Starting my frame off.
 

Well, I took the first step yesterday. I am going to dp a complete frame off resto. Hopefully I will get the body off this week and may get the fame to the powder coater. I know Y'all will be there to answer any ?s and give me plenty of advice. So, thanks, in advance for everything.

Good luck with your frame off restoration. The car looks solid. Will you be painting it the same color? Look forward to your progress posts.
Scott

Resto
 

Take and post lots of pics for us to follow along with please. Looks like a nice car!! Floptop with A/C !! What other options does your car have? What powertrain is in it?

GOOD LUCK! --- I'd love to start mine soon also, but I just love driving it right now!!

The original color is Mariner Blue with turquoise interior and black top. It has the console with his and her shifter, tinted glass all around, rally gauges and remote mirror.
The drive train is not all original. 69 400 with 67 670 heads, 71 intake and 70 4-bbl for a manual trans. 400 automatic with safety-trac rear end. Not sure about the rear ratio yet.
I am not sure if I will go back with the mariner blue or not. I would like to see the color in person.

When I did mine... I had the frame dipped and galvanized, then powder coated.
The galvanizing process removes ALL the rust inside and out.
Cost...$150.00 for the dipping and galvanizing.

http://www.nagalv.com/

they have plants around the country.

david

p.s.
here's some info...
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/show...ight=galvanize

I helped a buddy a few weeks ago, pull the body off the frame. He stuck a engine hoist thru the door, bolted it to the seatbelt bolt holes, and lifted up, worked like a champ....
We then put blocks under the body and the frame/chassis, rolled it right out.
Even easier with a rag top.
That is a great color combo. Good luck with your resto. Nice work area you have also.

Try here.
http://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/dream...on=show&page=1

Rugratman,
Thanks for the link. Still hope to see one in person. But, I am leaning toward the original color combo.

I got a little more done today. Not bad for 4 hrs work. So far every bolt has come out and I have only found a little rust in the driver side fender extension.
Here are some more pics.

a few more. I may be able to see what Mariner blue looks like if I clean up some of these areas.

Great Info!!
 

Thanks 6t7gto!! I never knew about North American Galvanizing was in my backyard. Could they dip a body? How does it work painting over galvanize? Maybe they could just dip the body in their acid dip and rinse it and possibly E-coat it?? If not, I would still like to have my frame done.

I'll definitely give them a call tommorow ask questions. I live about 2 hours from Tulsa.

I am about ready to pull the running gear. Got the interior removed today and the rest of the firewall cleaned off. As you can see, the dash has been cut for an aftermarket radio. Shouldn't be too much trouble to fix it.

Shouldn't there be a bolt in the bracket to the left of the power steering pump?

Exellent shape!I'm watching this too.

Looking Great!!!
 

:thumbup: Your making good progress! Excellent job taking and posting the pics.

Your car so far looks to be in great shape! I think it's pretty rare to find a 67 Vert with floor pans like yours. Most I've ever came across were pretty poor. Your car must have been cared for pretty well over the years or at least garage kept.

You're really making me want to tear my 67 apart!!

Keep up the good work!!

YES!

Wow nice solid convertible. Your moving right along. When I was searching for a 66 or 67, there was one out in Washington state, that was mariner turquoise with a turquoise interior. I wish i could have seen it in person , from the pics it was beautiful.

Got the running gear out this afternoon. I will clean up my mess tomorrow. My advice for anyone planning to do this. Remove the oil filter housing and starter before pulling the drive train.
Also, it would probably be easier to remove the flywheel cover and take the converter bolts out while the engine is still bolted in.

One thing to add here...A ragtop does not have the structural integrity of a hardtop. Easiest way to strengthen it is to build some angle iron "doors" that bolt to your front hinge mounts on the firewall & bolt to the rear pin location in the door jamb. These can be an A-shaped support (3 pieces of angle iron welded in the shape of an A with the two legs bolted to the hinge area). Do not lift the body without adding some type of support here.

Good luck with your GTO. Nice color/options. I am hopefully going to drive mine this spring. It has been a long time since my car has run under it's own power (21 year frame-off). See details here: http://www.akvalley.net/~ss/1966GTO.html

Looks like you may have forgotten to 'plug' the output shaft of the tranny also. ;) I've pulled dozens of Pontiac engines from GTO's and never had a problem with the starter or oil filter, but I've never used a carb plate like you used with the engine puller either. I've used a piece of chain and bolted it to the opposite front and rear intake head bolt holes. That way I could 'adjust' where I put the hook of the puller on the chain to get a better angle.

Looks like you've gotten a good start. Good luck and keep the pics coming.

Nice job.

Pre soak the crap out of those exhaust manifold bolts with PB blaster.
Everything looks pretty solid, that sure is nice. What a great find you have there.
All that extra space in your garage is filling up with stuff now....LOL

I didn't even go out to the shop today. It's just too cold here! Plus, I am not feeling too well. Hope to get the gas tank and rear bumper off tomorrow.

Well, another day shot to heck and back! still under the weather. Maybe tomorrow.

Well, I'm a little better today. It was 74 out so I had to go do something on the car. Pulled the shifter and finished cleaning the dash off. Also pulled the tail light housings.
Here are a fwe more pics. They show the worst damage I have found.

