1982 Frame Off Restoration

Last but not least tonight was the deadline for deciding if we are going to try to restore this frame at some point, sell the frame for someone else to restore, or cut out what we can use on the donor frame and sell off any good sections of the frame.
Well, this frame is just way too rust damaged for me. I don't think it is worth trying to fix and the parts that I need for my door frame actually appear to be in good serviceable condition on this frame so......A moment of silence for the original car frame. [emoji17] Attachment 67914Attachment 67915Attachment 67916Attachment 67917Attachment 67918Attachment 67919

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

You poor man and your wife, you are courageous souls!

Where was this car stored, the bottom of a lake?? :shock:

It was driven in the winter in Maine. The stuff they put on the roads in the winter eats metal.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SupercoolBill

It was driven in the winter in Maine. The stuff they put on the roads in the winter eats metal.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

---

Road salt and I are very well acquainted from living in Upstate NY; my car was originally sold in Vermont and then spent two decades in Massachusetts. At least the dash and binnacle don't crack under the Northeast's grey skies.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AugustneverEnds

Road salt and I are very well acquainted from living in Upstate NY; my car was originally sold in Vermont and then spent two decades in Massachusetts. At least the dash and binnacle don't crack under the Northeast's grey skies.

---

Yeah well some cars from the Salt belt are rust free. It depends on whether the owners drove it or parked it for the winter. I find that Maine,.NH, and VT can actually be one of the best places to buy sports cars, convertibles, boats,.and motorcycles vs. Sunshine states. The reason being because: the prices are lower (buy in the off season), often times they have low milage/usage, and many have spent most of their lives in sheltered storage.

As far as the binnacle goes,, unfortunately the one in this car is cracked.[emoji849]


Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AugustneverEnds

Sounds like a must have tool for restorations, thanks for letting us know how it worked out [emoji106]

---

Yeah honestly on this occasion I didn't have much luck with it but that wasn't the fault of the tool. It was just a situation where the bolts and nuts all came loose with the impact and I didn't need it, two of the bolts (TA pivot bolts) were so seized that nothing works on them, and the other fasteners that we had issues with had rounded off heads or accessibility issues.
Hoping to try it out on the engine and transmission bolts.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Late update on the progress. Today is Friday but we worked on the car Tuesday night. Just getting around to updating things.

Decided to get the frame up off the floor. Lifted it with the forklift then put saw horses under it to keep it stable. Attachment 67959

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

All these little brackets are pretty rough. I need to see how much some of these things cost. I am not sure if it is even worth fixing them, blasting them, and replating them. Attachment 67961Attachment 67962Attachment 67963

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

It looks like the car has bottomed out more than once (sway bar mounts)
These are getting replaced along with the rubber bushings.Attachment 67964

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

More rusty parts that need to be replaced or blasted and replated.
The steering rack came out without too much of a fight. A new one from DMC is not too expensive so probably just going to go ahead and replace it. Attachment 67965

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk