Im in the process of tearing down my frame to sand blast it. All i need to do now is take off the front suspension such as the a arms, coil springs, shocks, the works. My question is, should i compress the springs before taking off the arms, or just unbolt them.

Chuck

Those front springs are compressed while in the car and can kill you if your not careful. Do a search on front coils and see what you find, but definiately know what your getting into before you do that.

Those front coil springs can look innocent enough - but beware that they are under considerable compression tension. Serious injury and worse have resulted from people just unbolting the suspension and letting the spring "fly".

Buy or rent a quality spring compressor http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95011

Normal ride height Chevelles compress the spring to ~ 11". At full downward movement your Chevelle front spring is extended to ~ 13" to 14". Now consider that your front coil springs may have a free height (out of the car with no load) of up to 18". You could easily have a 1,000 lbs or more of compression tension left even when your suspension is fully extended.

Thomas

And, unless you are doing a show quality concours restoration, you might consider having the frame galvanized. No sand blasting and painting or powdercoating can't compare for protection because the HDG (hot dipped galvannizing) process removes 100% of the rust and treats the INSIDE of the frame as well as the outside.

Why go thru all that work and not do it better and cheaper. Cost for my HDG treatment - $250 and required NO prep work. Then you just paint it with latex paint for looks.

Do a search in this forum on "galvanized" to see mine and learn how and where to get it done near you.

Just a thought.

/herb

I am getting the planning started for doing a frame off on my '70 coupe. I contacted the only place that does hot dip galvanizing in the Minneapolis area, and I was quoted $700 - $1000 to do the frame, a-arms, and cross member. Kind of expensive, considering I got another quote to sandblast the frame and have it primed with DP-40, for around $400.

i had my 67 frame dipped and galvanized for $150.00. that's there minimum charge.
i'm in the cleveland, ohio area.
david

chuck 240,
here's a thread on how i did my coils.

http://216.178.81.108/forums/showthread.php?t=386527&highlight=coil+spring+install
david

I am getting the planning started for doing a frame off on my '70 coupe. I contacted the only place that does hot dip galvanizing in the Minneapolis area, and I was quoted $700 - $1000 to do the frame, a-arms, and cross member. Kind of expensive, considering I got another quote to sandblast the frame and have it primed with DP-40, for around $400.

Well, that's a pure rip off. Find another place, even if it's a long drive away it's worth it for these reason;

First and foremost, your frame will still rust away from the inside out because sandblasting and painting can't get to all the areas inside the frame.

I took my frame just as it came out from under the body, grease, undercoating and all (after removing the front end, rear and all lines, etc. and repairing the body mount perches) to the galvanizer. (Virginia Galvanizing) http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/HGSR/framedetail33.JPG

Here's what they did.

- they made sure all chambers were vented properly to insure hot zinc could flow to all areas inside the frame (they drilled 2 holes to insure venting - no charge)

- they boiled the frame in alkyd solution (same solution that engine blocks are boiled in) to remove all paint, undercoating, dirt and grease.

- next they dip the frame in acid to remove all rust, inside and out. It does NOT remove good metal, just rust. It also act like a flux to insure the zinc will "tin" to the steel.

- after removing from the acid, it's slowly dipped in a vat of molten zinc (850*) and immediately removed. The frame is now galvanized inside and out.

Normally at this point, a galvanized steel unit would be quenched in oil. But this step needs to be skipped for a frame that will be painted. The entire process takes about an hour.

When I picked up my freshly galvanized frame, crossmember and all 8 control arms a week later, the bill was $250 for a totally derusted and protected 1967 frame.
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/HGSR/galvrame1.JPG
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/HGSR/galvrame3.JPG

Here's a place to find galvanizers: http://www.galvanizeit.org/

Also study this site: http://www.einstyne.com/