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64 Vette….Rebuild 2.0

Shame to see that big block frame go unused!

When I had that basket case Corvette, I was surprised at how crude some of the build quality was. It was almost like a Ford!

I would love to have another anyway.

Martin
 
max 02 said:
Take it to Kerts for some new welds and powder coat.
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I’ll be going over the whole chassis and updating the welds! A local Powder coater (that has the capability of doing large pieces) doesn’t want to touch it because of the rustproofing possibly bleeding out in the oven. I’ll probably just paint it with urethane single stage. Thats holding up real good on the Maiden frame from 15 years ago.



shady said:
Perfect time for a roadster shop chassis :thumb:

It's only money! Lol.View attachment 520060
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If you're buying, send one my way!
 
Ive been making room and cleaning up the barn trying to figure how to get the grinding and welding done without making a metal mess in the barn…saw a couple half way decent days coming up that I could work outside, but one day it rained and the other was holding a lot of humidity in the air, so I decided to play musical stalls with the Dually frame (was in the “dirty” stall in the shop building) I try to keep the dirty work in that stall. I Had to move everything buried around and under the dually frame, then I had to build a heavy duty dolly that would support the 1200+ lbs of frame, Cummims, and trans. to move it.

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The dolly held up well. Having the dolly just behind the engine was pretty well balanced. Had a buddy help me move them, that was welcome!
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The Vette frame is now waiting for some love and strengthening!
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Been making some progress on reworking and (trying) to improve the welds. Big issue is when welding the seam joints, although the surface is clean from sandblasting and brakeclean, the underlying rustproofing gets hot and then contaminates the welds with a POP and fire. Kinda sucks. It is what it is, Ill have a lot of cleanup to do and will be using seam sealer to smooth out the seams before final coating.

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Here you can see the gaps left by the factory, as well as my own failed welds from the rustproofing popping.
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Made a reinforcement plate to tie in the kickups with the main crossmember. I will also be adding a bracing tube from the inside of the kickup towards the inside of the main crossmember, much like the C-3 models have. It will strengthen the rear portion of the frame considerably.
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May be a worthy approach if it gets to be a rash of them. So far the spots Ive had, I just cleaned again and hit them to fill the hole in. A grinder and seam sealer will help the final appearance for what can be seen with the body covering most of it anyway.
 
76zimmer said:
May be a worthy approach if it gets to be a rash of them. So far the spots Ive had, I just cleaned again and hit them to fill the hole in. A grinder and seam sealer will help the final appearance for what can be seen with the body covering most of it anyway.
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I agree with @Capt Ron to torch and clean the welding area beforehand, but still any welding you do, even if not perfect, will be better than it was
 
No, I don’t think it will ever be a problem either. it hasn’t shown any issues within the last 50+ years, so its adequate. Part of this is for potentially harder launches, and safety in case SHTF. I plan on the roll bar and shoulder harness and belts for not only the track, but the street too. Not only is it a 60’s car and therefore practically non existent safety standards, but its a fiberglass body with a sheet metal cage inside.
 
Added some moisture traps to my unused sandblasting cabinet. Used copper where I could. The moisture trap unit had threads that accepted their included adapters, but were very tight for NPT fittings. Not what I’m used to, but was able to get a couple threads engaged.
I thought I had adequate moisture traps throughout my air system, but neglected putting one at the drop for the cabinet. The first time I used the cabinet, the media got damp and wouldn’t flow. I need to clean out the media hopper and see how the media is after a year.

I’m sure 2/3 of the country is experiencing the cold snap. This morning was -2*F, and a couple nights ago was -14. I don't mind winter, but man the furnace is running alot! We had mild winters the last 2 years, but this one is making up for it.

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Got the sandblasting cabinet cleaned out, I need to get some finer sand I think.

Been dabbing away grinding, cutting old welds, burning undercoating at the weld seams, (man does that stink the place up). Opened up the overhead and used a fan to blow fresh 10* air in the shop. Have the pass side, main crossmember done from the top side. Need to do the drivers side of the back half yet. I will make some bracing plates for the diff crossmember mounting sombrero brackets. Again, they don’t show any issues, but it won’t hurt to beef them up some either.

I burned out the old diff crossmember rubber bushings that mount to the frame sombreros, including the inner and outer steel sleeves, which were rusted nicely to the crossmember bores. After chipping away at the remaining steel sleeves, and cleaning them up with a carbide bit, the difference in diameters is about .070. The aftermarket is way to big, so I may need to find a way to bore these out for the new bushings. Any home remedies, or take it to a machine shop for a precise fit?

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Big one of these, bigger than the hole, in the drill press .
It should center its self, you just have to make sure it's squared.Screenshot_20260201-185315.png
 
Since you need more than 1/16", you may have to work on both surfaces (when I look at your pictures I keep seeing .062 for some reason). You could probably get creative and mount the bushing to something that acts like a lathe. Assuming the aftermarket bushing won't go another 60 years, it might be best to find out the correct ID of the crossmember and get it to that dimension. It's probably supposed to be an interference fit, which would have the bushing like .0025 larger than the hole. I don't know if you'll get that accuracy with hand tools or how hard it is to assemble if you're a lot over - like .01. It could probably be tack-welded if the fit was on the loose side.
 
It seems to me like you got the wrong bushing? I think in that case I would find the correct bushing, unless this is a known upgrade or something.

Is it possible you didn't get it all out and there is still a .030 thick layer of sleeve in there?
 
folkenheath said:
It seems to me like you got the wrong bushing? I think in that case I would find the correct bushing, unless this is a known upgrade or something.

Is it possible you didn't get it all out and there is still a .030 thick layer of sleeve in there?
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I was wondering the same thing from that one picture - that maybe another sleeve can come out. If that's welded, the structure would be weakened, but the new bushing could also be welded in (carefully). You would think somebody somewhere has posted information about this bushing swap.
 
Its the correct bushing. Seems everyone offers the same piece marketed under different brands. Ive researched on corvette forum, but not finding any clear responses.
Here is a diagram of the bushing and crossmember. Ive researched a lot today and I’m pretty confident I’ve removed all of the old bushing. Perhaps the replacements aren’t the right tolerance, not surprising. The bushing is a slight press fit, and is held into the crossmember by the tabs that get folded over after press in.
If I remove the remaining welded in sleeve, tolerance should be close to where it would be a good press in fit, but that would remove that rounded seat as well.

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Well, it's not like a press fit of a solid rod into a plate. That thin-wall cup should be able to deform into the rubber somewhat.
 
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