My frame has significantly less flex now that it’s notched and braced then it did in the stock form. I do agree If not done properly it can be a real mess. These corner pieces were crucial in stiffening it up.
87 Monte Carlo SS Build
- Thread starter Speedman87
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Well today i started inspecting the car for trouble areas. found a small spot in the passenger rear floor pan that seem to been rusted through underneath so decided to pull the carpet back to inspect. tapped at it a little to find out it was completely rusted through. The carpet was damp in several areas to i decided to start to remove all the carpet to see what i was working with......... ouch
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Look on the bright side, it could have been way worse. That’s about the same shape that my replacement body was in. Make sure to check the rear seat support body mount locations. They are under the back seat below the quarter windows.
IMO a clean frame that is notched and braced properly will be stronger than the factory frame, if a frame notch weakened the frame even with added bracing it either was not done well or there was some issue already with the frame prior to the notch.
Another thing to look at in the rear seat area is the brace underneath that holds a body mount on each side, I had to rebuild mine on both sides of my Regal along with inner and outer rockers but the reality is floorboards are really not that hard to do but time consuming and even if you are not the greatest welder as long as you do a decent job no one will ever see it.
Thanks for the advise, i honestly didn't know what to think of this, my stomach dropped as i took the carpet back. Like stated earlier body and restoration is very new to me. I am a decent welder. so hopefully that saves me a little. No problems with the mechanical side of things. Spent over 10 years at dealers and currently a forman at shop, master ase blah blah blah, but far from being a renaissance man like Rktpwrd and a few others on the forum. Its a shame out of all the dozens of friends i have that are technicians not one of them knows how or does
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so i will definitely be reaching out to you guys for help and direction. Next i will take out the rear seats and inspect the rest of the trouble areas Dyson SS and 565bbchevy mentioned. Hopefully next weekend i can get around to sandblasting the floors to see how bad it is. Maybe most of it is just surface rust. Have my fingers cross that with my amateur fabrication and body skills i can salvage this shell. Pray for me brothers!!!! lol
body work
so i will definitely be reaching out to you guys for help and direction. Next i will take out the rear seats and inspect the rest of the trouble areas Dyson SS and 565bbchevy mentioned. Hopefully next weekend i can get around to sandblasting the floors to see how bad it is. Maybe most of it is just surface rust. Have my fingers cross that with my amateur fabrication and body skills i can salvage this shell. Pray for me brothers!!!! lol
If you can weld, you'll be fine. Hell, get Barbarian and do it with a stick! I bet you can get a nice bead.
Yea, guess i have to take care of the ugly and boring before i get to the fun stuff. Sucks, was kinda hoping i can dig into the frame, drivetrain and suspension
Look your older car's brother! 85 MC SS. With same genetic defect!
I totally understand, I didn't want to be cutting grinding and welding either... I wanted to be doing the fun stuff too.. for me it's the paint n body work.. the non metal fab stuff for sure... Anyway got a ways for that.. I at least waited till Christmas to unwrap my carpet to see if the car is naughty or nice! Looking naughty so far. I have not had the time ( really courage) to peel carpet back on driver's side yet!
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The good part is once you get all that crap out of the way, you’ll have a solid car to romp on that will last years.
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