1982 Frame Off Restoration

[SupercoolBill]

Last week I used VHT Engine Metallic in Gold Flake (Advance Auto has it) for a test spray on my idle microswitch bracket to see how close it would match my water pump pulley. It's very close, close enough. Looks fantastic. Here's a pic but it's not zoomed in on that part. You're supposed to bake the painted part at 200F for an hour to ensure it is will be chemical-resistant when you're done.

Compare it to the two S-brackets for the mixture unit support and the Q-clip for the water hose in front of the compressor - both of those are plate (either zinc or cadmium, not sure)

Attachment 67802

Cool.
On one hand I can tell that it isn't the same but it still looks pretty good.

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[82DMC12]

Cool.
On one hand I can tell that it isn't the same but it still looks pretty good.

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In my experience, plating looks splotchy and uneven and it comes off with solvents. I like that it's so thin that it doesn't affect putting parts together or causing fitment issues, but it's not very durable. For that reason, I like plated fasteners and washers, etc. But for bigger parts that you actually see, I think paint or powder coating is best. Each method has its place. You can make plated stuff last longer if you clear coat it with Clear engine enamel by Dupli Color. Good for calipers and stuff.

[SupercoolBill]

Worked on the car with the wife the other night. I am not allowed to work on it without her.
We jacked the car up until we ran out of blocks. It still was not high enough for the stick shift to clear the rear timber. So my wife suggested taking the wheels off. I remember that I had some 4 wheel dollies so I thought that was a great idea. 20220112_174221.jpg20220112_174231.jpg

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[SupercoolBill]

Well it was a great idea until I got to the last two lug nuts on the left front wheel (why is it always the last one or last ones?).
The nuts were stuck solid. I found this strange since all the wheel studs so far had generous amounts of anti-sieze compound on them. I started with a 19mm on my impact gun. Eventually the stainless steel covers on the nuts came loose. Now they were 18mm lug nuts. 20220112_175059.jpg20220112_175102.jpg

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Attachment 67821

[SupercoolBill]

Both lug nuts ended up rounding out completely. I though that the nut was actually coming off finally but it was just becoming a circle.
I was surprised that my cordless impact had that much power.



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[SupercoolBill]

Ended up drilling between the wheel studs and the lug nut to see if I could get the nut to kind of split and come off. Quite a pain but it kind of worked. Main objective was to not damage the rim.20220112_181253.jpg20220112_182330.jpg20220112_182402.jpg

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[SupercoolBill]

The wife gave it a try on the next one. Eventually we got the other one off and the wheel off.

A moment of silence for all of the drill bits that we ruined in the process.20220112_182823.jpg20220112_192949.jpg20220112_203522.jpg20220112_193400.jpg

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[SupercoolBill]

Now we were finally able to set all 4 corners on the flat dollies and roll the frame out from under the body. Yeah!!20220112_193442.jpg20220112_195617.jpg

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[82DMC12]

Christ on a crutch, what a mess. Is there not some way to remove the manual gear shifter from the frame from up top so that you wouldn't have had to clear the lever?

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[Helirich]

Wow, I bet that felt good to get those lugs off!