briankeery

A real pleasure to follow this build, continued success.

COOLTED

This is a great thread. I admire your determination.

rene040269

Some progress, the additional reinforcement profile on the bottom of the chassis is almost finished:








At last the ugly dented bottom side of the frame rail is finally gone.

Two more small pieces and i can prepare for the long welds on both sides of the frame rails.

havesometo

Nice looking work.

rene040269

I am getting close to the end of all the frame repair, this weekend i tackled the center crossmember which was also in a terrible state:




Someone made room for a second exhaust pipe. Good idea but at least make sure its clean instead of this crappy piece of artwork.



Cracked gearbox support:



And a dented bottom side:



It seems like someone used my car to run the Baja 500 desert race or something, the whole bottom end of my frame is dented...

Had to solve it. Cut out the dented pieces and welded in new sheet metal.





Nice piece of automotive craftmanship, cut it out anyway:







Fixed crossmember ready for reassembly.



No more cracks:



The crossmember is welded back in place. It was a removable part (former automatic i quess, its now a 4-speed manual) but i had to weld it in because the new outer bottom shell goes over the crossmember joint. I know most people prefer to have a removable part but i am going to overhaul my gearbox anyway so i do not expect it to be out of the car every month.



By the time i finish my car i become a good welder i guess

qwank

ALL 1980-'82 Corvettes had removable crossmembers

rene040269

Thanks for clarifying that, i hear/read all kind of different answers about that issue.

So my '80 is now unique, being the only one with a fixed crossmember?

That will boost its value.

Denpo

You may want to make the center part of the crossmember removable for ease of work on the trans.

moosie982

And the clutch too.
Peace,,, moosie

qwank

I would have just left it the way it came from the factory

rene040269

I respect that opinion, but that ship has sailed. There was not much original on the car to begin with, and it would cost me a fortune to get it back into original factory state and then it still would be not worth that much.

Well i did not think i would see this day but the frame is ready..

All rust and other damage repaired, all kinds of reinforcements and special strengthening of the main beams.

Ready for sandblasting and powdercoating.







































And the best part is that the whole chassis repair costs me around 50 bucks for welding wire and sanding discs.

Uphill from here

brent319

Wow that was a ton of work but it turned out really well. I bet it will look great when it is all powder coated.
Nice work.

rene040269

I agree, i could not resist the urge to paint a couple of sections just to see how it looks when coated satin black.

It will be a shock when it returnes from the coater.

moosie982

It will be a shame to hide all your awesome work with a body, I hope by now you can consider yourself a welder, you are that and so much more. You are to be admired ! Peace,,, moosie

rene040269

OK, continuation, attacked the rear bumper which was in a terrible state just as the rest of the car:








You can repair everything so i blasted, primed and painted all parts and welded in new studs:





And reassembled everything. I cleaned and lightly sanded the aluminium rear bumper and cleaned the plastic impact cushions. I like the look of new bolts on an old Vette...









This is the real fun part of the job, and there are almost no costs involved (i am pretty sure that will change during the build...)

Dean_Fuller

WOW !!! that is looking GREAT ! Is it difficult and expensive powder coating over the pond? That may be the stiffest C3 frame on the planet. Have an estimate on how much weight has been added?

Looking forward to much more.

The Phantom

WOW that all I've got!

Ok, good job man ... now that's all I got ... EH!

Dave

rene040269

Thanks! i have the frame completely sandblasted and two coats of satin black powdercoated for 250 euro (about 280$) which is an absolute bargain, very happy with that price. It is done by an industrial powdercoater which does my frame inbetween other jobs so there is a downsize: I expect "industrial" quality (thick layer, but maybe not the best looks?) and i have to wait for a free spot on the line so it can be weeks until i have it back. I am planning to coat it with a stone chip paint so a few flaws in the powdercoat are accepted because these will be covered by the stone chip paint anyway.

I weighed all added material carefully and there is about 18-19 kgs of steel added to the frame, and almost one spool of welding wire. So i estimate a total of 22-23 kgs which is approximately 50-52 lbs? (sorry, used to metric system over here)

I know a C3 is not a lightweight but i already ditched the spare tire and airco which weighs more than the frame reinforcements. There will be other weight savings so the total curb weight will drop anyway but i consider the frame stiffening a necessary mod because i hated it when i lifted the car up and watched all the door gaps move and widen. I am pretty sure the rust damage had something to do with that but we all know the chassis is not that stiff to begin with. It is never going to be a racing car but i want a flawless paintjob with the cleanest and straightest door gaps i can make and i want that to hold for years, and a stiff frame is a good starting point for that goal i guess.

I will upgrade the suspension in the future and at some point i won't mind a few more horses under the hood so it is best to have a frame up to that job.

Majoho

Dean_Fuller

That is a fantastic price on Powder coating!!! Sounds even cheaper than the states. I had my frame , front A arms, cross members, trailing arms, radiator support, all bumper supports for $950.00 USD. Sounds like you found a good source. Can not wait for more updates!