We have been removing parts off our 67 lately and finding a lot of areas that need welding. So today I removed the front clip to find some rot on the frame rail by the passenger door. honestly I was not going to do a frame off on the car since I have a ton of medical issues and cash is always short.. but I'm now going to do it the way it should be done even if it takes me a few years extra in the process.

I'll try and get some pics up soon the car needs just about everything re-welded.. So anyone have any advise for someone who is definitely getting in over their head here ? Funny thing is I know I'm getting into a mess and I actually look forward to the project.

Here is my advice, If you have lots of rust, find a better car. I say that, because I have been that road. Take a look at the 67 I did. There are a lot of pics, and I even told what I did wrong. Might save you some grief.
www.chevelle67.com

I did the same thing and I am now in the process of a frame off, total resto in its 4th year and 30k later with 15k more needed. It is not cheap and it seems the deeper you go the more you find, earlier post is great advice, find a better car, right now there are some pretty good buys at 25-30k good luck Chuck

Nice pictures of the car dgwar. I'm not looking at spending nowhere near what yu guys mentioned. I have 3 little kids so 30k plus on a toy is way out of reach for me. I'd have to stop eating beans with my hot dogs to afford that..LOL

we are going to do whatever needs to be done to the car as we go it is going to be a daily driver something I'm not afraid to take out in the rain or snow with a stock small block . maybe down the road when the kids move out I can afford to build it up better but for now we just want to get it looking good and enjoy it.
I should have a price from the blaster this week or next to do the frame then I'm hitting a welding shop up to do the repairs I know we will need.

Still working on my 66 SS but getting closer to completion. We had LOTS of rot in the usual places so hang in there, it'll get done, little by little.

Many guys have been where you are and have documented their success. See my restoration page, hopefully it'll help keep you working on your restoration.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/822091

Good luck and you're at the place where you can get LOTS of help and advice. Just ask.

Ohh I don't plan on letting go of this car at all. I love the 67 . I got my quote today from the blasting house. they will blast the entire frame for $200. I was shocked, honestly I thought it would run me more towards the $600 range. so I guess I got to get my butt moving and get the body off before the guy changes his mind. he is going to use either aluminum oxide or silicon carbide I did not think it would make a difference which media he uses to strip it down. I already have the front clip off and I'm looking at the mounting locations now to get the body mounts off... That looks like it is going to be a tough one.

If you do a perfect restoration it will take you years and a lot of money. If you can do the work yourself, especially sheet metal you will save a lot. There is a reason my body man calls me one of his best customers.

The welding is my weak spot. I'll have to hire out for that but I'm hopeful that when the day comes a friend or some one will hook me up with a good body guy to do side work. I want the car to be done right but I'm not overly concerned about making it showroom... not yet anyway.

Welding - see if there is a school in your area that teaches it. As already stated, this will save you LOTS and you'll learn a lot too. My son took shop class in HS and he taught me :) He's still way better than me though...

Welding - see if there is a school in your area that teaches it. As already stated, this will save you LOTS and you'll learn a lot too.

I TOTALLY agree...it's really not hard to learn to mig weld, and a small 110V welder is all you'll need to use.......really!

I can't afford to go to school and take the classes to learn welding. My neighbor never welded a day in his life until he bought a 55 chevy and did his own floor pans windows and a little fender work. he has been on my back since we brought the car home to go to sears and buy a portable welder and do it myself . it being the floors ,windows ,nothing huge like quarters . I just dont know if I should. I guess I could not do any worse then it is already and I have done a few beads of welding at the shop like 20 years ago...

Go for it, plus you have a neighbor that'll help. He may even bring over his welder to show you how...

Ohhh I don't know if I'll get his help I told him today while we were fishing with the kids that I was pulling the body off and he told me I was nuts and he will have to steer clear of the house.... That made me cringe coming from a guy who is a car nut..

OK, this guys sounds a little scary......

Nah he is a real good guy helped me out getting the car to run the first time.. but honestly when you hear hey I'm pulling the body off and I have no clue what I'm doing your first thought has gotta be RUN... it is going to be fun that is for sure

I am doing exactly the same thing right now. My car looked really good but I knew it had issues with the body mounts and some sketchy patch work in the past. I have been learning to mig weld the last couple of years a little here and there. I took mine off the frame and had the frame blasted. Fixed all the body mount holes and boxed the frame first. The thincker metal is alot easier to weld and by the time you get done with that you will know how to run your mig. Then I had the body blasted and I am now working on refabbing my body braces and getting that all fixed up. That metal is somewhat thinner and require a little finess. Then you get to the floor pans. Patching those is the most difficult because the metal is thinner and you really have to be close on you fitment so the gap is minimal between the patch and existing metal. At this point, you are a good welder. It is so gratifying to see the work you are doing and knowing that you can not pay someone to do that quality of work because they dont have the love for your car that you do. When it is all done, there is no amount of money that will buy the car, and there isn't another car that you would trade it for because you did it. That is a feeling you cant buy.

Nah he is a real good guy helped me out getting the car to run the first time.. but honestly when you hear hey I'm pulling the body off and I have no clue what I'm doing your first thought has gotta be RUN... it is going to be fun that is for sure


Well, I just turned seventeen, and I pulled the body off of my 69 chevelle by myself a few months before my birthday. I haven't had a single clue what I was doing since the start, but it seems that as long as you don't try to bite off too much at one time, you don't have many problems with choking.

I don't think you're crazy at all, if you never get your hands dirty, it'll never truly feel like your car, you know?

My next step is putting the body back on so I can weld in the new floor pans I bought. (read: mig welding 101. scared out of my pants.)

And I'll tell you this, it is fun indeed. The body-off part of a resto or rebuild seems like the most intimate, and it's definitely worth taking your time and doing right the first go-round.

