TC233

Had to do two mods to the Dolly. Had to remove center wheel and crossmember. Also had to cut a knotch in the dolly body mount for the mount in the rear wheel trap door. I could not tighten the bolt on the body mount because it was pinching against the seat belt nut, thats welded to the floor bracket. I used tongue and receiver steel for the frame because its going to be on the dolly for 7 months, so did not want any chance of "droop". Other than that, everything went well. 12 days of working 5 hours a day to get it all done. Wish I could say it would only take 12 days to put it together I plan on 5 times the removal time. So 60 days next summer assuming I am not waiting for any parts.

Shift_Happens

Good luck with the resto......looks like a great body to start with

morly1963

good luck!

TC233

Thanks, I will post pictures as the project progresses. Some questions ;
1) If I intend on using a sound deadner and a heat shield am I better off with a non foam backed carpet because it would fit better or not?
2) I am replacing the break lines and gas line....SS or steel, I do not think I will be on the planet long enough to see the steel rot, so its more of a "minus point thing" for inspection?

First picture. When ZIP cutting metal do not use your thumb as the stop for the grinder.
I will be posting these "helpful hints" as things "digress"

gleninsandiego

Subscribed
I am doing a 63 swc as well
you are a bit ahead of me
including the depths of being cut


Looks like a great start

Glenn in San Diego

TC233

Give it time Glenn, you too can sever a nerve or nick the bone, it takes work, but perseverance and inattention works

64SilverbluePhx

Looks like an...adventure is beginning...God bless the healing and restoration work for both of you!

TC233

Whats your plan Glenn?
Mine is a 340HP and I am doing a full restore with 4 mods. Offset trailing Arms, A/C, A radio that works and my Borgeson
I will have a restored and ready heaterbox, regular trailing arms and my AM/FM radio and manual steering in a box. So if someone wants full matching numbers and authentic, they have the parts.

Railroadman

Just remember project creep, and that fact that ever without it, things ALWAYS take longer than you plan.

But the rewards are there and the sense of accomplishment is tremendous. You will have a MUCH better knowledge of how your car is put together, and that will be a help down the road when something has to be tweaked or replaced. The destination is great but take time to enjoy the journey. (I see from that pic you are already "enjoying the journey" My wife long ago got me to use Neosporin in such cases, and I believe it DOES make it heal faster than without)

gleninsandiego

Thanks for asking.
My plan is evolving. LOL
My car also has the 340 hp engine

I have a 383 just rebuilt engine from a 69 going in for now until I decide what to do with the 340hp (either rebuild or crate and save)
Sniper fuel injection and in tank electric fuel pump
(I will be using steel lines - easier to bend)

I will be putting in a Vintage Air unit
An updated radio that my phone can hook into
I have yet to decide on the suspension and interior seats
or wheels and tires
I am still deciding on the interior insulation as well

We are stripping paint as we speak

It will be fun doing this together

Glenn

TC233

Good idea on the electric fuel pump. I am putting in a new tank so may add that feature.
The only thing I have not completely figured out is the sending unit that makes the fuel gauge actually "work"
I rebuilt the 340hp a few years back including balancing and blueprinting. So its good to go and the only thing I have to do with it is convert back to the old Carb and Distributor which I will do before putting it back in.

The only glitch thus far is I never allowed for the nut on the floor of the car that holds the seat belts. So had to cut out the side wall of my sliding mount on the dolly.
Second thing is.....if I were to do this again, I would drop the leaf spring before taking the body off, because as of now, I have no weight on the frame so, "jacking up the leaf spring actually lifts the frame off the floor before moving any weight off the retaining bolt. So I am looking for "sand bag equivalents to hold the back end on the ground

TC233

Agreed, the nice thing for me is I have everything to finish the car except the AC unit. I had one but sold it to a member here thinking I was not going that route but decided recently to restore the heater box and go with AC which works fine for me because my engine wire harness had already been modded to have a drivers side Alternator. So I can put the compressor on the passenger side.
Agree on Neosporin, but I am using Polysporin, (same same) keeps the scab from hardening which means you can keep working and of course hitting your thumb reminds you its still not healed yet
Not much I have not done to cars in my lifetime and I don't see anything insurmountable at this point but the nice thing about taking a car apart you can determine what can be done, what must be done and in what order just by the difficulties of taking things apart, appears.
I may even install the AC unit with the wiper arms, after the carpet is in and Dash has not been riveted yet. Just because of how much room you have to get it to fit without turning into a pretzel when the dash is already in. The difficulties I have tend to be related to poor eyesight and a bad back which tends to come with being 70 years old.

woodsdesign

I always said that if I don't bleed on it it isn't worth anything. Looks like a really fun project.

