Body off frame, now what?

[Tony DiGiorgio]

Hello everyone, My 67 body is now off of the frame. I need some advice on who to send the A-arms, trailing arms, wheel bearings, etc. Also is it necessary to rebuild the steering box? Can I strip and paint the front and rear springs? Any advice in any of these areas is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tony

[Joe L.]

Re: Body off frame, now what?

Tony-----

For rebuilding of the front control arms and rear trailing arm assemblies, including bearing supports, I recommend Carter's Corvette in Livermore, CA (925)449-2176, Bair's Corvette in Lineville, PA, or Van Steel in Clearwater, FL. Whoever you choose, tell them that you want an NCRS/NCCB correct restoration and not just a functional rebuild. I recommend using GM ball joints to rebuild the front control arms. These are MUCH more expensive than aftermarket, but the GM ball joints have a different configuration than aftermarket. The GM ball joints available today are virtually identical to the ones originally installed on your car, although the part numbers are different. A set of GM ball joints will cost you over $350.

As far as the steering box goes, yes, you definitely need to have it rebuilt if you intend to drive the car at all. As I have said before, more front end and steering problems are attributable to the steering box than anything else. The steering box is at least 80% of the whole front end performance. Any of the above can rebuild it for you.

I do not recommend reuse of the front springs. Usually, the coil springs will be fatigued and "shorter" than they should be in the free condition. Unfortunately, the springs for your car have been discontinued by GM, which always supplied the absolute best springs. Unless, of course, your car is equipped with F-41 suspension. Those springs are still available from GM.

Rear leaf springs can usually be successfully rebuilt and restored. I DO NOT recommend "re-arching", however. You will find in the archives a complete description that I provided others on the procedure to rebuild/restore rear leaf springs. Also, instructions and a complete kit including everything you need is available from Quanta Products.

[Keith]

Re: Body off frame, now what?

Consider doing the work yourself. I have done the above work with little discomfort . I even made a rivet tool out of an air chisel. Take your time think through the process and go for it. Ask questions when unclear. Then when your frame/ A-arms are done you can achieve personal satisfaction. These cars are not that complicated and the information that can be asked and retrieved from this source is unbelievable.

[Jack H.]

Re: Body off frame, now what?

You're getting good advice from others, so I'll not re-hash ground that's been covered. I WILL turn the tables and raise other question(s) though.

Maybe I'm wrong and there ARE others who differ in opinion with me, but it appears like you're taking the 'typical' road to restoration that I think is backward. Most, yank the body, set it aside and concentrate on getting to a finished rolling frame....

What's backward? Well, as much, or more, expense goes into body prep and paint. Painters don't like working on bodies that aren't resting on the final frame they're going to see (stress cracks, Etc.). Paint and body work is 'mucho' labor intensive so the cost escalates with time and doing it last can up the restoration cost significantly.

Next, a 'show class' paint job IS going to be different from factory original. You simply can't find a classy painter/body man that's going to 'slap' da sucka together like the factory did -- too much pride to swallow in doing a quicky two coat, thin shoot of lacquer and leave 'lunar surface' orange peel! So, you're probably staring at a rich heavy/n-tuple coat process of paint that's really upscale and will take WELL beyond the original factory dry/set-up period to mature.

Last, bodies weren't on the frame at the factory. They ran through the paint process on 'mule' wagons. Regardless of how well you mask things or drape the frame with plastic, overspray has a way of wandering into places it wasn't/shouldn't be. NCCB judges at Bloomington take this REAL serious -- a stray fleck of the wrong color here/there hurts....

So, why not (1) gut the interior, (2) pull the engine/power train, (3) remove the wiring and have the body work done NOW using the existing frame as your 'mule' for support? Then, pull the body and gently set it aside while you go do the chassis, engine, power train, Etc. later....

[Gene M.]

Re: Body off frame, now what?

Keith hit the nail right on the head. The fun in owning these cars is doing the work your self. Then when ya show it off (like an artist does) you will be showing your painting not someone elses. It just gives ya a feeling of accomplishment and personal satisfaction. So go for it.