Tim 1973

Looking good you are well on your way? I'm doing a 73 frame off, about a year into it.

Have you decided if you are going to paint or powder coat your frame?

I decided to powder coat mine and like the finish.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...estration.html

Tim

mirage2991

Hey Tim,
your project looks great!
I haven't decided if i'll powder coat or paint it yet. Right now I need to find a local sandblaster to get it all cleaned up then i will have to fix the trans x-member, then i can decide on the finish.

Tim 1973

Thanks Mirage2991, Just so you know most powder coaters sand blasting is part of the cost and most will not coat it unless they blast and prep the metal. I found it cheaper to powder coat the frame then coating.

My local coater charged me 500.00 that included all cross members and all the metal nose and bumper parts. This was including blasting.

I called the local blaster and it was 200.00 to blast then the cost of paint & materials went higher then powder coating.

mirage2991

thanks for the heads up on the cost. I will have to see if my local powder coater can handle a frame. If not I might just paint the frame to match the car (leaning heavy on going to red right now as opposed to blue)

mirage2991

Quick update: didn't do anything on the car per say but Santa droped something for me thursday night, which will be a huge help in moving forward with my project(s):



took all week end (in between xmas parties) to set up. I will be starting on the air lines tomorrow.
This puppy is a beast! surprisingly quiet (about as loud as my 30 gal Husky ) just lower pitch. sounds like a muffled harley at idle.
it's a Quincy QT-5, dual stage 80 gal. Flows 17.2 @175 and 17.9 @ 90... I think sandblasting my a-arms just got alot faster! lol

Tim 1973

I did the same thing about a year ago. Love my 80 gal compressor, the only issue I have is controlling the water in the air. I never had this issue with my 30 Gal craftsman compressor that I purchased in the early 90's

Looks great!

1976 corvette

Looks good so far. Best of luck with the restoration

mirage2991

ok, lets catch up:
Compressor install is all done with all the lines done, therefore i was able to work on the project. Spent a few hours sand blasting parts and painting them, and tonight i fixed the fubar'd trans cross member. We removed the welded plates and discovered this uglyness... quick order to Summit and voila, made it a bolt on cross member. I will work on the inner frame brackets this week end, a d should be droping off the frame to the blaster.





Drilled then welded bolts, cut the heads off to make them studs











I'm a bit behind because one of the big block in our boat decided to injest water via a cracked exht manifold. had to take it out over the break, it's on the stand as a short block for now...as a side project

mirage2991

frame work going along slowly:

Tim 1973

Looking good, sure glad I did not have the frame work you are having to deal with....

mirage2991

Thanks
it's really not that bad... got all the tools so it helps alot...i think i am 2 week-ends out of starting re-assembly

mirage2991

ok time for an update... my project is now heading towards the custom hot rod, after weeks on debating about it i've decided to go to the extreme and this is where it now sits:





before installing that i ended up replacing both side inner frame rail as they had some thin metal there





rear back half is fully welded on now, I will install some gussets as well (got two new stock ones)

I'm going for a specific look, plan is to run 20x15's out back and 18x8 up front.

next on the agenda is mocking up the currie 9" housing.

I've officially departed from "easy" (pun intended) stock frame off to say the least but always wanted to do something like this...

As off right now I plan on using the 489ci and th400 out of my 69 camaro... this might change tomorrow lol

doorgunner

I thought.......errrrr.......

You were going to.....hmmmm......





I guess I misunderstood..........



The project seems to be going according to plan!

mirage2991

^^^ Exactly! lol

hoping to have the rear end tacked in by this week-end.

mirage2991

...and some progress over the week end... couple brackets tacked in, starting to mock up the rear

doorgunner

Well....................

it's obviously....................

getting more....................

A........................

MAZE.......................

ING !

mirage2991

mirage2991

and who doesn't like project pictures? here's some more just for fun



those puppies just showed up, naturally i HAD to put them next to the frame like a kid on x-mas!
29x18x15... that's huge -yes that's what she said! -



I kid you not I feel like a shop owner, always waiting on parts, messing up my deadlines (lol) ... I'm waiting on a steel bar for the jig to weld the rear end tubes and housing bearing cups... and need to figure out "brake space" to know exactly what axle length to order and, evidently to know how long the tubes themselves have to be cut to... good times! it's way more fun than work i tell ya! plus i can drink beer in there lol!

68Thunder427

Talk about girth lol those ought to give you some traction.

mirage2991

yes... they do make bigger than those... 33x22x15.... but there is a certain look i'm after and didn't want to stretch the fenders... traction no worries i will find a way to make these useless