TC233

Really like some of the tips on this site. I was dreading the coil spring removal because I really have had bad experiences with spring compressors. So the tip to use a threaded rod and a 1/4 plate up through the shock mount was a god send. I was able to remove drum brakes, spindle and front spring on one side in less than hour. I have already removed the leaf. So one more coil to go.

So far no more blood letting to pay homage to the Corvette Gods....

elwood13

Good deal. That is the method I used. If you haven’t started a log for the hours, do it now before you forget. I kept saying I was going to do it but too many days past so now I just have a guess.

TC233

I think it would be depressing if totaling the hours. I have 75 in this tear down already and will need another 25 to have the frame ready for powder coating. Body is totally bare and mounted on the dolly.
Body goes to body guy, frame goes to sandblast and powder coat. After both done, the real work starts and I expect 500-600 hours -5 hour days, I am 70 so burn out quickly So assuming I do not croak, I expect to do 3 to 3.5 months of 5 hour days to completion.

Only "strange" thing noticed thus far is the front sway bar is 3/4 inch, I thought the front sway bar on a 63 was 1 inch? Frankie the Fink can you confirm with your car if you get a chance? Maybe this is a replacement with the wrong one?

Railroadman

Don't be afraid to take time off if you feel the need. I certainly want to get mine driveable, but on a couple occasions we have been out there and I've said "I just don't feel like working on the car today". So I don't.

Another thing that varies from one person to another. I'm not being methodical about this. Because I want the work to be fun, I work on what I want to, is a shotgun approach rather than following one item all the way through before starting something else. Sure don't want to get to the point where I feel I HAVE to do such-and-such today. So far, I'm having a ton of fun with it.

TC233

This should be interesting then. I am the reverse I am methodical and follow a schedule. I stick to the schedule and plan out the next most logical thing to do. There are a few jobs I do not like doing but they fall into the same schedule with no variances.
When it came to building houses (wife and I built 7) I won't drywall tape or do shingles. With cars, I don't do body work, but with C2s, I have a specific job that irks me and if any job frustrates me, its the C2 doors, windows, etc installation. I never seem to be able to sit, kneel, or squat comfortably and doors require you to do it all. Then you have the added frustration of dropping things into the door and having to big a hand to reach the part because you have deformed your hands from cutting them

I have a 4x8 sheet of plywood that has a number of cup hooks on it. I have colored rope that I use on the 4x8 sheet that I use to create "areas" of work. So for example when I get to doors, I will drop a colored rope in the center of the plywood sheet and hang Driver door at the top on one half and passenger door on the other half. Everything for the doors are in ziplock bags or plastic boxes that can hang on cuphooks. So when I start the next day, Everything is ready, visible and identifiable. Not an original idea, in fact GM used it to build their C2s

Min 11:10ish of this video

elwood13

Just pace yourself and croaking will not be in the vocabulary until after you turn 100,000 miles of fun. Then you can consider the word exists.

Im the same way on certain jobs as well. I know nothing about paint and body so I farmed that out as well as all the glass install. I don’t have the patience right now to get that all aligned. I was also scared to drill the holes for the bumpers so I had the painter do that.

TC233

Frame completely stripped and now I am going to electric wire wheel the frame to remove imperfections that sandblasting may not remove to give it a more "fresh from MY factory look"

Only thing I have not figured out is how to remove the 4 bolts that are pressed into the frame to hold the upper A arms. Appreciate the fact I am in Canada and do not have easy access to SAE fine thread nuts. I have ordered some from Ebay and will pick them up next week. If they fit I will gladly bash the crap out of a new nut rather then endanger the existence of my only set of fine thread nuts.
None of my extraction tool can cope with the radical design of the back of the frame the bolts fit in. The alternative is to slip a piece of pipe over the bolt end and make the pipe short enough I can then tighten one of my new fine thread nuts over the end so the entire bolt is protected from sandblasting and powder coating.