Replacing a '79 rear frame rail
So, aparently a previous owner of my car decided that instead of actually repairing the frame of this 79 with metal they thought they would test the "structural integrity" of bondo. Needless to say, a ball peen hammer and screwdriver revealed what my frame rail actually looked like. Heres some pictures. I'll be repairing this in the next couple days.
Before: http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...wt/camaro9.jpg http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...t/camaro10.jpg After: http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...t/camaro17.jpg I'd like to meet the person that did this and punch their momma in the mouth :axe: |
Awesome!
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You have donor rails already? That looks like a crapola job to do
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good luck you have alot of work to do
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I have someone nearby who offered me one for $100 that he pulled off a car a while ago. In pictures it looked pretty good
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Good deal. I expect progress pics or you'lll be banned. :lol:
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I think WildBillyT replaced the rails on his first gen, he may have some advice for you. Or ask HardcoreZ28, Paul is the owner of our sponsor, RPM Resto and Custom, he shoudl be able to offer you some advice.
Good luck with it. -Tim |
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If you have any q's, ask away. :mrgreen: |
I do have one question actually, when you replaced, did you actually un-attatch the frame rail from the floor board, or did you cut out the floor board and weld that in, then weld the frame?
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Whenever you are replacing any panel, you want to leave as many of the surrounding panels in place as possible and brace around anything that you absolutely have to remove.
Just take out whatever portion of the rail needs to be replaced and leave the floor in place. -Tim |
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I found (now I forgot who makes it) new rear frame rails from one of the sponsers on either NastyZ or Pro-touring for $100. Pretty sure they were made from rectangular tubing, said for 2nd gens.
Ill look again and try to find the sponser that sold them **EDIT** May have been CE LINK |
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Things may have changed since I was in the market for 2nd gen rails but from what I remember the CE ones require moving the springs inboard as they are for a 'po boy back half setup. The replacement rails in NPD, the Paddock, and other suppliers are all the upper half (I never could figure out why THAT was the section they were repopping) and the only way to fix this is with a donor car or some 1/8 steel. |
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Well, I've got my rail, and I have been cleaning it up. I had to push my car out for the next couple weeks because in my spare time I am going to be working on finishing a basement, and the person who owns the garage I'm working in needs the lift for a little while. I did work on cleaning off the undercoating so I can get to the spot welds easy. It's hard to see all the spot welds when they are covered with undercoating
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So, I'm getting started on this. I'm doing more of a patch than a replacement. The portion of the rail towards the trunk is very solid, so I will be repairing the lower portion. I have the part I'm doing stripped to bare metal, and tomorrow I'm going to be separating the donor frame from the floor sheet metal that came with it.
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So heres some pictures of my progress so far.
http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...522Resized.jpg Section I need cleaned up http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...523Resized.jpg Section removed http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/m...524Resized.jpg Upper frame rail |
now's a good time to do the DSE mod
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I think it is putting u chennel in the floor to connect the subframe to the rear frame rails
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http://www.mass-pc.com/camaro/subframe1.jpg http://www.mass-pc.com/camaro/subframe2.jpg http://www.mass-pc.com/camaro/subframe3.jpg http://www.mass-pc.com/camaro/subframe4.jpg |
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pick one. |
Link didnt work
DSE SFC's I intend to do soemthing similar but I wanted to bolt to the rear of the sub frame as I did not want to weld it permanatly to the car. I was going to wrap around the frame more and bolt in like most of the other ones out there. |
I have subframe connectors already. Theyre not the best, but they do something. Not as nice as the Detroit Speed and Engineering ones. Mine are welded in, so they are staying.
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