So take a deep breath, and dig in. Take LOTS of pictures. This will save a lot of tears later on, as I've already learned. Label things. Stay organized, and most of all...

Good Luck!

EDIT: gearbanger, well said! :beers:

I did it myself as well, most of my family still thinks I'm nuts for doing it....taking the body off the frame that is. As far as the welding, get on here and ask for some tips from people, PM me if you want. It's not too hard welding, just go slow, have the right settings, be patient and have clean metal!!!!:yes: Do some test welding of the thickness you are welding first, that'll give you a good setting for heat and speed of wire.

Other good advice stated as far as buying locking plastic bags and labeling them for parts, doing as much as you can yourself. You can ask anything here and will get a good answer, this site rocks!!!:thumbsup:

Thats what I have been doing from the start, bagging all nuts and bolts clips whatever i can to help identify it later on. my shed is getting full of parts now from the front end, should have a engine hoist here within the next few days so I can pull the motor and get it out of the way.. been spraying the heck out of all the body mount locations with wd-40 and whatever else I can find. so hopefully tomorrow I can get under it and try to pop the mounts off I just hope they come off and dont snap . got the saws all - all charged up so the exhaust can come off tomorrow also. thinking about talking to the guy down the road here who has a bobcat I'm hoping he can lift the body off for me that way I don't kill myself lifting the thing up

Ted, here a couple of basic tips BEFORE you pull that body:

BUY AN ASSEMBLY MANUAL. Best $20 you will spend. That money will come back in savings 100 fold.

There are registration holes in the frame for the body position. Look in the manual, find them, check where the body is sitting right now relative to those holes. If you are using the same bumpers and brite-work, put the body back on in the EXACT same place as it is now.

Keep track of what fender-to-body shims are in what places. Bag em and tag em. If the gaps are decent now, you can use those shims in those locations as a starting point for re-assembly to get the gaps at least as good as they are now.

Put a registration mark(s) on the core support-to-frame position in a inconspicuous place(s). you won't find out that you have the core support in the wrong place unitl AFTER you have the engine, radiator, fan, battery, outer and inner fenders, grille, and front trim on and then try to put the bumper or hood on. That's when you will find out the core support is a 1/4 inch too far to the right or left. It's a pain to re-position it then. On a 67, the bumpers wrap around the front fenders. the gap between the top corners of the bumper and the fenders on both sides should be equal. The front of the fenders bolt to core support, the bumper bolts to the frame with stout brackets (they don't give in to left/right adjustment). Hence the relationship of the front of the front fenders to the bumper is the left/right/center position of the core support (don't ask me how I had to find this out myself)

Do a search on this site on the word "galvanizing" to see how to get the frame cleaned, de-rusted inside and out, and permanently protected for little more than just having it sand blasted. At least check out the prices in your area. Check out these pics. Had this done from a greasy rusty frame to what you see for $350. Just get all the welding/repairing done first.

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/galvrame1.JPG

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/galframe14.JPG

That is a great point I did not think about marking the body placement Thanks. I did pick up a assembly manual a couple months ago got it off ebay for like $20 including shipping.
Today seen the exhaust , cross member, drive shaft all come off someone before me hacked the bolts they were all rounded off thank god for the saws all !

Don't forget the front e-brake cable that attaches to the frame and the body.....that's a bad thing when the body is hanging in the air b/c you forgot to get that off. Of course, you can cut it with the sawzall when it's hanging there, but easier when it's not:yes:

Good point on that E-brake cable hook that hooks into the floor brace. Disconnect it before lifting the body.

Consider Right Stuff Detailing for your brake lines. Their stuff is good and they are great to work with. www.rightstuffdetailing.com

I also recommend you consider a "Master Body" bolt kit for a 67 Chevelle from AMK Products in Winchester Va. It has ALL the fasteners you will need to reassemble the body and trim. It also has has their "Under Hood" kit in it. They are the company that NPD, OPG and others get the car-specific fasteners from that they resell. I bought mine direct form AMK. ( www.amkproducts.com ) but you should compare prices. Sometimes the source companies have an agreement to charge higher prices than the distributors in order to protect them. Flowmaster does that. Their stuff is a few bucks cheaper thru distributors.

One more thing... On my car there was a braided ground strap where the fuel line goes through the frame (front right) that attached the from the firewall to the frame.

Good luck

Bob

If not mentioned before SAFETY is #1. You are dealing with many big heavy parts and 1 mistake could be a disaster. Take your time and think things through, when in doubt ask.

Well, I just turned seventeen, and I pulled the body off of my 69 chevelle by myself a few months before my birthday. I haven't had a single clue what I was doing since the start, but it seems that as long as you don't try to bite off too much at one time, you don't have many problems with choking.

I don't think you're crazy at all, if you never get your hands dirty, it'll never truly feel like your car, you know?

My next step is putting the body back on so I can weld in the new floor pans I bought. (read: mig welding 101. scared out of my pants.)

And I'll tell you this, it is fun indeed. The body-off part of a resto or rebuild seems like the most intimate, and it's definitely worth taking your time and doing right the first go-round.

So take a deep breath, and dig in. Take LOTS of pictures. This will save a lot of tears later on, as I've already learned. Label things. Stay organized, and most of all...

Good Luck!

EDIT: gearbanger, well said! :beers:

Yea, and I started on my '67 when I was 17 too. I turned 40 this past March. But I should have the car home by June 15, (Paint). And 40 grand can't touch it.

You can do it, Ted, welding is not that diffucult, you can learn it as you go.

Take a look at My website in My sig. You'll see the redneck frame off procedure.:D

Just take your time, and read, and ask alot of questions, You'll get all you need to know from this site.:thumbsup: