Im getting ready to sand blast the frame of my 71 chevelle,and have a few questions on where to start the tear down. I just pulled the body off, and just wondering what i take off before i sand blast, i will also be converting the front drums over to disc. I'd like to take the rear out, the front suspension apart, and pull the frame off and blast it like that. What do i take apart, and what should i leave attached. Thanks for the help. Also, what are some good books on restoring a chevelle.

Chuck

I took everything off of my frame and had all the control arms and the rear end sand blasted seperately.

I agree with Dean. When there is nothing left to remove, your ready for blasting.

I am just finishing up tearing the down the frame myself.
Since you are going this far in your restoration, there is no point in leaving anything on the frame before sandblasting it. Go ahead and take it down to just the bare frame. When you get it all tore down, its also a good time to check for the squareness of the frame and make sure its all straight.

Here is the order in which I did it (although im pretty sure there is no correct order)

1) Remove sway bar
2) Remove Centerlink, Tierod ends, idler arm, steering gear box
3) Remove front shocks
4) Remove front coil springs <- This is the hardest part of the entire tear down and I suggest you do a search on the forums for the many methods on completeing this task
5) Remove Upper and Lower A-arms
6) Remove the motor mounts from the frame
7) Remove transmission crossmember
8) Remove rear shocks
9) Remove rear coil springs (really easy - after the shocks are out, slowly lower the differential down until the springs pop out of the upper or lower perches.)
10) Remove rear upper control arms
11) Remove rear lower control arms
12) remove all brake and fuel lines
13) Go back over entire car and look for things you might have missed (ie: little brackets and such)

Some tools that were helpfull in the task: Impact Wrench, Pry Bars, Deadblow hammer, Air ratchet, and coilspring compressor.

Hopefully this helps. In addition, all this was written under the assumption that the engine/tranny and other junk is all already off.... which I assume is the case since you already got the body off.

Chuck,

Have you considered galvanizing your frame? No prep work to speak of ( I did ZERO) and cheaper than sand blasting? Also cleans and protects the INSIDE of the frame. Had my frame, crossmember, 4 rear CA's, 4 front CA's and you can have bumpber brackets derusted and hot dip galvanized for $250. Paint becomes cosmetic at that point. And the rust protection will outlast you.

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97067

Do a search on galvanizing on the body forum for more info and Google for a place near you. Many on this site have done it.