Hey guys-
I've had my 70 Chevelle SS 396 since summer of '05, and I haven't turned the first bolt on it!! It's in good shape, and doesn't need a lot to be on the road; But I'm stuck trying to decide whether I should strip her down completely, and do the chassis, full body, and the whole nine yards; Or just put it together and drive it.

I've already got a rebuilt 396, rebuilt th400, new brakes, and I've been buying parts over the last couple years (gears, pulleys, seats, new bumpers, etc.) So, it wouldn't take a lot to get it running and driving. I just don't know if I'd feel like I'm "throwing it together" if I didn't do a complete frame off.

Has anyone ever got a car on the road and went back to detail things later?? Or should I go ahead and take the extra time and money (which I really don't have much of either) and go all out to begin with??

I guess I'm just looking for encouragement and advice.
Thanks,
Nooj

That's pretty much something you have to answer for yourself.

Me, I'm more into driving them, so I say put it together and drive it. Especially since you say the funds are short now. Who knows how long it will be until you have the funds to do exactly what you want.

But then again, there's no better time to restore it than now if it's all apart anyways.

I didn't really help much, huh?:D

My final vote is put it together and drive it. You've had it since '05, you have to be itching to get it on the road.

I would drive it! You can fix little things as they come up or are needed.
If you have a good ruuuing car I wouldn't tear it apart. The time between tearing it apart and getting it back on the road can be a long time, especially if you are new to the car business.
It is easy to loose interest when you can't buzz it around some.
Enjoy it now and start with the smaller things as you build confidence and have the time, then move on to the more detailed projects.

Tom

Only you can really answer this question. It is possible to drive and restore a car at the same time. But when you finally get done, most of the time, the first things you did will have to be retouched or redone. The problem with a frame off is $$$$$ and the amount of time it takes to do it correctly. Most people under estimate both. It sounds like your car does not need a whole lot of work. Fix what needs fixing, drive and enjoy! You can always do a frame off later! Do not make the mistake alot of people make, starting a frame off and running out of money or time. They either wind up trying to sell a car in pieces, or cutting corners and making an extremely nice frame off look cheap.Thomas

Yep, I agree; only you can answer. But a frame-off costs a big ol' garbage scow of $$$. You said you don't have much time or money and it wouldn't take much to get it together. Where I come from it's a short driving season for the old cars... Every summer I get a great idea to fix something or replace something, whatever... It always takes too long and I miss out on weeks of driving. This summer I'm putting thousands of miles on it even though there's a new built motor on the stand in the garage right next to the car. I'm making myself wait to put it in so I can drive right now. Bottom line: I say drive it!! Enjoy and take care of things as you go. A frame-off will still be waiting if you get a bunch of time and money!:beers:

Or should I go ahead and take the extra time and money (which I really don't have much of either) and go all out to begin with??

I guess I'm just looking for encouragement and advice.
Thanks,
Nooj

That's pretty much something you have to answer for yourself.

Me, I'm more into driving them, so I say put it together and drive it. Especially since you say the funds are short now. Who knows how long it will be until you have the funds to do exactly what you want.

.

Yep, I agree; only you can answer. But a frame-off costs a big ol' garbage scow of $$$. You said you don't have much time or money and it wouldn't take much to get it together. I agree with what Brad and Rich are saying above^...only you can decide, because it really depends on the level of experience in car restoration that you have, as well as how much that you like actually WORKING on cars. :yes:

Keep in mind that there are a number of car guys who are not only very experienced in frame-off restorations, but who actually enjoy doing the work itself just for the sake of work (and in some cases, maybe even for the sake of having a reason to get away from their hen-pecking wives too). I know a guy like that.

But if you're like I am, and you only work on cars because you do have a little bit of knowledge and you do it when you have to in order to reach your goal of being able to drive the car, then you might want to think twice before embarking on a huge restoration project. I can garantee you that if you haven't restored a car before, there will be huge learning curves that you'll go through as the project unfolds (I've learned this the hard way over and over again with my current project).

