TAC Spotlight => Projects & Restorations => Topic started by: silver78 on January 06, 2022, 09:58:21 AM
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Since its not a Firebird I thought I'd put this build in the lobby.
This little project is a one owner bought new in 72 numbers matching SS. small block, 4 speed, 12 bolt rear and a bench seat.
It lived in OH all it's life and was the daily driver including winters. The car was then parked in a building where it sat for the last 20 plus years partially disassembled. I drove from TX up to OH (my home town) and picked-up this thing to start the restoration at my shop back in TX. Notice the 2017 dates on the pics.
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More parts in the building.
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Yes that's mold growing on everything.
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The owner sourced a good used frame. hauled it to the shop. The plan is to remove the old frame put the body on the good frame, assemble the car enough for transport to my place. The old frame literally broke in half when it was on the lift!
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Trip from OH to TX was easy. Made it home safe and sound. Now....It took another year just to buy and source all the replacement sheet metal so this story is far from over.
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What a great project! Glad to see a new project in this section, even if it's not a T/A. Great to see you came back silver. Don't recall seeing posts from you in a while.
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Make sure to box the frame while you can.
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Silver 78,
While most here are fans of GM F bodies, as I am. I like all muscle cars and look forward to watching your restoration.
Keep the updates and pictures coming.
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What a great project! Glad to see a new project in this section, even if it's not a T/A. Great to see you came back silver. Don't recall seeing posts from you in a while.
Lots of life changing events over the last 4 years. But I hung onto my TA. Sold everything else; vette, harley, house, shop, I even quite working altogether. Just hanging out doing my own thing on my own time now. And it gets better. We bought a new house and built an even bigger shop to play in. Pics to come on that too. Gonna try to stay more engaged on here like I used to be.
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What a great project! Glad to see a new project in this section, even if it's not a T/A. Great to see you came back silver. Don't recall seeing posts from you in a while.
Lots of life changing events over the last 4 years. But I hung onto my TA. Sold everything else; vette, harley, house, shop, I even quite working altogether. Just hanging out doing my own thing on my own time now. And it gets better. We bought a new house and built an even bigger shop to play in. Pics to come on that too. Gonna try to stay more engaged on here like I used to be.
Glad to hear and congrats on everything. Looking forward to seeing some pics.
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Had a minute this evening to work on this topic.
Notice the date now on these pics. 2019! Like I mentioned it took a while to collect the needed sheet metal for this project. Complete floor pan with braces, complete trunk pan, both sides of rear inner wheel wells, new core support, new bumpers, new rockers ect.....
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I bought everything from Summit Racing in Ft Worth. Another full load on the ol' car hauler. lol I sure miss my vette :sad:
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No more waiting so into the garage went the Chevelle for tear down. At least the TA has good company. Laters
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Keep us informed. Looks like a great project. I got a 66 chevelle convertible last spring that for the lack of better wording is pretty rough. Its going to be my next project if I ever get my tata finished.
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I agree with Scarebirds suggestion on boxing the frame if you plan to build up the power plant. I am pretty sure most GM A bodies came with a stiffer boxed frame.
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A friend of mine has a 68 SS; he yanked out the non-numbers 396 and put in a LT1 6.2
He then decided that was not enough so tossed a Whipple on top of it :shock:
This with a bone stock frame and suspension.
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The owner wants the car back to stock specs. Other than internal motor mods it'll stay factory as possible. If it where mine I agree frame upgrades are in order.
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Keep us informed. Looks like a great project. I got a 66 chevelle convertible last spring that for the lack of better wording is pretty rough. Its going to be my next project if I ever get my tata finished.
They are cool cars, the owner of this Chevelle also has a decent 66 SS 396/powerglide convertible and 67 SS hard top. Both very nice drivers.
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What I meant to say before is A body convertibles came with a boxed frame while all others had open C shaped frame rails in the center.
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Some initial inspection pics. The exterior paint was deceiving compared to the amount of rust hiding inside the structure. At least the frame the owner found was pretty nice.
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RUST!
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Not all but a good example of where this car rusted.
