I would not waste time with that car after seeing the scale on the chassis. But that is just me.
Floor pan DIY or not?
- Thread starter TheCoroner
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The floor is the worst of it so far. It's difficult finding a decent project here that doesn't cost and arm and a leg. The salt in the winter here kills cars, and jacks up the prices.
The frame is solid in all the normal G body rot locations. I just have to take a closer look at the rest of the body mounts some time this week.
NY, and I see you are too
I'm just east of Buffalo.
Budget and vehicle availability are still limitations for us. We picked it up for $400, at that price I'm not worried about floors as much.
I can't remember the last time I saw a Cutlass wagon, we definitely plan to keep it in the family.
The sweet spot on a HF welder is very small... its right above too slow to feed and with the amps on the lowest setting. When I found it , it was great. I can't remember but I think i changed the feed wheel and bought the smallest flux core wire it will run.
The hardest part is holding my breath when I weld. Proper fume extraction would improve my welding considerably.
I was completely opposite. I thought the feed was too slow, so I turned it up. I ran the high current setting, and when that failed, I kept thinking my technique was to blame, either going too slow or too fast.
It's like I ask the misses, do you want a quickie, or the full 2 minutes?
I'm heading out to the garage shortly, I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the advice
Please read some of the threads and links here about body mounts and bushings before assuming that you can't do this. Here's a link I found where someone details how to do this with some 2 x 4 and 4 x 4 lumber and a jack (I would advise removing the gas tank):
http://gnttype.org/techarea/bodygauges/bushings.html
I recommend this thread which explains how to realign the body and frame afterwards:
https://gbodyforum.com/threads/body-mounts-cage-nut-alternative.64256/
I haven't done it myself yet, but it makes sense to do this if needed.
Thats a nice confidence booster. I appreciate it. I knew I should pull the body, I was under the impression a lift was needed, which is how I've always seen it done. The tank is already coming off due to bad gas, the lines are all getting replaced, and I had planned to pull the entire front clip to get the frame up front cleaned and a coat of POR15.
I was planning to send it in to have the rest of the frame done. If it can be a 1-2 man operation, I'll give it a whirl.
Ill check out the links, and search around for some DIY writeups on pulling the body.
Thanks Monte
Did my body mounts on my 66 malibu by myself with a 2x4 and a jack. Plenty of pb blaster and elbow grease. Had a couple come loose from cage, the captured nut, but other than that not as bad as I thought it would be. Cars ride height looks better. Had a couple that were missing. Rotted away. Also did a little cleanup on frame tops with wire wheel and sandblaster. Kinda tough when laying under car. And a coat of por15 while up. One side at a time. I would assume it's kinda the same procedure on a g body. Going to try on my sons 80 malibu. Good links mentioned earlier also
Your quite welcome. I've been looking at doing this too. So, I am happy to help. I was a bit reluctant to think I could do this either, but the team here is always happy to help. Once its explained, it doesn't sound so hard. There was a thread somewhere where someone used an engine hoist and raised the body from the trunk loop, and only kept the first two front frame bolts connected. It's just like everything else. You have to want to do it, and you have to want to do it right. Doing it right includes doing it safely.
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