Yeah, I'm one of those guys who likes DRIVING fast cars a whole lot more than WORKING on them, and if I had the $$ I would be like Jay Leno and have all my cars built for me by hired hands. Unfortunately I don't have that kind of $$. So I do the work when I can, and when I MUST. But I don't enjoy it. :noway: Another factor is how brutally expensive it is these days for parts, and the quality of many of the parts is in the tiolet due to overseas manufacturing (particularly with body parts such as bumpers and floor pans :mad: ) and such parts rarely ever fit right, and cause a lot of headaches and time consuming alterations. So think before you leap, because if you haven't restored one of these cars in the past several years, you can bet that it's going to require a lot more time and $$ than you might otherwise be planning on. Please don't ask me how I know this. :mad:

Or should I go ahead and take the extra time and money (which I really don't have much of either)


Unlike the others I think I can tell you what to do. I can do this because of the statement you made above,and my own personal experience. If you're not totally driven to have a frame off car you don't need to go anywhere near that! You've had the car for 4yr's already,and I can almost guarantee you it could be another 4yr's if you start a frame off. Put the car together and drive it! Clean things up as you assemble the car. Don't reinstall any worn out part,but don't try to rebuild every component either. Put together a SAFE complete car. Once you have the car assembled and driving, the single most important thing IMHO is to get the car painted. Nothing will inspire you more about continuing to work on your car than to have people notice your car while you're out driving or parked at the gas station,etc.
Mike

Wow- thanks for the responses and encouragement, guys!

I think I will take what most of you said to heart- and build it to drive. I never wanted to make a trailer queen out of it; But there are things that I would like to be very detailed about when I get the chance to do it (like painting the frame and suspension, a neat-n-clean wiring harness, etc). But I guess that's always something I can get into when my son gets older and has an interest in his old man's muscle car :-)

I'm with you BillyGman, I'd take driving them over working on them anyday! But I do enjoy putting my own hands on them too.

I have worked on a handful of cars and hotrods, but haven't done any complete restorations. If I can't do something in particular, I know some talented guys that will lend a hand.

Thank all of you for your inputs!! Hopefully I'll be posting some progress pictures in the near future :-D

Nooj

get it running and drive it as it is, then fix stuff as it needs to be fixed.
life is too short to have a perfectly good car taking up space in the garage when it could be out on the road.

Good choice. I would do the same. I kinda wish I was doing the same. My 72 is torn apart and I wish I was driving it. It gets very little work done due to time and money restraints. If I had the money to do it all now, it would be getting done, but there it sits.

Maybe you can sock some cabbage away and get her done the way you want to, but until then you can have your fun with it. You'll probably change your mind a dozen times on certain details of the restoration and maybe even learn a thing or three that will help you out in the long run. Good things come to those who wait.

If you're not totally driven to have a frame off car you don't need to go anywhere near that! You've had the car for 4yr's already,and I can almost guarantee you it could be another 4yr's if you start a frame off..
Mike I for one can vouch for what Mike is telling you here^....especially if it would be your first frame off restoration (as I said ealier in the thread). I'm in the middle of my first restoration, and I'm close and have the car running, but it's been over 3 years, and the car still isn't ready to be driven yet. So 4 years isn't out of the question. My brother just completed his full resto, and it took him 6 years! And that's despite the fact that he even has a lift in his garage.

I completed a complete body off resto on my chevelle several years ago and I kind of wish I wouldn't have. I was in a similiar position as you and I decided to go with the full on resto. The upside is I now have a fully restored chevelle that looks great. However, the downside is I don't drive it as much because I don't want something to happen to it and I don't want to drive it in any weather. I know it won't hurt it but I just don't want to spend hours and hours cleaning the underside of it. I know they are meant to be driven but I just remember all the effort it took to get it restored and now some of the fun is gone out of a car I used to drive all the time. I'm sure I'll get over it but for now it spends way too much time in the garage while others are out cruzin. I say hold off on the full resto and have fun with it but thats just my opinion.

Going "too deep" is the most common reason people don't finish the restoration and reassembly.

All you guys are completely right. I've been sittin on this baby for long enough, waiting on the day I have the time and money to go all out on it. But, since as long as I've had the car I've always said that it was gonna be driven, no matter what. I mean- what's the point if you can't drive it and enjoy it, right?? I've got the time and money to make an attractive, safe, and enjoyable ride with it- and I'm gonna do just that.

