I have just finished the frame portion of my restoration, dropped the engine and trans in, and now I am getting ready to attack the body. The body is currently sitting on 4x4s and bricks. It will receive new Goodmark Fenders, doors, hood, deck lid and quarter panels. A couple of questions. 1. Would you set the body back on the frame to cut and replace the quarters, or would a support structure underneath similar to the frame be enough? 2. Would you acid dip the whole shell, or strip the old fashioned ways(stripper and sanders)? 3. If no acid dip, Any suggestions for attacking the bottom of the car without the use of a rotisserie? Thanks in advance.

TTT...anyone have any feedback on this?

The guy across the road from me does restorations. Ironically he is close to finishing a '71 with extensive work like you are describing including floor pans, quarters, etc. (the car was very rusty and well driven to say the least). You have already done the frame so this will put you at a slight disadvantage, but in his case, he had the body dipped, then reset it on the unrestored frame to do the panel work. After the panel/sheetmetal work was done, he set the repaired body shell aside and did the chassis. By doing this, the body is ready to go back on now with no impact to the restored chassis. You could do the body off the chassis, but you will need to establish a secure mount for it. You might also be able to pick up a rusty frame for cheap to use as a support structure while doing all of the sheetmetal repair work.

PS. With as far as you are taking it down and all of the metal that has to be replaced, you would be better off having it dipped.

Just to add to this i had every bolt on body panel dipped and my body guy loved it! But be forwarned the acid will remove everything that is not solid steel the place where i get mine done said many people have come back to parts half gone. Ralph

It depends on the amount of rust inside the frame. My Corvette restorer showed me an acid dipped body that was powder coated and had many acid runs on the powder coat. Basically, the acid was not completely removed and it messed up the powder coating.

I do not know if there is a way to get around this because the frame needs to be coated after it is acid dipped because it will rust again.

Theo.

I'm not a fan of acid dipping. I had two 69 fenders dipped at redi strip years ago. After the fenders were all done and the car shipped to Georgia, the paint failed every where there was a seam. The rest of the body was not dipped and it looked great. Ruined two good fenders as far as I'm concerned. Also Boyd Cunningham recenting did a 56 chevy on tv. When they cut the firewall off the car at the body seam, I could clearly see rust between the two pieces of metal. So, the acid dip does not get the rust out of the seams like they say. But, it does leave a good spot for rust to start. Now, others will disagree, but I would have the car dry stripped to see what you have. Then, sand blast where the rust is, because dry strip does not remove rust. Then put in the new panels and seal all the seams the best you can. That's what I would do and I live in Arizona, a good pressure washer and most of the body work is done out here.

Yes, put it on the frame to replace body panels. But, get a sheet of the best plastic from Ace Hardware to cover all your previous work on the frame. You can build an A-frame type frame to work on the bottom if you like. But, for just one car, I struggle under the bottom with it high in the air. Good Luck

Peter