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  #21  
Old 01-04-2014, 02:53 PM
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The 4" grinder with a new wheel did the trick...It would just fit in between the body and frame and make quick work of my ugly welds.



I even welded back up the little blow through hole that was left over from before then test fit the bushings once again.





Much better...

I then put a couple of coats of Extreme Chassis Black on the repaired area to coat it up.

While that was setting up I grabbed a can of Eastwood Internal Frame coating and got busy coating the whole inside of the passenger side of the frame.



http://www.eastwood.com/internal-fra...ay-nozzle.html

I used air to blow anything loose out of the frame first paying special attention to the areas behind the tires. A BUNCH of crap come out of the rear frame rails. Once nothing else was coming out, I starting sticking the spray nozzle inside holes and spraying. It took a bit to get used to how it sprayed out, but I figured it out pretty quick. It can be a bit messy, but I was more concerned about getting it all completely coated than being tidy. I used one whole can on the passenger side and got to all of the enclosed areas of the frame. I even stuck the nozzle up inside the cage body nut areas to coat up inside them.







One more quick coat of Extreme Chassis Black to cover the frame coating mess back up and it all looks good again.

I used a die to chase the threads on all of my body bolts, even the new zinc coated ones...as I don't want ANY issues when it comes time to re-install the bolts. I then tried to run a tap into the cage nuts and didn't like the way it felt going into the first one. Not being able to securely hold the tap straight as I was starting it because of the frame being in the way was hampering my effort and I did NOT want to screw a nut up at this point. I ended up just grabbing one of the cleaned up bolts, coating it with rust penetrant and using a socket and a long extension to run it up into each body nut and back out again to make sure the threads were good and clean.

Then it was time to let all of the passenger side frame paint cure...and come inside to watch the Chiefs game!

Tomorrow I'll start on #6L.
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  #22  
Old 01-04-2014, 03:47 PM
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Nice job Lance!!!
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  #23  
Old 01-04-2014, 04:54 PM
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Now I'm learning something. Great photos & posts Lance !
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  #24  
Old 01-05-2014, 04:12 PM
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What is it about frame repair days and hangovers...

Headed out to the shop this morning after plowing the 3' snow drift off the driveway in -15 degree wind chills... Set the passenger side down on the newly painted frame rails and set about raising the driver side as high as I could get it. No matter what I did, I could only get about 3.5" of room above the frame rail to work with. First sign that it was gonna fight me.

Borrowed a body saw and with 5 new blades, set about cutting out the bad stuff and making room for the repair washer.







Got a much better fit with this one



Turned the welder up just a touch and practiced a stitch or pulse weld method to burn the weld in good without blowing through the frame. It worked pretty well really...until my hand got trapped against the body with my finger on the trigger and blew through an area about the size of a dime!!

I then had to turn the welder down and plug that area back up again. I was going to get away without having to do a lot of grinding until that happened.



Still turned out better than the last one, just takes practice I guess. Cleaning up was a bear, just no way to get any sort of grinder in that tight area. Tool of choice ended up being a die grinder with a cut off wheel on it stuck in from the side.





Then on to the same process, coat the inside of the frame with the Internal Frame Coat then rust encasulator and extreme chassis black on the whole driver side of the frame.



Be nice to button this part of the job up next time I'm out in the shop. Need to shim up the #3 bushings, get all of the bolts started, then try to figure out how to move the back of the body to the passenger side to line if back up square with the frame.
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  #25  
Old 01-11-2014, 06:06 PM
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Since the repairs were complete and the frame was coated and painted inside and out, I set about putting the PST PolyGraphite bushings in place and buttoning up the project.

The body sat down on all of the bushing washers at just about the same time except #3. I had a couple of washers on hand with a big enough hole in them to put between the top bushing washer and the body which filled the gap perfectly. A quick coat of paint on them and in they went. While the paint on those and the #1 shims was drying, I set about squaring the rear of the body up with the chassis.

It was 5/8s of an inch to the driver side at the axle centerline...so the body needed to move to the passenger side 5/16s of an inch. Ratchet straps did the trick.



I then tried to get the #6 and #7 bolts started...which proved to be a challenge. The factory bolts are 79mm long and pointed on the thread end, the new bolts I bought from Fastenal are 75mm long and square ended. I didn't think that 4mm would make a difference, but in many cases...it did. The trick I finally learned was to use a longer old factory bolt (cleaned up and threads chased) to line the bushing, sleeve, washers, and cage nut up...then back it out and then put the shorter new bolt in its place. In some cases the body had to be sitting on the bushings to get these bolts started. I finally got all of the new bolts in every place but one, which I had to use a painted old bolt that was still in good shape but had I to do this job again, I'd buy 79mm or even a bit longer bolts for sure.

