Here are the first pics of the dissassembly of this 442 Convertible. There are a couple of the door area reinforcements I built to stabilize the body before lifting. The body is ready to lift and I hope to have it off next weekend so I can start on the chassis and motor. Dave

 

Here are a few more pics!

 

looks like a nice project. Welcome to the site.

 

Lifted the body off today, used the twopost lift, no problems although I think a good idea to reinforce the door openings. Rolled the chassis out and lifted the engine and trans out. Put the engine on a stand and tore it down. Checked the bore, (stock, no ring ridge), had one bent push tube,bad is an S shape!! Oddly at some time the valves have hit the pistons. There are small dents in the edge of the dish on several of the pistons, under the intake valve. The piston with the bent tube having the largest dent. The engine has been apart proably for rings and valve job as the rods are marked with a center punch for position. Maybe they got the timing off when reassembling and never fixed the push tube??? Seems like they could not have run it much or it would have thrown the lifter out. Anyway off to the machine shop for bore and have the heads flowed, mild port job. Thats all for now. Dave E

 

She is down to bare frame now, all a-arms, control arms brake lines and ect are gone, rear end is out. I am amazed at how light the frame is. Two men can easily move it around, 200# maybe? Waiting for a good day to sandblast. Ordered all the chassis parts while I am waiting. Ordered the POR products to coat the frame and other chassis parts. Exciting to start building!

 

Sandblasted the frame and all the suspension parts, as well as the rear diff on Saturday. I used a comercial 200# sand pot which I rented from a local rental yard, $50.00 for the weekend! It takes 150cfm, fortunately I have a large screw type compressor with a diesel engine so I did not have to rent that. I used 500# of Green Diamond mix, reccommended by the rental yard, worked good on the frame and suspension but would be way to harsh for sheet metal. Set the frame up in the shop on jackstands, laid out all the suspension parts and set the diff up on jack stands.On Sunday I cleaned the frame and other parts with the metal prep from POR, let it dry and started painting the POR, used a spray gun set at 25psi. This is LPHV primer gun and it sprayed the POR 15 perfectly using the 5% thinning mixture with the POR solvent. I coated with 2 to 3 coats over the course of the day. Left for home by 3 pm. This next morning all was dry and it looks great. Moved the frame and parts out of the shop and covered with a tarp. Have to run a business you know! Next weekend I will top coat and then I can start assembling! I will get the pics posted this week.

 

Great to hear of your progress Dave, looking forward to the pictures!
John

 

SWEET! Wish I had the room to have pulled the body off the frame on mine, just wasn't in the cards. I'm in HALF of a 20x20 garage!

Looking forward to seeing some pics of your project, don't forget to post!

.

 

Here are some more pics of the progress up to date.

 

And even more pics!!! This pretty well brings us up to date. I have top coated the POR 15 since the pics and it has turned out great. The POR has worked well for me, I followed all directions closely and it has went on well. I did use a spray gun which made it go on smoothly. I gave all parts at least two coats of POR and 2 top coats. I have the diff dissassembled and an installing new seals and bearings as required. I will be installing all the new bushings in the front and rear suspension componets this weekend. Should start putting the front and rear back on the frame. This weekend, 4-15 got the suspension bushings all installed, pressed the lower ball joints in place, found the uppers were incorrect, reordered should be here tuesday. Installed upper and lower a-arms, installed the rear control arms. Making progress, kind of fun to start installing parts. The engine arrived this week from the machine shop, they installed a roller cam, flowed and portmatched the heads, new manley ss valves, new roller rockers, pistons, rings, performer intake, balanced. Hoping for 450+ hp. The Trans is off to the trany shop to be freshened and a mild shift kit. Opted to stay with the 400 for now, hopefully add the 200 later along with lower gears and a locker. +

 

Nice! I missed seeing your pictures of lifting the body off until now. That 2 post lift makes it way to easy!!!

 

Nice work! It's a lot of work but well worth it in the end. While I was doing mine people would come over mid way through the project and say "Man you gotta lot of work ahead of you!" which made it all that much sweeter when I drove it to the local cruise night after it was on the road.

 

That thing will never rust! Could park it at the bottom of the ocean even!

I swear by POR-15, best stuff ever invented!

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Thanks for the comments guys, I appreciate your insite. Dave E

 

Have you seen the new Eastwood internal frame coating rust protective spray?

http://www.eastwood.com/internal-fra...ay-nozzle.html

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Looking good!! Great deal on the sandblasting setup...
At this pace I think you should have it all finished for my May 14th visit so we can go for a cruise!

 

The frame is now a roller, has new shocks, all bushings, ball joints, bearings, seals, rotors ect. throughout. The engine and trans are done and ready to install, waiting for new mounts to arrive. Should have them in by this weekend. Here are a few new pics.