Here are some pics of the gas pedal. What is that thing hooked to it?

It looks like a switch rigged for the electric kickdown on the TH400 trans.

Good luck with the resto, I hope to be starting the same on mine this summer.

The rear tail panel brings back memories, mine was rusted on the right side as well . Hope you have better luck with your rear glass area than i did. Have no idea what that thing is on your gas pedal, it certainly does not look like a kick down switch .

Gee a 67 convert with trunk rot. How uncommon!! :)

Good luck with this one. This is a great thread . It couldn't be a better candidate. Keep the progress coming.

The gas tank and rear bumper came off today. That was all I had time to do. So far all the bolts have come out fairly easy. Only one exhaust manifold bolt is trying to give me trouble but I have the tool to remove it.
Might be able to get the body off Friday.

I'm pretty sure that device on the gas pedal is a kickdown switch. Good to see you're taking plenty of pictures. Are you baggin' and taggin' as you go? I saw somebody had a good idea not too long ago where they put a number on the bag, and then tracked the number in a spreadsheet on their computer - where they could also take some good notes. I just wrote on my ziplocs.

Did you find the build sheet yet?Sometimes they are under the gas tank insulation.

If you look closely you will see that the gas tank "insulation" is a rubber floor mat glued to the top of the tank.:)
I am bagging and tagging.
If anyone needs a shot of anything on the car at any time, let me know.

LOL!:D

OK, I am almost ready to pull the body off the frame. Anything special I need to do before I pull it? If I leave the doors on do I still need to brace the body? I am going to place the body on heavy duty sawhorses long enough to have the frame powder coated.

You pulled the parking brake cable from the drivers floor right?It will take 2 strong guys on the front and one in the back to lift it off.We lifted the front and rear and slid a 2x4 across some blocks high enough to roll the frame out.It was easier than I figured and the front of the car was heavier than we expected.

If it were my car I would do everything I could to make sure it stays straight. I would take the doors off & brace the body as I stated above. They also serve as a great lifting point, if you are using a cherry picker or overhead winch.

Pics below...

http://www.akvalley.net/~ss/Docs67.jpg

http://www.akvalley.net/~ss/Docs67a.jpg

This '67 GTO 'vert had an NOS GM right rear 1/4 installed because of damage, not rust. You can see the date on the pics. This was a car my dad restored for a friend of his back then. It was a Georgia car that was pretty much a virgin before the frame-off. Original motor/trans/rearend/etc. with 400, TH400, A/C, His & hers, am/fm, etc. It was heavily modified during/after the restoration, but has since been sold.

I got the body off the frame today. Only one bolt gave me any trouble. That was the one behind the rear axle on the passenger side. Had to cut it off. I hope to get the frame stripped and to the powder coater next week.
Not to blow my own horn but, the only help I have had so far has been removing the trunk lid. Everything else I have done. Just want to see how much I can do myself.

Just currious to know how you lifted the body off the frame by yourself????

Well, let's see did I lay under it and think about the babe of the day?;) Or maybe I jumped into a telephone booth.
Or I may have used my engine hoist and a heavy duty nylon strap to pick up one end at a time.
I'll give you a hint. PICK C
That is how I did it. When it comes time to put the body back on the frame I am going to try the seat belt bolt method.

Save and re-chrome all the bright, repo stuff is ok but not original quality.

I got the frame stripped and ready to go to the powder coater. I guess I'll call this the end of phase one. I will start a new thread when I move into phase 2. Thanks for all the interest and help. Stay tuned.

Not really. Think of all those hours in reconditioning the parts you just removed from that frame.

Gee, thanks for reminding me! :). I figured I would call that phase 2. Phase 3 would be reassembly.

Very nice work - you've earned a bookmark in "my favorites".

Are you gonna get that frame checked for spec while it's out from the car? Also, I'm assuming you've found the assembly manual by now?

The car was really straight and sat up good when I bought it so, no, I am not going to have it checked. I appreciate your asking and may change my mind. Could any body shop check it? As for the assembly manual, as long as I have these forums available I don't need no stinkin manual!:)

Tha frame is at the powder coaters and the tranny is in the shop being rebuilt. Things are moving along nicely. I hope to start cleaning and painting the motor this week, weather permitting.
Again, thanks for the help and advice.

Depending on where you are there may be a shop that specializes in frame and alignment work - maybe ask a body shop as they would know. If nothing else the manual lists specs for measuring from point to point and this might be good enough? It's just that you have it right there in front of you in case you wanted to do it. If you can't do it, I wouldn't worry about it if it sits nicely and there's no reason to suspect anything. I'll look through my manual and see if I can find anything on the specs for you.

Whats a ballpark figure to powdercoat a frame?I am hoping to get my restoration started soon!

Blue,
I was given an estimate of $400 for the frame and another $200 for the attachments(a-frames, motor mounts,trans crossmember,coil springs and bumper brackets) 21 pieces. I completely dis-assembled the frame before taking it to them. They are going to media blast all parts before powder coating.
I felt that was a fair price.

I started grinding the bondo out of the passenger rear quarter today. Do youthink this panel can be saved? It looks like someone used a ballpeen hammer to beat it out.