[Deadhead]

Getting ready to start in on my black 2 door '66 Bonne. May have actually found a good paint guy. If so, I want to get it done soon.

I said I would never take the car off the frame, so I am bound to do it. I am getting ready to cut up a parts car with a good frame, so now is the time. The only issue with it is from some front-end damage that bent the tips of the front frame rail in. I think it can easily be fixed. It looks to me like it would be a lot easier to restore this frame and then move the body of the car off its existing frame onto it and paint.

What is the down side to taking the body off the frame? What can go wrong? Car drives so straight as it is is my main hesitation. What would you all do.

[63gpman]

The down side is where to stop. That is where I am at...... Frame, suspension, all the ball joints, blast and coat every nut and bolt. What not go all the way as long as you are doing the work and the labor is free. A lot of it is labor except for the problem of why not put a big sway bar in and than a rear sway bar or man that is a good deal on some LB manifolds and why no thave the trans rebuilt and if I am going that far, I might as well have the seats done on the inside along with switching to disc brakes and upgrade the power steering or maybe with all the other things I have done, I should have a stronger engine to go along with all the other steering and suspension upgrades I have alread paid for and so on and so on and so on.

The only problem is knowing when to stop.

[ken66]

Totally agree. Gotta figure you'll want to totally strip the frame down, paint or powder coat everything, all new bushings, springs, brake and fuel lines, etc. Where to stop? Once I got mine out, nothing survived.

Getting the body bolts out can be exciting, although I think I only had to drill out 2, which was pretty fortunate I thought.

You also might be tempted to paint the bottom of the body once it's suddenly so easy to access...it's a slippery slope.

[joeg]

I've completed many frame offs over the years and the problem I ran into is to the cars end up so nice I end up not driving them.

If you want a driver I would vote against a frame off, a frame up will accomplish what you need.

My 66' Bonnie is a perfect example, not a frame off but a frame up, presents well and I can drive it anywhere and not worry about the weather.

My 2 cents!

Joe

[Deadhead]

My issue is that the frame(s) NEEDS to be painted one way or the other. It just does not look like any fun doing that with the body on there. I have already attacked it with a wire brush on the car for the rear half plus. Not fun.

I have a huge quantity of the stuff needed for the project. It would actually be good to get it used up and out of the way. Undoubtedly it will cost too much and I will rationalize upgrades.

The donor frame looks to me like it is going to separate no problem not much rust at all. My original car is not bad either, but bolts not quite as clean as the other car. What I am really concerned about is getting everything aligned right etc. when the body goes back on. What is the deal with that? Not so worried about the too nice to drive thing. This car is going to be a nicer car for sure, but will worry about that later.

[mike nixon]

Bruce, just do it.Body alignment will be no worse issue than if you just remove all of the doors and the sheetmetal.

Mike

[mviker]

Bruce,

I think your biggest trouble may be stopping to take pics to post here during this project. You know we're gonna want to see your progress along the way.

[misterp266]

I'm with 63GPMan, it's hard to "not do" something once you get that deep. I decided to do a "frame on" on my '63 Safari and I already got deeper than I thought I would. That's fine but it adds up real quick! I know you'll end up doing it your way and you should. Don't let anyone tell you how you want your car.

Have fun, that's the main thing!
Rob...

[stevep]

Bruce, my '60 Bonneville convertible is a frame off car and I have driven it 10000 miles since 2008. Don't worry about it. It's just a car and cars are made to be driven.

[63gpman]

I think Mr. Nixon is right on about the body alignment. The manuals have a lot of frame measruments so you can feel good about the replacement frame being square. New body bushings will require you to align and shim but that is normal.

If you have the funds and time, I say go for it!!!

[65WJ]

take it off clean and make everything all pretty then bolt it back down. put everything together. Only downside is if the cage nut breaks lose from inside then you need to cut a hole to get to it. reweld new cage nut and repair hole. very simple.

patrick

[hurryinhoosier62]

Take it off the frame. It's really not a big deal.

[ho421]

Originally Posted by hurryinhoosier62

Take it off the frame. It's really not a big deal.

wow. that's a tough one. unless you can work on it full time, not get burned out from time to time and stay healthy, a frame-off usually leads to "i need to fix that too and do it right". fast forward 8 years, i'm still pluggin away at it. and i concur with joeg.. if its gonna be a driver, where do you stop? I haven't figured that out yet... just check out my profile page "project" album. arrg

[Deadhead]

I guess it is easy to over simplify, but it is a complete car as it sits now, and I have most of the parts I need to put it together the way I want. Obviously it is going to need an engine rebuild and other parts will need to be filled in along the way, but it looks to me like unless I get the frame done, so I can have the car painted that I am never going to make any progress.

I am at the point where I am either tossing the donor frame I have or sticking it under my car. I want to make up my mind before I get the body off it during the next couple of weeks.
Then of course there is the issue of where to put the thing.

My goal is to get down to 2 cars - a project and a driver. Once the project is done, I will paint the driver. If I do a good enough job on the project, maybe I will be happy with just one car. Anything is possible!

I also know asking this bunch if I should dive into something like this might be akin to some other enabler analogies I could come up with.

[Merrik66]

It truly is a toss up. A lot of good points made about the situation. I'm in the same boat. Now I'm becoming a parts depot because the projects demand so much time. And doing it good and doing it exceptional are 2 different things. An exceptional restoration or excellent pain job is exponentially more involved. I guess the big thing is here is when you make the decision, you better drive it into your head that your good with your choice. And if those tiny little voices start nagging at you saying you should have done it differently have a good stiff drink and remember the reasons you really love the car in the first place. Go look at it, walk around it, appreciate it, and enjoy it.

[Engine-Ear]

I feel your pain, brother...

[FEMA]

I'm curious what deadhead decided to do with the frame off VS frame up? We have a '59 that is a nice driver but needs rust repair which I've put off so my son could enjoy the car for a few years...now there is time to either frame up or frame off and can't decide so looking for more perspectives.

Winter driving (I'm pretty sure) is what caused the rust so I do wonder about how deep you can go to find the rust without taking the frame off. Are the body to frame bolts typically rusted on in such a climate and does this affect the ride and handling vs. going brand new?

If it is a frame up, can you still get a good media blasting while the body is attached to the frame (fenders, hood, doors and engine out of course)? I would plan to leave the rear glass in place because we had the top redone and glass opening repaired for new rubber. Front glass never came out so I would think of pulling that this time around.

[Deadhead]

If you waitin' on me - you movin' backwards as they say. Got a pile on my plate, so not sure when I will make a move. Maybe very soon maybe...