Frame swap help needed

[lvngded]

Hello again all,
I really hope you guys are a patient group, because you'll be hearing from me often, LOL.
Anyway, can anyone point me to some info on swapping frames. I have an 81 GP parts car on the way and I need to swap out the frame with my 85. I will have access to pretty much any tool you can think of, but I have never attempted anything like this. I also have a guy who has been wrenching on cars for longer than I've been alive, but he's never done one either.
Any help would be awesome. Thanks

Mike

 

[G-Body_Vet]

I've never swapped a frame, but I have dropped the frame from underneath and rolled it out. It wasn't bad for me because I already had the whole front clip removed, eng/trans were out, and there wasn't exhaust on the car. I also lucked out by not breaking any body bushing bolts.

It's also a matter of how high you can lift the car. The highest point of the frame is the part that curves up into the rear wheel wells so you have to get the car high enough to clear that. I set my frame on mover dollies with the tires removed to get the frame as low as possible. There's a lot of ways of going about it, just depends what tools you have available.

You will have to disconnect the brake lines from the master cylinder, the steering shaft rag joint, fuel lines from the tank, driveshaft has to come out, transmission linkage at the firewall, parking brake cable needs to be disconnected from the pedal, & probably more that I can't think of right now.

I'm sure someone else will chime in. What made it so easy for me is that I didn't have plans to get the car on the road right away. I have a ton of pics in my build thread if it's of any help.....just have to sift through the 20 some odd pages.

Here's the body bushing locations.

 

[lvngded]

Thanks for the advice, Vet. Unfortunately, I can't have my car off the road for too long. 2 days is really my max for this.
I will have whole front clip removed, I'm swapping the fenders and doors as well, so taking off the hood and header panel shouldn't be too much more work. The engine and trans will be out of my car as well , but the doner car will still have the trans hooked up. I realize that this will probably not be a 1 day project. I can take some time on the doner frame and parts. But I need to be able remove and replace everything on my car on a 2 day time table. The new engine will be the last thing to go in.
My problem is figuring out how to lift the car high enough. And my partner in crime has literally any tool we may need and a shop that has everything but a lift and will hold 8 cars, plus a paint booth.

 

[G-Body_Vet]

A big floor jack, some 4x4's to set the body on, 3 ton jackstands and an engine hoist to temporarily lift the rear from the trunk latch is all I needed.

 

[lvngded]

So, disconnect everything, lift the body and throw 4X4's sitting on jack stands, then repeat the process for the other end? Sounds simple enough, how long do think it took you to roll it once you started?

 

[G-Body_Vet]

Kinda hard to say on the time frame. I'm a one man show and hot sh*t with a wrench! :lol:
I have to deduct for beer time too.

It might go quicker for you if you have a helper that's experienced. You should easily get it done in a day if you don't run into any stupid problems. My car is fairly rust free so it went pretty smooth.

 

[pontiacgp]

As far as time if you don't know the condition of the body mounts on the body you can't give any estimation of time. I imagine you're changing the frame for a reason so there must be some issues on the body as well. If you have a limit of 2 days to do the job I'd suggest to find another time to do it.

 

[fraido2002]

I completly agree. You have no idea what the body mounts are like. If you are at the point where the frame needs replaced, then chances are you have some body mounts that need fixed on the car as well. As far as recommendations for making it quick and easy... Tag and bag every thing. Label all your wires, and use some penetrating oil on all the nuts and botls.

 

[lvngded]

Okay, this may sound stupid. But what do you mean body mounts? The point where the body mounts to the frame? Or the rubber mounts / bushings? I can tell you this, I decided to just replace the frame when I was showing my buddy the rear rail.
I was poking around near the tow-holes and pulled a black "doughnut" out of it. I was like what the hell is this. He sighed and told me a body bushing.

 

[fraido2002]

The bolt that holds your body to the frame threads into a nut that is welded to a small plate in the shape of a diamond. Typically the bolt may brake and you will have to attempt to get the remainder of the bolt out or replace the receiver(welded nut). In order to replace that you will need to cut an access panel into the inside of the car to gain access to that welded nut. There is a little metal strap welded around that diamond shaped plate to prevent it from spinning. To remove the plate you will need to remove the metal strap. This will all take a little metal fab skills, but until you get into you have no idea whether or not you need to do any of that.