[RedDirtRoad]

Use dynamat or an equivalent sound deadner
If not the panel will sound very tinny and not solid at all

[ZeGermanHam]

Thanks for the suggestion on the Dynamat. I've got some in the shed from an earlier project.

In other news, I'm fabbing up some reinforcements for the chassis rather than buying them pre-made. Got the rear section tacked in tonight.

[ZeGermanHam]

Finally got all the reinforcements welded in and cleaned up today. Came out pretty decent! Took a while to make everything from scratch, but it was worth it.

[RedDirtRoad]

Nice work and craftsmanship
Keep it going!

[gtospieg]

Looking good...planning on doing the same to the frame for my Tempest but I'm thinking of "swiss cheesing" the boxed pieces to save some weight

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by gtospieg

Looking good...planning on doing the same to the frame for my Tempest but I'm thinking of "swiss cheesing" the boxed pieces to save some weight

I had a similar thought, but ended up going with the simpler route. I've heard that using a dimple die punch to make the holes will result in a stronger section than a plate with no holes at all. That said, I'm not even sure if you can use a dimple die punch on 1/8" steel. I suppose you could use a thinner metal and with the dimples it would be as strong as 1/8" without the holes but considerably lighter.

Anyhow, today I just did a little finishing work on the welding. Also fixed the "handiwork" left by a previous owner...

[gtospieg]

I also thought about a dimple die...but of course I don't have one. I suppose I could just drill large holes. It would still have to make the frame way more rigid than the factory did.

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by gtospieg

I also thought about a dimple die...but of course I don't have one. I suppose I could just drill large holes. It would still have to make the frame way more rigid than the factory did.

Agreed. Although, it's worth considering whether the juice is worth the squeeze. The plates I made for my frame probably add up to about 10lbs max. Cutting holes in them will lighten them up, but not by enough to matter. For a dedicated race car, it would be a worthwhile pursuit. On a street car, it won't make a bit of difference.

Either way, I think you'll be glad you boxed the frame. It's pretty striking just how insignificant the frame is from the factory.

[gtospieg]

I didn't realize the added weight was only 10lbs...thanks

[ZeGermanHam]

Time for a small update. Got the rear deck substructure and outer panel installed, and finished the sail panel repair. Pretty amazing to have all the rust gone in that area. Now moving onto lower fender patches and then the tail panel and trunk pan. Took a while to get where we are now, but it should start picking up as the rear deck area was probably the most intense part of the bodywork.

I've also decided to paint the frame myself, so I've been slowly scraping, wheeling, and stripping it down to bare metal. It's tedious, but I think it'll come out nice.

[randy1966GTO]

Awesome work, mine needs the same areas replaced and I have that scheduled for 2022, lol. Great progress and very nice attention to detail.

Randy

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by randy1966GTO

Awesome work, mine needs the same areas replaced and I have that scheduled for 2022, lol. Great progress and very nice attention to detail.

Randy

Thanks! Let me know if you'd like any photos of areas where you'll be working so you can use them for reference when working on your project. I'd be happy to email full resolution images of specific areas if desired.

If you're going to be replacing the rear deck substructure and parcel tray like I did, you'll probably want to save the photo above that shows it without the outer panel installed. Nobody makes a GTO rear deck substructure, so the only option is to modify one that is intended for a Chevelle. This entails extending it by about 5" or so to fit the GTO body dimensions. You can see where it was extended in the photo above where there is gray paint on it.

EDIT: Here is another photo showing the rear deck substructure extension that was needed.

[ZeGermanHam]

Good grief, I think I'm finally in the home stretch with refurbishing the frame. I decided to clean and paint it myself to save some money over having it blasted and powder coated. Took an eternity to get it down to bare metal, including the nooks and crannies, but it came out nice. My angle grinder definitely got a workout with this task.

For all the old timers who say they don't make 'em like they used to, take a gander at the front crossmember welds. Must've been slapped together on a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend, by Ray Charles... I'm going to clean them up and re-weld, just because I can do so easily at this stage.

[nikrnic]

Keep up the good work. All of those little details that no one sees pays off in the end. Mine says hi from Michigan..

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by nikrnic

Keep up the good work. All of those little details that no one sees pays off in the end. Mine says hi from Michigan.

Thanks for the words of encouragement! Yours is a beauty, and a post coupe like mine as well. Very cool. I'm originally from Michigan, too (East Lansing), and my GTO was built in the Pontiac, MI plant. Possibly yours was, too?

[72pontiac]

holy Toledo you have that frame looking like chrome. how long did that take? what do you suppose you'll paint that with?

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by 72pontiac

holy Toledo you have that frame looking like chrome. how long did that take? what do you suppose you'll paint that with?

I'm almost embarrassed to admit how long it took me to clean up the frame. I don't keep track of my hours, but knowing my weekly schedule, I can reasonably estimate that it took me about 40 hours of work spread over three and a half weeks. It was a tedious process of degreasing, scraping off all the thick tar-like rustproofing that had been applied (that was a headache), then wire-wheeling, then going over with a stripping disc, then getting into all the small spaces with a Dremel tool. Probably would've taken a sandblaster 20-30 minutes, but hey, I don't mine putting in some sweat equity. It would have gone a LOT quicker had it not been for all the rustproofing that I had to scrape off by hand before any power tools were used. That was a huge time-suck.

For paint I'm going to be using Eastwood's chassis black satin finish. I'll also be using their internal frame coating.

[Greg Reid]

Dang, that's almost too pretty to paint!

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Dang, that's almost too pretty to paint!

Thanks! Some of the guys at the shop have been joking with me that I should just throw some clearcoat on it. I can't recall if that was before or after they made fun of me for how long it took to clean up.

[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by ZeGermanHam

...but knowing my weekly schedule, I can reasonably estimate that it took me about 40 hours of work spread over three and a half weeks...

eep.

I am glad I sent mine out for blast and powder - 40 hours of what you did by no means is fun.

How are you going to run your fuel and brake lines? Most kits are either hardtop/post or conv't - yours is neither now frame-wise