Howdy fellers:

I'm a transplant from the Team Camaro board (still have the 69' Camaro) and recently started to restore my wife's 69 Chevelle. I'm about to lift the body off the frame and restore the frame. What are some good products, besides POR 15, to use on the frame after I clean and prep? Also when I get to the body paint, what is a really deep black to use(color name and brand)? I probably will go with base coat, clear coat. I would like to spend somewhere in the mid range as far as quality.

I've done a search on body lifting and a lot of great info! Great site!

Joe,

I am planning on trying a new approach. I plan on using 1 engine hoist and 4 straps to centerlift the entire body at once. I have seen it said you can just wrap under the roof but I don't want to do that. Center seems to be just forward of the back window opening. Run 2 straps through trunk holes and 2x6 and 2 straps up and down the side past the lower hinge to grap the front body mount hole. I'll let you know if this works. Comments anybody?

As far as the frame goes, how far are you going with " clean and prep "?

If you are going to sandblast or chemical strip, I would go with powdercoating on the frame. Very nice and very durable. Paint wise, Eastwood sells their Chassis Black by the quart.

www.eastwood.com (http://www.eastwood.com)

I don't know anything about different paint brands for the body, but as far as colour, how about Tuxedo Black. It's nice and is a GM colour.

Joe
My 66 finally got paint yesterday,it came out the rich,deep black that i wanted.The shop that did the work mixes their own black.Dupont straight black tint with Dupont jet black and other stuff that i dont understand well enough,but it turned out straight and looks like i hoped it would turn out.They spent almost 200 hours on the shell(body) itself

Bob Adamsky

Light black, dark black, it's all the same. Black is black. You can spray the frame with some semi gloss urethane black.

Black is black? No, some have a brown shade, grey, blue, etc. In the old days black was fairly consistant but not anymore. Even the clearcoat will effect the color of black.

Chevellenut,
Another option is to bolt a bar or 2x4 from the backside through the four rear seat belt holes, attaching the straps to the two outers. Then attach the other two straps to bolts in the front outer seatbelt holes and lift with the hoist INSIDE the car. Never done it myself but have seen a 66 done this way.

cheers,
Mike S.

To me the best looking black paint job will be a single stage urethane job. Put a baseclear black car next to a single stage car, the single stage will look WAY deeper and richer.

As for painting a frame, etch primer then epoxy primer sealer then SS urethane. The only way to do it other then powdercoat.

Just remember when dealing with paint you really do get what you pay for!!...Eric

i am epoxy priming my frame tomorrow and will paint it with a semi gloss black single stage urethane paint. I have a friend who is restoring a 56 chevy and swears by it if you are totally hands on or are looking for a powdercoating alternative i agree completly epoxy primer!

Thanks for all the replies. Some good ideas to keep me busy for a while. The body comes off today after I fight with the e-brake cable at the fire wall. I read some good ideas for releasing that clamp, I think I'll try a hose clamp to compress the finger clip.

HeavyMetal69 I put my 69 on jack stands. High enough so it would roll out from under the body when lifted off. Once in position. I lifted the body at front body bolt area with a chain and engine hoist. Raised about 5". Slid a 4x6 under it and rested the board on cinder block columns on each side. Moved to the rear. Put a rope threw the trunk holes. Did the same as front. Took the frame off the jack stands and rolled frame out. Here is what i did after frame was stripped. I had 4, 3" casters laing around. I welded an 18" 3/4 all thread to each of them. 2 flat washers and 2 nuts per caster. Installed these in the 4 holes on the frame 2 behind the front wheels 2 in front of the rear wheels. Had no problem moving it around.
Good luck with the 69.

I painted my frame with black epoxy primer. It looks very similar to original equipment black and hopefully will be a bit more durable. Check out the pic here (http://home.flash.net/~tomgr/pic/Chevelle/During/Chevelle21.jpg).


Tom