert

It has to be the love affair with your car!!!! I have seen many frame off projects, most cost more than the car is worth, $30 to $40K. I sawSome high end cars have no problem recovering the cost but it must not be the return on investment that movitates. If I had the room I would consider doing it myself but even that would finish around $15 to $20K, depending on starting condition. Good Luck

69L71

If you're able to do the work yourself and have the facilities you can do a frame-off for not much more money than a frame-on. Its really not that hard. The main thing is making sure you're organized and thorough.

The benefits are multifold, even for a driver. You get EVERYTHING clean (all the nooks and crannies), its easier to rebuld the front and rear suspension with the body out of the way, it allows you to replace all brake and fuel lines (next to impossible with the body on), lets you get the rear end out and rebuilt, and lets you replace damaged or missing body bushings. Its just A LOT easier to restore the car when its apart.

I did my first total body-off resto on my convertible last year (see the pics in the link in my sig line) and completed the body-off portion of my L71 coupe. Now I just need to finish the rest of the car (hopefully this year). I've never regretted doing this way. The results are worth it. Looking at my cost spreadsheet, it cost me about $15K to do the whole restoration on the convert (I did everything except paint and bodywork). The only added costs from doing the body-off were:

Body Bushings
Sandblasting the frame
Paint for the frame
Brake/Fuel Lines
Lumber to build a 4x4 jig to hold the body

I figure those items cost me MAYBE $500.

The downside is that you will definately lose use of the car during the resto, you need LOTS of space, you need to come up with a method for removing and reinstalling the body. If you can deal with those issues you should consider it. If you can't don't even think about it. Reputable corvette shops will charge you easily $40K for a body off resto job. In fact I know of a recent case of a local guy who just finished paying $55K for the restoration of his '65 convert., which he payed $25K to acquire. That's $80K! Unless your uncle leaves you his 12Kmi L88 this is NOT the best choice.

Do it yourself or just drive and enjoy.


[Modified by 69L71, 9:11 AM 3/21/2002]

dladd74roadster

I am planning a frame-off on mine because it has 200k miles on it and I intend to keep the car forever. The frame is perfect but over it's life the car has leaked every type of fluid known to man. The underside of the body is absolutely cruddy. I have been under the car and scrubbed it as much as possible but don't feel that the job is complete. The only way to do it completely is to have the body out of the way. I also want to have the frame powdercoated along with all of the suspension parts. That leaves me no choice but body removal. I am going to do it myself as I do consider it a one-man job. You just have to really take your time and don't cut corners. If you go to all of the trouble of removing the body, do EVERYTHING right the first time.

dl

honaker

I didn't it because i thought it would be easier to replace all the things i wanted to fix. I figured it would be a less hassle taking off the body than all the other things.
The cost isn't that bad. I'm doing most of the work my self, some things i'm sending out to be done like powder coating and having the rear trailing arms rebuilt. Doing all the disassembly save a lot of money. The trailing arms are only going to cost me $100 to be re built. That because i took them apart my self then deivered them to the guy with all the new bears and seals. All he had to do was put them back together and do all the run outs. To have somebody do the whole thing for you usually runs about $150-200 per arm. Mine was $100 for both.
I also didn't because i just wanted to. I wanted to replace all the rubber bushings, remove all the rust etc. I estimate it will run me about $3000 total by the time i'm done.
I'm just primerly doing frame suspesion though. No real body work or interior work. I'll do that later.
Check out my website. I have a lot of what i'm doing on there. :smash:

Anar76

I did a fairly thorow resto on my vette.
Havn't touched the engine yet though.
But I am really considering doing a frame off, just because I want to :)
There's no corners cut with a frame off.
I Don't have any real problems, Just small things that irritate me, So I will probably do a frame off.

Steve Adkins

In my opinion definitly do a frame off. :yesnod: I am right in the middle of a frame off coupe to vert conversion. It gives you a piece of mind knowing that everything is cleaned and painted and reassembled with newparts. I am enjoying the heck out of mine. :cheers:

shamby

I'm doing a frame off on my 77. The body is off the frame as we speak. I have enjoyed every minute of it. Once finished, I plan on buying a crome bumber project car and do the same thing.

Lohkay

In the middle of a frame off too...rebuilding it as a race car... Its loads of fun as I'm learning as I go but it sure does cost a lot...but thats more related to the type of project I have.

Koz

If I decided to do this.. Can I borrow your lift? :lol: I'm afraid that once I open her up I'm going to go nuts and won't be satisfied until I build a new car which will cost me.. I have no intention on track racing but would like a "tire smoking" driveline.. I guess who wouldn't... Right now she's stock and run fine..knock on something.. she leaks a little..but who doesn't... :jester (I'm tracking down the sources of the leaks..) She's got pickup but nothing to write home about.. I'm thinking that when she starts to smoke I'll make the engine upgrade/rebuild/zz4 decision but since she only has surface rust on the frame and not much else I should keep her top on.. for now anyway.. :)

Does it make sense to paint what I can see on the frame to keep from rusting or would that just bubba things up.? Is oiling the frame the best thing to do now?

81VETTOM

I am not doing a frame off, it really isn't bad enough, so I'll fix whats needed and keep driving it. May be the only 81 I ever have...along with another (maybe) one. then I can have 2 :smash: hmmmmmmmm

74-Roadster

It's the only way to make it brand new. :D

groovyjay

After 2 years and biiiiiiig $$$ later project "WORLD BIGGEST JIG JAW PUZZLE" is still in small pieces, now coming together slowly but surely. YES I would do it all over again, no regrets!
:cheers:

Chris Fowler

Someday, and I really mean someday, I will be doing a complete frame off on mine.

The main reason for me is that the frame is not 100%. I know the previous owner had some welding done on it and I can see some spots that bother me.

I don't think it's anything to worry about yet, but someday it will be and that someday I will be learning a lot more about my baby. :D

Monkeywrench

I'm in the same boat as Chris. My frame is not 100% (bubba and his welder) but it's not fragile either. I don't have near as much experience with Corvettes as some of the guys posting above. So I've decide to do as much as I can with the frame on. I want to enjoy the car while I slowly restore it. Then one day down the road I'll rip the body off.