Raider74

The body is off. Now my work begins.


Looking down the drivers side rocker channel:


Towards the back of the drivers side rocker channel there is some cancerous rust:


At the drivers #3 mount there is a large hole rusted where the mount goes:


Looking down the passenger rocker channel:


At the passenger #3 mount same thing, large cancerous rust hole:


The drivers side #4 mount needs major repairs:


A little pile of my rocker channel left by the #3 mount, with bolt head cut off. Anyone need to make some thermite?


I am looking for advice on major things to do while this is off. Already planned items include:

1.) Taking out the motor and transmission and cleaning them/ maybe having the seals and syncros redone on the transmission.

2.) It is a sad fact of life that I absolutely don't have the money to redo the suspension/drive shaft/differential/ or half shafts right now. This is non-negotiable. I wish I could... really.

3) Sand blast and Por-15 the frame and existing suspension components. Take apart and rebuild the suspension with new bolts, nuts and fasteners, sanding and por-15 each original part. Original bushings may be replaced on a needs basis.

4) Replace the fuel line and brake lines with brand new ones.

5) Weld in a home-made rocker channel metal piece on the back of each original rocker channel to restore the area around the #3 mount.

6) Fully re-glass and repair the drivers side #4 mount and install a new metal support bracket.

7.) Sand and por-15 all of the metal shields and brackets and mounts on the underside of the body and tunnel.

8.) Replace a lot of wires with new wires.

9.) In general, clean up and restore any small things that are now easy to get to, such as replacing the heater core, rebuilding/resealing/lubing the heater and Ac box and all of those internals.

Please let me know what you think of my plans. I am hoping to get the body back on late next summer, so I have all winter/spring/ and the beginning of summer to complete my repairs.

Then I want to drive the car another 40 years!

I appreciate your time and advice,
Sincerely,
Danny

Alan 71

Hi Danny,
Yes it does look like you have your work cut out for you.
I learned, and I think you'll find, that you can do a very good job by making up for a lack of $$ with hard work and time.
Your plans sounds like a good one to me!
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

7t9l82

what a great tree house. good luck

MrForce

Undercoating, sound deadening, lizardskin, dynamat... Pick one or some. Not that expensive and you are in a great position to get it done.

My.02

Rob

Raider74

Thanks for the encouragement and advice guys. This car should be back on the road (hopefully) by the end of next summer. I like the idea about under car insulation and sound deadening also... great idea thank you Rob. I need to find a thread on here about that... like where to put insulation under the body... how much insulation... how to protect it from weather (this car is a daily driver and that includes snow) ... etc. etc.

Any more advice from those who have been down this road before?

tyancey00

Under the carpet. The old under car rubber rust proof caused more rust. You can do a fine job under the carpet. There are some heat shields that can be very useful.. I would paint, but not try and insulate under the car...

Raider74

Excellent. I will repaint all of the heat shields and metal reinforcements. Sadly, I already have new carpet glued in with basic auto insulation under it (that grey stuff) and I don't really want to pull it up. If I wanted dynomat I should have done it then. I still have the rear area carpet to do though! I only did the front last summer.

I have been advised to at least replace the shocks at this point also, so I think I will force that into the budget.

So at this point it looks like my first next step is to remove the engine and transmission.

Denpo

Hi there.
I like your pragmatical approach, pretty much the one I had when I started my resto last year.
It's a good thing to plan things ahead and share it with the community.

A bunch of random though about your project :

1.) ....having the seals and syncros redone on the transmission.
You can do most of the rebuild by yourself, it's not that complicated, just finished mine. The only "special tools" you'd need it a press. Get a 6 to 10 ton on cheapbay, will do the job. Here you can trade time for money.

2.) It is a sad fact of life that I absolutely don't have the money to redo the suspension/drive shaft/differential/ or half shafts right now. This is non-negotiable. I wish I could... really.
That's ok, this can be after the body off anyway. Say you keep it for later

3) Sand blast and Por-15 the frame and existing suspension components. Take apart and rebuild the suspension with new bolts, nuts and fasteners, sanding and por-15 each original part. Original bushings may be replaced on a needs basis.
Don't get your bolts beforehand, except for critical grade 8 bolts you'd be surprise how much of them you can salvage. I learned (too late) that getting them plated is not that expensive.

4) Replace the fuel line and brake lines with brand new ones.
Did my fuel lines with teflon lined SS braided hose, cost as much as solid stainless line, should last forever.

One year project? I was having the same hope when I started, turned out it will take at least two years. If I knew everything about the vette I was about to restore I would have know it.
And if I knew it would have taken two years, I would have done things in a different order.

One thing that bugs me is how the rocker channels are badly corroded and yet the frame is very clean. Could it have been frame swapped already in the past?

