1982 Frame Off Restoration

[SupercoolBill]

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

Yeah it did. What a pain.

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[SupercoolBill]

Now some pictures of the frame and other areas that couldn't be seen while the frame was under the car. I feel like sending these pics to everyone who said "Why are you guys pulling the body off the frame?" "Can't you just fix it from below?"
Or all the people that crapped me on the FB restoration page because I had to cut things to get them apart. This car is REALLY rusty!!20220112_200225.jpg20220112_201913.jpg20220112_202100.jpg20220112_202120.jpg20220112_202126.jpg

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[SupercoolBill]

Great news!!!
I have someone lined up to do the repair work on our donor frame!! I was having such bad luck getting someone to do the work that I was going to try to tackle the job myself. I have never straightened a bent frame before, I don't have much spare time for this project, and I haven't welded for years so I still hoped I could find someone else to do it or help me.
I have a buddy (Donny) that has welded professionally for many years. He even owned his own metal fabrication business for a few years. Now he just does fabrication work on nights and weekend. I have used him on past restoration projects. His work is exceptional and his prices are really reasonable.
I have seen some of the other projects he has done and was blown away. I asked him about fixing my frame a while ago. He said he may be able to do it but since then I haven't heard from him. Basically he has been working a lot of hours out of town (he is a supervisor for a company that builds commercial steel buildings).
He finally stopped in today to look at the project.
Immediately I got a lot better feeling about him than the other guy that had come to look at it.
He was very confident he could fix it and make it look totally original again. He was already telling me how he was going to make sure it was straight, how he was going to fix the bent parts, etc. PERFECT!!
So I asked him "How much do you think to fix the bent parts, remove the bottom panels, install thicker 3/16" bottom panels, etc." "Be honest, I won't be offended"
I had a number in my head of $2000.00. He looked at me and said "Ok I am just gonna say it...$2000.00" "That's what I think it will cost,..maybe a bit more,...maybe a bit less"
I say "Ok sounds good, that what I was expecting." "A replacement frame costs $8500.00 plus delivery which is probably another $1000.00." "So I think we are still going to save money going this route."

So I paid $1000.00 for the bent frame. It is going to cost around $2000.00 to get it straightened and made stronger than original on bottom. It costs $600.00 to have the epoxy coating baked off. I got a quote for galvanizing and powder coating from Duncan Galvanizing and I think it was $600.00
So potentially I could have a "like new" frame with tougher bottom plates for $5000ish, even less if I just clean up the frame myself and touch up the bad area.
One thing I really like about this approach vs. buying a new frame is that I used a local frame that may have ended up getting scraped. Used a local friend to do the work. Used a New England company to strip it and coat it.

Donny said he will use my shop to do the work (makes sense because the frame is already there and it is a big heated garage)
He can't start on it for a couple weeks so we need to be patient.

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[Quinn]

However, you may take a hit on resale value, when you disclose that it has a straightened frame.

[82DMC12]

However, you may take a hit on resale value, when you disclose that it has a straightened frame.

Personally, I probably would not be overly concerned as long as it looks like the frame was totally refinished, looks like a million bucks, and I take it to an alignment shop to verify it can be aligned. Now if it was some basic ass daily driver, yeah I'd steer totally clear, but for a somewhat rare classic car, considerations can be made.

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[SupercoolBill]

Personally, I probably would not be overly concerned as long as it looks like the frame was totally refinished, looks like a million bucks, and I take it to an alignment shop to verify it can be aligned. Now if it was some basic ass daily driver, yeah I'd steer totally clear, but for a somewhat rare classic car, considerations can be made.

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Yeah that is basically what I have been told by people that regularly restore old vehicles. As long as it is done right, everything is back to factory specs or better, then there is really nothing to disclose.
That being said if anyone ever was interested in buying the car I would give them the file with our log book, all of our pictures of the entire restoration, and a link to this thread.
I would think that the buyer would appreciate all of the time and money put into the project as opposed to buying one that has never has anything done to it. Unless of course they can find one of those cars that has no rust, was driven all it's life but not driven very many miles, stored in a climate conditioned environment.

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[Helirich]

Personally, I probably would not be overly concerned as long as it looks like the frame was totally refinished, looks like a million bucks, and I take it to an alignment shop to verify it can be aligned. Now if it was some basic ass daily driver, yeah I'd steer totally clear, but for a somewhat rare classic car, considerations can be made.

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This is my thought. In fact, I would be more likely to buy when a thicker material was used to repair it.

[MrChocky]

Personally, I probably would not be overly concerned as long as it looks like the frame was totally refinished, looks like a million bucks, and I take it to an alignment shop to verify it can be aligned. Now if it was some basic ass daily driver, yeah I'd steer totally clear, but for a somewhat rare classic car, considerations can be made.

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Yes, what you said. This isn't some rare pony car that needs to be "original". The DeLorean market is different (although not hugely so); so many cars how have had extensive work done, it's interesting as history, but not much else.
Anyway, you'll be driving it, so it doesn't matter that much. Certainly it'd be worth a lot less as unfinished car with a wonky frame.

[SupercoolBill]

Tonight I watched a bunch of tech videos on YouTube then watched the old DMC factory footage video. Really bad quality but I learned a lot about the car and how it was made. Also lots of good info on how the car parts looked originally. I didn't realize how gold looking the plated parts were. It looks more like gold plating than the zinc with yellow chromate that they do now. I qm rethinking having our parts replated vs. Painting them with gold colored gas proof paint.
The video has no sound for the factory but instead has sound footage of a DMC presentation at a car dealers event. Lots of good info there too. You can hear John saying that they car has (or will have) a stainless steel frame.20220116_202157.jpg

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[82DMC12]

I'm really liking that paint I mentioned before. VHT Engine Enamel in Gold Flake and Dupli-Color Engine Enamel Gloss Clear with Ceramic. Also for aluminum stuff I am using Dupli-Color Engine Enamel with Ceramic in DE1650 Cast Coat Aluminum.

You can see in the picture I painted the throttle linkage with the clear so it looks like bare metal but will not get tarnished/rusty.

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