I want to clean and paint the frame on my 72 and was thinking about taking the body off. I ordered a few books but I think my mailman is reading them first before he gives them to me so I just wanted to run this by you guys. Is it worth it or am I looking for trouble. I have visions of the body breaking in half[sm=oopssign.gif] I'm building a nice car not a trailer queen so I don't want to go nuts or half ***.

 

Not that hard to do, if you have the working space and a couple friends to help. Be ready to replace the "cage and nut sets", body bushings, shims, and mounting bolts... 35 year old hardware is likely rotted a bit. The parts aren't too expensive ($200-300 to replace everything), and are fairly easy to find. Grab a couple friends, buy some beer (not alot, if you want everything to fit back together when you are done), and have fun. The good thing about doing this is that you will be better able to see the condition of everything else under the body. Be prepared...

bill.

 

Hi Rich G, and welcome to the forum. After you explain to you wife that she has to park outside because you need two spaces for a car that doesn't work you might change your mind. If you just got your 72 why don't you drive it for 3 to 6 months to see what it needs before you take it apart.
I hope that one of the books your waiting for is How to restore & Modify your Corvette by Richard Newton @ motorbooks .com. I found it to be okay. For,me I would not even think of a frame off project. I did a ground up restoration in 2001 and I've put 25,000 miles on it since then and each one of the put a smile on my face.PG

 

Thanks guys, I did order that book and the restoration guide. I wanted to drive the car for a while but it has been sitting for 5 yrs. and it had no brakes and the ps. and exh were leaking so I just decided to dive into it and start ripping it apart.So far I got the eng. and trans out and the frt suspension.Thats where I'm at now trying to decide if I should clean and POR15 the frame now or go nuts.I'll have to flip that coin.

 

Hi Rich and welcome.Sounds like your car is in the same condition as mine.I went to Mid America Motorworks on line and bought the body removal VSH tape and restoration book as a kit(by Richard Newton) and it is well worth it for the information.I also bought the lifting harness so it is less strain(most of my friends are getting older(in body only) like me).It also makes it easier to line things up and take time setting it in place.Hope to start taking the body off next week.Looking forward to the task Looks easy enough and will be able to do a nicer job.I'm going to clean and paint the frame with tremclad gloss black.I did my 77 GMC pickup frame and it turned out really nice.Same as you,building a nice weekend fun driver.Don't be afraid it aint that hard.Enjoy the car and have fun.

 

Thank Busnut I will check them out. Keep me posted on how you made out with it. Sounds interesting.