Need info on pulling the body off the frame

[Veltboy618]

I have been working on my cutlass & got it all torn down. I have the complete front end off the car, the engine & trans is gone, doors are off, interior is gone, all the glass is out, the control arms, trailing arms, rear end is out. Everything is off of it so I figured I might as well go ahead and pull the body off the frame to replace the bushings & see if I find any problems that needs to be addressed under the bottom or on the frame. If everything checks out good on the frame I'm going to get it blasted & painted. I have been spraying the bolts with PB Blast & hoping some get through so I will not break the bolts off while removing them. If I do break some while removing them what do I need to do to get them out? Do anyone have pics of what needs to be done to retrieve the other end of the broken bolt? I have read a couple threads and they said I need to remove the fuel lines, master cylinder, e-brake & something about the lights in the rear. If there is any other things I should watch out for please let me know.

 

[Carlola]

Chances are you will need to cut flaps in the floor to gain access to the other side of the body mounts. Depending on how far gone they are you may need to do it to only 1 or 2, or all. The trunk ones are easy, the back corner of the body infront of wheel wells will likely give you the most grief. If your rear underbody mount locations are rusted, there is a guy in ontario who makes replacement brackets/patches (same guy who makes the rear frame rails). As far as i know nobody makes the forward ones beneath the cab and up, so hope they are all good. If one of your brackets snaps and the bolt just spins it around inbetween the body and frame (happened to me) then your sure to have much to curse at.

 

[pontiacgp]

you can always use a sawsall to cut thru the bushing and bolt inbetween the frame and body. The you can remove the body and see if you can get them out with visegrips. When I did mine I just let the bolts break and opened up the body where the anchors were. I cleaned up the original anchors and soaked them for a few day so the broken bolts could be removed and built new cages for anchors and put them back in place and welded the opening I had made.

 

[Veltboy618]

Chances are you will need to cut flaps in the floor to gain access to the other side of the body mounts. Depending on how far gone they are you may need to do it to only 1 or 2, or all. The trunk ones are easy, the back corner of the body infront of wheel wells will likely give you the most grief. If your rear underbody mount locations are rusted, there is a guy in ontario who makes replacement brackets/patches (same guy who makes the rear frame rails). As far as i know nobody makes the forward ones beneath the cab and up, so hope they are all good. If one of your brackets snaps and the bolt just spins it around inbetween the body and frame (happened to me) then your sure to have much to curse at.

Thanks for the info but it was the opposite. One of the trunk bolts are giving me a hard time. The one right behind the rear wheel on the drivers side started spinning on me . It was coming out fine then I believe the cage gave which is letting the nut spin. I think you jinksed me lol! I guess I will have to cut a small hole in the trunk above the nut and try to hold it while removing the bolt. The fronts came out with ease. I got 9 of 10 out without snapping them so I'm not complaining. A couple of them look like they should have snapped close to the head of the bolt but they held strong & came on out. I'm going out to the garage in a second to remove some other stuff and try to get that bolt out. Body should be in the air tomorrow!

 

[Veltboy618]

When I slide the original frame out, I'm thinking about buying this one from a guy I know & sliding it under there. It has already been blasted, boxed in, primed & sealed. It has complete C4 Corvette front suspension with coil overs & mounting brackets for C5. I already have the Blazer spindles, hub bearings, C5 calipers & I just ordered the brackets to mount them from Ed Miller Monday but I will not need them if I go this route. The frame has been mocked up for a rack & pinion. I'm really thinking about getting this one. What do you guys think & how much would you guys pay for something like this?

 

[Carlola]

Glad to hear the good luck! I have the blazer spindles + c5 brakes, yea its pretty badass. This frame your guy has sounds sweeeeeet, definately worth looking into. If he has no asking price yet, I would Offer $400 to feel him out, but would seriouosly consider working up to 7-800. I have around the same fab hours into my frame and the bill came to over a grand. BTW epoxy and paint her if your do, POR-15 is good stuff but a b*tch and a half to use.