I'm totally restoring my 86 Cutlass Salon with T-Tops. There is no frame damage, but there is surface rust. I plan on making it a show car. Should I take the frame off and blast it before I paint it or should I just wire brush it?
Frame off or on
- Thread starter redboy504
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in my opinion...
you'll achieve alot more with the frame off. For a showcar, the underneath should be as clean as the above, and with the frame off, you'll be able get to alot more.
And while you're in there, you can replace all the bushings, add some bracing to a frame to stiffen it up, etc...
And if the frame is not in bad shape... just buff it down with a wirewheel, and save some $$$ for sandblasting.
you'll achieve alot more with the frame off. For a showcar, the underneath should be as clean as the above, and with the frame off, you'll be able get to alot more.
And while you're in there, you can replace all the bushings, add some bracing to a frame to stiffen it up, etc...
And if the frame is not in bad shape... just buff it down with a wirewheel, and save some $$$ for sandblasting.
It's not in bad shape at all. That's why I was wondering if I should take it off at all. But thanks for your advice.
if it's not in bad shape then for me that's a perfect time to remove the frame to see what needs done as far as protecting the metal and frame, changing all the plumbing and boxing the frame and new body bushings....I wish I had taken mine off years ago before the rust really got to it..the delay caused me a few months of fabricating and welding every nite
I finally got the body off the frame last night. I'm glad I did it. It really wasn't as hard as I thought. I just need a hoist to lift it up enough to roll the frame out. But to anybody thinking about doing it, Go ahead and do t. I took the bolts out in a few minutes while I was in the shop waiting for somebody to show up. It's more work for me but I think it will be worth it when it's all done. I'll try to get some pics tonight after the Saint's beat the Seahawks 34- 17.
Good Luck..It seems like my project just snowballed once I pulled the frame. I replaced mine with a cleaner "no rot" frame. But once I started (sand blasted, prepped and painted) it seemed I could not leave well enough alone, so now... It's lowered, notched, tucked and I'm thinking of shaving the door handles (a NHRA no-no). This all started because I did not like the rail rot on my original frame. As long as the body is up......might as well consider smoothing the the trunk floor, mini-tubb, clean, strip and paint the entire underside, roll the lips and on and on and on and on....... ..All these delays (and learning curves) really streched out my time frame and squeezed my wallet (even though I've done most of this myself). Now I'm thinking tubular front control arms, coilovers...rear disc's...a cage..IT JUST DOES NOT SEEM TO END..... Hope you can stay focused. Best wishes.
redboy504 said:
Good call on the Seahawks score :lol: . I'm painting the front frame of my car before I put the engine in. I really hate to do that though and leave the rest of the frame bare. I don't know if the body bushing bolts will come out without breaking, that's what's stopping me. Did yours break at all?
I really didn't have any problems at all with the bolts. They were tight as hell, but I got them all out with just a ratchet. No real problems. No breaking or anything. I'm not planning on notching or anything major like that, but I am doing a few of those things. I'm gonna box the frame, shave doors and trunk and a couple other things. Oh yea and for the record The game is not over yet but I was TOTALLY WRONG about the score. GO SAINTS TWO DAT!!!!!!!!!
I know when your doing a resto plans change everyday and nothing ever goes as planned. But with that being said, my plan is to only have the body off the frame for a month or two. I just want to clean it up and paint it. I would like to change all the bushings to poly though. That may take me a little while. Money is real tight right now.
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