Finished frame

So the past few weeks, i boxed in the frame, shortened the trans crossmember, made some crossmember mounts, moved the trans mounting tab on the crossmember and painted the frame.
I don't claim to be an expert welder, however I am pleased with the results.

Some things to note... I did not have a chop saw, so I purchased a 10 inch cut off wheel to use in my miter saw. That worked well.

I used flux core mig wire .030. I did not have any argon in my tank and was too lazy to get it filled.

I had to mount the engine and transmission in the frame to make sure I had the crossmember monts in the correct place. With the crossmember mounted to the trans I was able drill the holes for the trans crossmember correctly


next step... get fuel lines and brake lines, put the car body on the new frame and get it back to the body shop.

The frame job

So I got the frame back from the frame shop. I don't know why but I had to box the frame. It is something that you would want to do before it was all painted and back on the car. I just made a ton of extra work. So this weekend I was able to get both sides boxed in. Next, I need to fab up transmission crossmember mounting points and try to shorten my crossmember. after the crossmember mounts, i'll get the frame cleaned off and paint it black. While it is out I will also install the new fuel line and brake lines.

Some good news

SO Grant over at Maaco gave me a call. They finished up the welding, and some body work. They are at a stopping point till I get the new frame under the car. No sense in lining up body panels when the frame is going to be changed.

Oh, did I mention that I bought a frame down in Colorado Springs. Big Al, my father in-law will be bringing it up in the morning. Thank you BIG AL you saved the day!!!

I am going to take the frame to the local frame shop to have it checked, just to make sure everything is good before I go through all the trouble of putting it under the car.

I decided to stop by Maaco and see how the car looks so far. here are some pictures.

Some bad news

So, I get a call from Grant over at Maaco. The frame shop guy came by to check out the car. Well the frame was cracked and apparently not repairable. So I am on a hunt for a good frame. I may have located one. Alan, my father in law and good buddy is going to check it out for me.

On a better note, they have all the sheetmetal welded up and some of the body work done. So I will be headed over there in a day or two to check it out. I will post some pics then

The Plan

So I am thinking about pulling the frame out and having it painted, or powder-coated.
I want to drive the car on short trips, so I would like to upgrade the suspension. I have been looking at the Edelbrock pro touring suspension kits. I think I am set on this one. It will lower the stance of the car about an inch or so. I will replace the front A-arms (control arms) as well. I am looking at these ones from KMJ performance for the lowers. For the uppers I think I will go with Spohn.

Getting ready for paint

So the Chevelle has been sitting in the garage since summer. To be honest it's in the way. I have said to myself WTF!! am I doing this again for???? So around the first week of January I got the car completely stripped down of all the interior, and put the sheet metal back on and started looking for a paint and body shop. After talking to a few paint shops, my buddy Dave tells me about the guy who painted one of his dads cars (valiant) I have seen the car, and it looked good. So I called the place. Oh btw.. It was the local Maaco. The owner of Maaco was nice enough to come out and quote me on finishing up the welding and doing the body and paint. I know what your thing MAACO!! For gods sake!!! This shop is a little different. These guys really want to do this type of work. They did a good job on my buddies dad's car, and they were in the process of doing a dodge demon. I checked out the demon and it looked good. They had replaced quarters on it and it was done well. SO it was a done deal, they came and picked up the car and took it to the paint shop.

My 68 Chevelle build.

I am going to try and document the restoration of my 68 Chevelle Malibu.
During the summer of 2009 we sold my 71 nova drag car. A few months went by and my wife and I started looking at classic cars again. After looking through Craig's list we found an add for a 68 chevelle malibu basket case. I sent some emails and I was very curious about this car. So we loaded up the family and went for a little drive. Well when we got there the car was in about 100 pcs. It had new quarters, inner wheel tubs, and rear tail pan. Which wasn't finished being welded. It had a new front fender, and front inner wheel tubs. Not a bad start I thought. As we talked about the car I was told it was an AC car and they had all the AC equipment. I thought that was really cool!! The car came with a 350 motor and a 350 turbo trans. After 2 more trips back to see the car, we purchased it.