6t7ChevelleSS, I have a feeling I'd feel the same way you do about my car, if I were to do an extensive resto on her. With my friend's help (who, lucky for me, restores old cars for a living), hopefully I'll get her on the road soon- pretty enough to be proud of, but not so emaculate that I dread having to detail her after a cruise.

I've personally seen several great old cars sit for way too long, waiting to be "finished" and driven... I'm gonna make sure my 70 SS isn't one of them.

Thanks again fellas!

Nooj

great subject, bought my 68 in 05 and just now have the body on and getting ready for paint, my son wants me to paint it red, says its his dream car, i told him get your own dream kid it was a teal metallic new and its a teal metallic now! i love the process,theres allways something fun to work on and it has a happy ending, what more could a 50 yr old guy ask for in these times? good luck. tim

great subject, bought my 68 in 05 and just now have the body on and getting ready for paint, my son wants me to paint it red, says its his dream car, i told him get your own dream kid it was a teal metallic new and its a teal metallic now! i love the process,theres allways something fun to work on and it has a happy ending, what more could a 50 yr old guy ask for in these times? good luck. timThat's real good Tim. You sound like one of those guys who really enjoys working on cars. More power to ya. But I'm just not one of them. I have some ability, and I've been working on cars for over 20 years, but i do so because I have to. it's never anything I look forward to doing. I luv old muscle cars, and I like driving them, but working on them is just a chore to me, nothing more. So each person has to take into account which type he is. The driver, the worker, or in some cases both.

It reminds me of a line in an old movie: "A man's got to know his limitations"...(anyone know what movie and what actor? :D).....

It reminds me of a line in an old movie: "A man's got to know his limitations"...(anyone know what movie and what actor? :D).....

Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, right?

Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, right?

Clint Eastwood in Magnum Force. I cheated and looked it up. :o

Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, right?You're half right.....

Clint Eastwood in Magnum Force. I cheated and looked it up. :oBingo! We have a winner....now go and see the board administrator to collect your prize...:D

Oops, I knew it was Clint being tough in something.:D

Drive it!

It's your car, so you have to decide how far you want to go with it.
However, I can speak to you in the context of me and my car.
With me, one thing just sort of led to another.

The sheetmetal, floor pans, and frame are all in good shape on my car, so initially, I just decided to gut and replace the interior, replace the steering linkage (which was very sloppy), and redo the brakes.

After I had the interior gutted, I thought I might as well paint the entire interior sheet metal...which I did, floors, ceiling, everything.

Then, while the interior was out, I decided, hell, I might as well remove the windshield and back glass and wire brush and POR 15 the window channels...which I did.

On to the front end...
I thought as long as I'm replacing the steering linkage, I might as well replace the springs also...and I thought everything would be easier to get to if I removed the fenders.
Before I knew it, I had the whole front end of the car removed and all of the suspension and brake components removed from the frame.

Once I got that far, I decided it would now be easy to remove the engine and transmission as one unit so I could clean, sand, and paint the firewall and front part of the frame properly.

Next, I'll be unbolting the frame to body mounts and jacking up the body slightly so I can replace the body mount bushings...and of course, once I have it jacked up like that, I might as well wire brush and paint the rest of the frame and underbody...etc.

Now, I could have just redone the interior and replaced the steering linkage and steering box, put a set of brakes on it, and got it back on the road...but, something inside me just won't let me take shortcuts and cut corners just to get it on the road quicker. And everytime I do something with the car, I'm glad I did it.

I want the build quality of the car to be very good, and I just know I won't be satisfied with the car (or myself) unless it is.

Again, that's just me and how I am with my car.
You have to decide how satisfied you'll be with your car at whatever level of build quality you get it on the road with.

Regards,
-Greg

I vote for putting it together and enjoy driving it! Frame offs require an enourmous amount of time and money, which by your own admission you don't have available at this time. And as Greg points out above, once you start down that road, it's hard to turn back. Enjoy the car now while you can!:thumbsup:

It's your car, so you have to decide how far you want to go with it.
However, I can speak to you in the context of me and my car.
With me, one thing just sort of led to another.

-Greg

Greg, you and I share some DNA somewhere down the line. My 72 is more apart than it is together because it's been like peeling an onion. An old, rusty, bondoed, leaky, stinky onion that is not the color I want it to be.

I will turn this onion into a cherry one day.