 

A few more pics.

 

in to follow

 

Hmmm, shouldn't the longer brake shoe be in the back? This is a rhetorical question because I know the answer. Longer shoe goes in rear. Was just noticing your picture of the rear brakes.

 

Getting back to the car after a summer of work, family reunions and other assorted events. I purchased a Pypes stainless 2 1/2" exhaust with x crossover. Started installing it this weekend, it fitted up nicely but seems to be about 4' to long from the headpipes to the mufflers, proably due to the x pipe option. I will call Pypes to find out for sure in the am. Should have it in by next weekend. Also they sent the wrong rear tailpipe mounts. I believe the ones they sent are for a cutlass or chevelle without the cutouts in the bumper. Pics as soon as I get it in.

 

Glad to see the progress starting up again.
I was disappointed to not make it to OR this fall, as my resto dragged on into that timeframe. Work before play; glad she is finished up (for now). See ya next year for sure. Should be complete then, right?

 

I am sorry you were unable to make it this year but I have been folllowing your extended repairs so I fully understand your issues!!! I don't know about done but it should be much farther along!! Dave

 

With a shop of that size and ALL the tools and equipment you have, there is no excuse!
Hope it does not get too cold now to work on it...

 

Pffft! My project was delayed for like 5 years! And my favorite car is still 'in progress', and that's after 11 years! I even changed directions on the build twice!

You're doing great, don't beat yourself up over it, like, at least you didn't sell it in boxes, right!?!

.

 

I got the body all mounted on the twirler, stripped out the remainder of the interior, removed the dash and all the wiring. I removed the top frame, had the front windshield removed, unfortunately it cracked, was the original to. Hope to get the front floorboards cut out this week. I will post pics tomorrow.

 

Honestly, it's best to install a new windshield, since originals are scratched, foggy, glare, and can show distortion after polishing. If you're concerned about originality, you can get a repo windshield with proper markings. So don't beat yourself up on this one!

.

 

i would love to see some detailed floorboard replacement pics as I have to do mine this spring

car is coming along very nicely so far will you repaint it green again ? I like the green !!!

 

I will post pics as I go along on the floorpans, as to the windshield you are right about needing to replace anyway, thanks for the reply.

 

Here are those floor pan pics

 

Here are some pics of the body mounted on the rotisserie and some firewall shots of the inspector stamps

 

Here are a couple of Pics that show the two forward floorpans I cut out of my 442 and the donor floor pan which I cut the replacements from. I used a plasma cutter to remove the pans and also to cut out the new ones. I got to say the plasma is the way to go, very fast, no heat or distortion and a slag free cut!! The last pic is of the floor pans rough fitted into place. I used a flanging tool to set the edges so the new pans would fit down flush. I know a lot of guys are fitting the pans and butt welding them but i like the extra strength of the flange and the margin for error!!

 

That's looking nice Dave! I'm glad you've got a shop to work in. I'm having a hard time getting motivated on these cold foggy days

John

 

nice build, its coming along great!
charlie,,

 

Just an update to let you all know where I am at, The car is in the body shop getting the finish body work which I cannot do myself. I took them the body on the twirler and they finished the body and primed it. The hood, trunk, front fenders and doors were also done. They will put the POR on the floor and firewall, inside and out, put POR topcoat on and spatter paint the trunk. I will then pick it up and bring it back to the shop and install the body back on the frame. It will go back to them after I install the dash and steering column. They will fit the fenders, trunk, hood and doors and finish the exterior paint. I ordered all the interior and the convertible top from Legendary. It should be here in January or February. I will do all the install on that with the exception of the top. It is starting to get exciting as the reassembly process is about to start. I will post pics soon. Dave

 

Well, Dave - it's about you came back to share your progress! Looks like you are on the road to completion. Perhaps next year when I am in your area I can get a ride in it!

 

just joining in

 

Here are some pics of the progress to date. A couple of pics of the floor pans after welding,a pic of the hood and fenders in the background after body work and sanding primer. I had them tint the primer red as the final coat will be red. There is a couple of the interior after sandblasting. I thought I had repaired all the rust in the floor but after blasting there were a few more areas that needed attenion. The body shop did these for me. After we got the paint off the ouside of the body we found several bad repairs primarily around the rear quarters. Excess filler was removed to bare metal and correct repairs made.I took advantage of the Christmas program at Legendary and ordered the complete interior including the seat covers, foam, carpet and underlayment, the convertible top and all the accessories needed. I guess that is it for now. Dave Elder

 

Cool! The interior will be fun. What color did you get?
Keep the progress coming!