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rust
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You call that rust, looks like a small bit of astro flow through ventilation!
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You call that rust, looks like a small bit of astro flow through ventilation!
:lol:
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Little more ventilation/rust found in the structure. Passenger rocker at rear wheel.
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The cowl was rotted out on both sides at the bottom inside and out. Even the hood had rot on the inside structure. The mice made a mansion outta this car while it sat for 20+ years too.
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Some good news...the dash looked untouched as never removed. I took many pics before removing it from the car so I could reinstall it back the way GM did it.
The dash pad is original GM. Sitting in the dark storage bldg out of the sun light sure helped preserve this thing. I'd hate to price one of these today.
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Mouse city. The car smelled of mouse really bad. This guy overstayed his welcome under the dash pad.
Every nook and cranny had mouse housing built in.
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That looks like a rat on the dashboard there! Dang, they grow them big down in TX.
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My wife’s daily driver 2005 Ford Freestyle ( that we just got rid of) somehow had a zillion acorns inside the hood sandwiched between the bottom structural panel and the exterior sheet metal panel. You could hear them rolling around every time I opened or closed the hood. :shock: Only thing I could figure was some critter was storing things in there over the years. Used to annoy the begeezes out of me.
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Amazing how much damage those little critters can do. Years ago when I was a copy machine technician, I found a dead mouse inside the copier electrocuted by the corona wire. The office couldn't figure out why they kept getting paper jams and what the burning smell from inside the copier was. Poor little guy was pretty much cooked alive.
Looks like that is going to be a big project, but hopefully well worth it in the end. I always liked the '70-72 body style on the Chevelles. Cool project!
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My wife’s daily driver 2005 Ford Freestyle ( that we just got rid of) somehow had a zillion acorns inside the hood sandwiched between the bottom structural panel and the exterior sheet metal panel. You could hear them rolling around every time I opened or closed the hood. :shock: Only thing I could figure was some critter was storing things in there over the years. Used to annoy the begeezes out of me.
I was shaking this hood like a snow globe trying to get all that stuff outta there...I can relate to the frustration. lol
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Amazing how much damage those little critters can do. Years ago when I was a copy machine technician, I found a dead mouse inside the copier electrocuted by the corona wire. The office couldn't figure out why they kept getting paper jams and what the burning smell from inside the copier was. Poor little guy was pretty much cooked alive.
Looks like that is going to be a big project, but hopefully well worth it in the end. I always liked the '70-72 body style on the Chevelles. Cool project!
Its a massive project for sure. I have a ton of pics to sort thru and still post. Not for the faint of heart.
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I will be following your build for sure. My best friend had a forest green 70 and my sister had a yellow 72. I remember these cars rode and drove out really nicely (maybe due to frame?).
Before I retired, I looked forward to a life of leisure. When I got there, I found a little leisure is nice but I really enjoyed building and doing projects. You now have a nice project.
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Cool build! I had a bud when I lived up North that was a Chevelle fanatic. Would only own ones with a bench and 4 speed, ahahaha. To him, the bench was more important than whether is was big block/small block, etc.
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My 66 442 rag was a bench and a 4 speed. GF did not like 4th gear.
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Some trunk pan removal started.
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I kept the body on the frame for all this floor structure removal. It would've been easier on the rotisserie but you risk twisting and flexing of the body shell. Plus you can line up the body mounts correctly keeping the frame attached when fitting the new floor.
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This is a big project for sure. I made good use of my new plasma cutter on this guy. Oh I got the obligatory TA pic in there too. Lol
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Dang, you're getting right into it!. Can't believe you're working so close to the TA there! I don't even want dust on my black car as it is such a pain to cean....
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very busy lately...sunday morning update.
the rear fender wells where in sad shape. some previous repairs found, besides rust holes there's old weld and patches.
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measured out new cut lines for both inner fenders
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chopped up the new wheel wells for patches.
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fitting inner wheel well.
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here's the old with new piece I used to fix the inner wheel well. I did the same for the drivers side too.