I got the 4 back ones started and had to squeeze the body back square a bit more with the straps and then started getting the rest of the bolts in. Even with the lift it's a bear to get the #3 stub from the body down into the washers and bushing...especially by myself. I finally got my Dad out there to help me...he'd raise and lower the lift that was lifting the body while I'd line things up and get the bolts started. Once a bolt was started I'd move on to the next one. It went pretty quick after that.

Once all bushings, washers and bolts were in place and started, I checked the squareness of the body again and both the front and the back needed a bit more of a tweak. Again a ratchet strap hooked to the body on one side and the frame on the other proved to be the easiest way to nudge it over. Once square I set the body down on the bushings one last time and tightened all of the bolts up starting at the back working my way forward in a crisscross pattern.

I then reattached all of the cleaned up and painted bumper hardware and tailpipe hangers and called it a day. Still haven't put the front inner fenders back in but I have a couple other jobs planned that will be easier with them out.

I checked the fender ride heights with the car snugged down and back on the tires and all 4 corners are within an 1/8" of where they were before I started. If I bounce the front up and down and measure, the fronts are an 1/8" down and the rears an 1/8" up. If I bounce the rear of the car and measure, the rear is down an 1/8" and the front is up an 1/8". I'd say it's right on where it was before, just a bunch more secure in place and square.

Here's some pics of the snugged down bushings...

#7 Left



Think this is #4 Right



#3 Right



#2 Right



#1 Right





#1 Left





BTW, remember this picture of #1 left when the car is lifted on the lift and the front end of the frame sags under the weight of the engine?



This picture was taken of the same spot with the car lifted on the lift but new tighter bushings holding the frame up and in place.



Problem solved...
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  #26  
Old 01-11-2014, 06:57 PM
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Good job Lance and good thinking using the old bolts --- those beveled points are on there for a reason!! HAHAHAHA


It always feels great to complete a project and to have done it well... no matter what it is!
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  #27  
Old 01-11-2014, 07:12 PM
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Thanks Greg.

Three weeks total, start to finish...and most of that was over the holidays as well.

I'm at the point with this car where I don't want to take it off the road for any long term projects. I like to plan them out well enough in advance and have everything I need in place before I start. There were some unknowns with this project, and that's why I put it off for so long. But even with the hiccups, it still went pretty quick and turned out as well as it could have been planned for.

To go back and swap #s 1 and 2 for solid aluminum if I want to would be no big deal now. Figure I'll try it out like this and see what a difference it makes then decide from there.
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  #28  
Old 01-19-2014, 08:04 AM
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Ever since the first time I tried to do a "performance" alignment on my car, I ran into an issue getting all of the negative camber I wanted because my upper control arm bolts weren't long enough. Yesterday I remedied that situation.

Here's what the passenger side looked like with 0.6 degrees of negative camber...



See the back bolt there has no threads sticking out of the nut...we even took the washer out between the nut and the control arm to get every last bit we could out of it.

I took the control arm loose and used a C-clamp to press the bolt out of the frame. Here is the factory bolt and it's new replacement side by side. The new bolt is a class 10.9 12mm x 1.75 70mm long, about 15mm longer than the stock bolt.



The rest of the parts for the day



I had the inner fenders out because of my body bushing swap project so I figured it was the easiest time to do this as well but I'm not ready to do a new alignment at the time, so my plan was to just put shims back in place to set the alignment back where it was for now.

I put the bolts in the frame and then ran nuts down and snugged the bolts up tight. I ordered bolts fully threaded because I wanted to be able to use nuts to hold the bolts in place. I then put a couple of washers on the bolts and a shim or two to get the thickness that matched the stack of shims I took out.



It took some finagling to get everything in place as I had to hold the UCA in place (still attached to the spindle), run the bolts in, start the nuts and run them down as they drew the bolts through the cross bar. The cross bar would not go over the bolts once they there bolted to the frame first due to the headers.

Lots of thread available now for any adjustment I might need...



Snugged up tight



Before I put the inner fenders back in, I went ahead and did the driver side as well. I've never ran out of threads on this side, but figured just in case...might as well do it now.



On the back bolt, there weren't enough shims to make up the thickness of the nut so I left it out. When it comes time to align it like it needs to be, if there is room then for a nut I'll put one in.
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  #29  
Old 01-19-2014, 10:42 AM
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Nice job Lance. That will last a long while.
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  #30  
Old 01-19-2014, 10:45 AM
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Looking good Lance. You just keep on making improvements. Did you decide on tires ?
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