Greg- I think you and I have some things in common, lol. I'm sure once I get into it, I'll get caught up in the "well, since I'm doing this- I might as well do this while it's convenient" thing as well.

I would prefer to go over the entire car, and strip her down completely- get the body smooth and lines crisp, etc... But, I think for now I will replace anything warn, focus on the few areas in need of bodywork, and try not to go overboard with it.

I already have the front end off, and engine and trans out- so I'll put in new bushings, paint the front frame, paint the engine, and detail the engine bay. I guess that'll be a good start :-)

Thanks again guys!
Nooj

When I first had my 66, I drove it for years before doing any work to it. Then I had it painted, which was a mistake to do first, then did interior work, all front suspension bushings, etc. Its always needed a few patches welded into the floor pan including one brace that needs to be replaced. I also did some engine work and rebuilt the muncie since I had them out. Well the engine has needed more work for a while now so ill be pulling that out and having it professionally gone through and run on the dyno.

I got tired of driving what I always felt was a half restored car. Its nice to bring any classic car to a car show but once you start going to car shows on a regular basis, you start to really wish your car was as nice as some of the other cars at the show. So in turn, I pulled the car off the road and have decided that its really time for a true restoration to fix the patches, get the engine done and I always wanted to detail the frame, which by the way, I only detailed the front suspension area. I plan to replace the entire trunk pan with replacements I have had sitting in the box for over 10 years. Both the body mounts behind the rear wheels are gone from the trunk pan but the eyelets on the frame are fine. Both outboard, front seatbelt mounts are in bad shape. So there is some work needed here. I didnt however, have to replace any outside body panels.

My point is. If your content in your car the way it is, or once all the mechanicals are done, then by all means enjoy. But if you have the feeling that you may end up wishing you did this or that. Then it may be worth considering a frame off type of restoration.

Just finished my resto after almost 10 years:o, so if $$ is kinda tight, just do stuff as you go. If I ever restore another ( not likely :noway:) I want everything done in 2-3 years, tops or I won't do it.

I started mine in 95 with I'll only do this and that next thing I know I'm down to a bare frame!!!!!!Then I had plenty of time and money so it was fun. As time past with all the work to get the body back on and replace sheet metal it wasn't fun anymore!!!!!! I left it sit for 7 years and now back at it I'm all most ready for paint.Not to mention what follows I'm still aways off.But its fun again now!!!! If you don't see progress you'll lose intrest. I'm shooting for next year probably not with the motor I want but it will be drivable with orig 307 but that will be changed. I wanna drive it bad!!!!!

Thanks for chiming in guys. I know that having a piece of American muscle is a joy- especially when you get to see it take shape the way you imagined. And I know it's discourageing to make little or no progress on it... I'm afraid I'm headed in that direction if I don't get hands-on with my 70 :-(
By no means do I plan to cut corners or leave anything on my chevelle "half a$$". Though- I may not get as detailed as I'd really like at the moment. I've been in love with the Chevelle since my first ride in a '69 SS, almost 10 years ago. This car is something that I'll probably keep, and pass on to my family when I'm gone. That being said- I figure, if I don't have much more time here, then I'd better drive it and enjoy it. But, if I'm blessed with many more healthy years- then I'll have time to turn wrenches with my son(s) or daughter(s) and build it into something they'll be proud of and enjoy.

I remember a trip to Mississippi I took with my dad when I was about 8 years old, to see a '34 coupe my dad was lookin to buy; We passed a shop in Alabama with a '36 Ford tudor slantback sedan sitting out front along the way. My dad bought that '36 around midnight on the way home from Miss- and went back to get it that weekend. 20 years later he's finally swapped the flathead V8 for a crate summit 350/ Heidts M2 setup, and th350- driving it to car shows again. I guess for me- it's not so much what the car is- but what it means to those involved. I've seen his journey with his "hotrod"- and I know how much I enjoy seeing him able to cruise and show it off.
My dad wants to see this '70 SS on the road as much as I do- and I look forward to the day my children appreciate it in the same manner that I do with my old man.

I'll certainly make a safe and dependable ride out of this old car. And I'm sure it'll turn heads, sooner or later :-) Thanks for the opinions and anecdotes, yall! Happy motoring~

Nooj