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The bottom seam was rotted completely on the rear divider panel. Nobody makes this as a repop So I did some cutting and welding to repair and reinstall with trunk pan but before the floor pan.
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Finally starting to come together. Got the wheel wells fitted and trunk pan getting tacked in.
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Since I was working on the rear of the car I got the rear lower quarter repairs done with easy access.
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drivers side
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Floor pan under rear seat area...next step looks just as fun as trunk pan replacement.
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Soooo, got the trunk welded in to keep body structure in solid. Next is getting the body off the frame to replace the floor pan along with everything else.
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One man operations often leads to creative ingenuity. I used my floor jack and engine hoist to literally pull this off! First I measured the distance between the body mounts to make 4x4 supports to bolt to.
Using 4x4's narrow enough to just fit under the trans tunnel to lift the body.
Then used 4x4's long enough to extend past the body.
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lowered the front onto tall jack stands.
lifted the rear with cherry picker attached at rear bumper mounts.
removed the wheels to lower the frame max amount.
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Then simply slide the frame out from the side and rear. Place 4x4s under rear frame at body mounts and rest body on tall jack stands. Role that frame out of your way.
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enough pics for today...got more projects needing attended to.
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Your moving right along, great progress!
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Keep the pics coming. If I ever get my 79 finished I plan on starting on a 66 Chevelle. It may be in worse shape than what you have. I too work alone and like how you separated the body and frame. I have put that in the old memory bank!
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Great pics and good progress. It's not easy to change that many panels.
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I hate to sound like a broken record but are you having any problem getting parts? Sheet metal etc.
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I hate to sound like a broken record but are you having any problem getting parts? Sheet metal etc.
I rounded up the sheet metal before covid. Took nearly a year but I did wait for AMD brand sheet metal. Complete floor pan with braces, complete trunk pan with braces, inner and outer rear wells, both trunk drop off pieces, rear quarter panel patches , outer rockers, inner and outer cowl side pieces, grill, both bumpers...oh hell you get the idea. Lol
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Keep the pics coming. If I ever get my 79 finished I plan on starting on a 66 Chevelle. It may be in worse shape than what you have. I too work alone and like how you separated the body and frame. I have put that in the old memory bank!
I was scratching my head for a minute trying to figure out a way to separate them without a crane or lift of some sort.
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Great job on those body repairs. That is going to come out really nice.
Also body and frame separation for the home do it your self guy. Good ideas!
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Got started on cowl side repair. Rotted all along the bottom.
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needed some metal fab work on toe board to rocker seam. "CLICK IMAGE TO FLIP"
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metal fab and primered
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Primed inner structure everywhere I could with an industrial type material.
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Both sides of the cowl where finished, moving on to inner rocker and prep for the floor pan.
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Inner rockers where funky.
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both rockers prepped for floor. Had to do a little repair on pass side at the rear.
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primed both rockers with that special sauce.
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Some toe board repairs needed on drivers side.
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And here we go new floor slid under the car. I had to get creative again to lift this big sucker into place by myself.
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Great work so far! Love how you just right at it and replace the whole piece instead of just patching things. BTW, what are you using to clean an prep rust? Like on the cowl and rocker.
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Great work so far! Love how you just right at it and replace the whole piece instead of just patching things. BTW, what are you using to clean an prep rust? Like on the cowl and rocker.
The surface rust I use a 80 grit flapper wheel on the 4.5" grinder or the smaller ones you put in your drill. Also some spots I use chemical rust convert. The primer I have is a very thick material used for industrial applications. Not sold at the paint supply stores.
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That's a big job to do by yourself. Good luck.
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Been a busy summer/fall with projects, farming, family, racing ect..but I'm still on this.
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floor lifted into place.
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I drilled out factory spotwelds to install and reweld.
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Got this thing finish welded and primed.
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took measurements of original hump before cutting out original floor pan.
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prep and primed firewall.
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onto the rotisserie for more rust repair and paint removal.
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Awesome work. Thanks for the pics.
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Boy, this car needed a lot of work. Something tells me this is not your first rodeo. Looking great!
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Looking great! I'm about ready to do some firewall work myself. Keep up the good work.