Good luck in you restoration, looking forward to see your progress.
Keep us posted.

redwingvette

I too had to remove my body and replace rusted out rocker channels I bought the repair kit sold by most venders. The rest of my bird cage was still clean and only the rocker channels were bad. All the areas where the rubber mounts sat were nothing but rust holes.
I built some supports for the body to set on while I cut/hammered/ground out the rocker channels. It was a big job but I did it with a little help. I used a wire brush wheel to remove the surface rust off the frame. I replaced the fuel and brake lines with stainless steel lines.
Body-off project
Good luck with your project.

oldsarge

Brings back memories of when I pulled my 73 apart. Remember, depending on your budget, while it is all apart, now is the time to fix all the things, you can't get at, when it is back together. Good luck with your project and keep us posted.

Raider74

Thanks guys for the support. I will keep everyone updated on what is going on and hopefully this car will be back in time for the end of next summer! It is a busy time but I have lots of friends interested in learning about cars who want to help me with the vette. We should be able to knock out some stuff pretty quickly... possibly we may wire wheel the frame instead of sand blasting...

Raider74

First off let me say that progress will be happening a lot quicker now... as I am DONE with college!!!! Yay!!!



Now.... on to the business:









Here is my frame rear with all the stuff removed.



Here is my tool for De-Rustifying and a sample of its work.



After de-rustification here is the great coater of old frames to be used.



Don't ask. There were ummm... complications with the drivers side trailing arm removal. As to how to fix it I am going to grind off the rest of the extra plate and weld a nice new thick steel plate with a hole drilled in it onto the frame, using a bolt from the other side to hold/line it up. Sound acceptable?



While removing my trailing arm (drivers side) this nice "crack" opened up. Here is one more pic detailing it.



Now a note about my plans for the trailing arms. I do NOT have the money to replace or rebuild them. I know I really should but after new struts, composite rear spring, shocks, and full bushing kit, including the shock/strut bolt pieces, and a drop in 5 speed transmission, I cannot afford to do anything more than weld a plate over the damage, clean and por-15 them without pulling apart the hub assemblies, and put them right back on. They were working just fine before, no issues with the wheel bearings or anything so I am sure this will be OK for the mean time. Any thoughts on this matter?

Alwyn678

Quite a major undertaking. I am impressed that you have the drive and the ability.

I am certain that in the end, all of the effort will be rewarded

Raider74

Thank you Alwyn!

I have quite a scare to deal with right now. I was wire wheeling the frame and bending over to get an area under a rail when all of the sudden "Pop!"

Something in my lower back gave way and I collapsed to the ground because of the sharp pain. It took me quite a while to get up because any movements the wrong way would cause it to hurt again.

Since then I have gotten up and been able to take a shower and do some stretches and use an exercise ball to uncompress the discs in my back. It already feels loads better but I feel like I am done working for this weekend and possibly may take Monday off work.

I am only 23 and I guess this is the first time in my life I have really thrown my back out... darn my arrogance always trying to lift heavy things in my younger youth with my back and not my legs!!!

Anyways here are three more pics of what I got done today:

briankeery

First of all Danny,congrats on your graduation. As far as driving the car in the snow, where I live that would imply salt.....which will really mess with all your hard work. If it was me and money was tight, I would at least try to find a used replacement trailing arm instead of repairing that mess. Some things aren't worth skimping on. You can always use you stock spring(just rebuild) for now, maybe even the existing shocks, etc, as these components are easier to get to once the car is back on the road compared to replacing a trailing arm. This approach will allow you to make sure the hard to get to later stuff gets taken care of now. You've got to get around while the car is being rebuilt, so don't skimp on doing it safely as well as right the first time.If that means losing a summer of driving time, it will be worth it. Wishing you lots of luck in your journey.

P.S. Hope that back is feeling better. A few beers might help!!!!

Raider74

Hey Brian thanks for the well wishes with my back... I already have my monospring and shocks though in my possession... the original shocks would not even return to their extended state when compressed! Its not to bad to do a triling arm with the body on so if I need to I can do it later?

7t2vette

Having been down the same road having done a body-off restomod to my car, I have the following advice:

-It will take you far longer than you expect to finish it, and it will cost you far more money than you expect to finish it. Be ready to accept those two facts.

-Do everything you can with the car in this disassembled state, even if it means taking longer to gather the necessary funds to do so. You will regret it later if you don't. Don't cut corners due to lack of funds or wanting to finish it faster. You will regret it later.

As for those rear trailing arms, buck up and fix them properly, or buy new or good used ones. Your life is worth more.

69 Chevy

Kinda confused on your French word 'adieu' which means goodbye, farewell. I must be missing something cause it doesn't seem to fit in your context. What exactly are you saying many goodbyes to before whatever begins? I suspect you were not an English major?

BKbroiler

Since you brought it up, I believe the word he was looking for is "ado".

Mike Ward

Yes, important point. Good thing he didn't also say 'walla' cause then we'd all be completely confused.