1969 Chevelle Restoration
Receiving the chevelle
Checking Body
When i took a good look at the car it didn't really look that bad but i had my doubts and the first place i looked at was the right and left rear window corners.
As i figured they were improperly repaired and covered up, the damage extended into the deck lid and into the trunk. The second place i checked out was the right and left lower cowl and to my surprise only the passenger side is rotted through .The floor panels right and left front need replacing as well as the fender well openings and trunk floor considering the age of the car these areas are actually in better condition then my original chevelle..
Sand Blasting the body
Sand blasting is the only way to go for stripping the paint and rust. I had the entire body off blasted except where is was replacing sheet metal and while the body was of f i had the frame done as well be fore reattaching the body to the frame.There was another benefit or curse to sand blasting the blasting reveals every little hole you didn't even know was there but i would rather know now when i can repair it the after the car is done .
I was worried about surface rust taken hold on the sand blasted areas so i sprayed 3 coats of etching primer on the car right away.I didn't however do the floor,the underside or the frame .since i have floor pans to change and the frame is to be powder coated there was no rush to prime.
Rusted Metal Removal
I started with checking the extent of the rust and i planned the cuts to take out the rusted areas and leave the most of the original floor as possible as you can see from the pictures i ended up taking out more floor then i would have liked but i wanted to get all the rust. When i removed the rusted floor panels i held onto them until i was ready the replace the pans,I will explain later. I decided to remove the entire trunk because it was easier to replace then to partially patch, also i wanted to see inside the inner wheel panels
Floor pan replacement
The top two pictures are from the drivers lower cowl area,this had pretty bad rust and needed replacing.I started by removing the outer side cowl covers(alot of spot welds)i removed both sides the passenger side was in good shape .I cut out all of the rusted area as you can see on the picture upper right,I bought some sheet steel and hand fabricated the replacement pieces using the old ones as a guide, before i reattach the outer covers i plan to por 15 the entire inside area.
As you can see from the bottom pics i butt welded the new floor pans ,Remember the old sections i mentioned place them on top of the replacement pans and use a sharpie marker to trace the perimeter of the old pan making sure you hold them from moving and press down on the edges as you mark.
I used a 4" grinder and cutting wheel to cut on the outside of the marker line ,this will compensate for the metal thickness. you can also use a metal blade jig saw but you tend to get wavy lines and the blade wants to bind up on some areas .I think the grinder works best but if you have never used one i suggest you get some scrap
metal and try it.One more thing about the floor pans,If you keep pretty close to the lines the pans should come very close to the original cutouts if you are over lapping in some areas you can trim them with a dremel cutting wheel while the pan is in position. Also when you weld the panels start in one corner pushing the panels even and spot weld every two inches work your way around trimming where necessary .After the panels are fit and tacked in place another tack weld between the each of the two inch welds and finally place a tack weld every 1/2 inch alternating between each of the last welds,this process will prevent the panels from warping as you are welding. The last thing to do is weld the remaining spaces skipping every other until complete.You will probably have weld through in some areas if you are patient touch welding around the hole you can fill it. I used a setting of 2 3/4 voltage and wire feed of 4 on my miller mig welder.
Trunk filler panels
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This part of the project was the most difficult so far,the top 2 pics show the inner fender repairs and trunk fillers panels.What was tricky about this repair was that the rear section of the car is supported by the trunk filler panels thats to say they prevent the rear brace that mounts to the frame from twisting so i had to brace the back of the car with wood to the floor to keep the position correct .But before you can attach the filler panels you have to repair the inner wheel wells because the trunk filler panels attach to them as well.You will also notice the trunk braces are installed ,before welding them in place i leveled the frame and body to keep original position.
The lower 3 pics show the trunk filler panel area as you can see there was body rot in several places which had to be removed and repaired,i also por 15 the rusted areas that where not going to be replaced before attaching the outer panel. The filler panel was a pretty good match to the original but the ends that attach to the quarter panels had to be reworked to matchup with the quarters correctly also before i welded the panel in place i put the trunk back on the car to check its allignment.The next part of the project is going to be the outer wheel wells and the quarter panels.
Left Quarter Panel And Wheel
Thi picture shows the replacement of the outer wheel panel,I por15 the internal parts before installing the quarter panel. The quarter panel fit as well as a
you could expect for a replacement. Some adjusting at the door joint is going to be a must.
Quarter Right
Its been a while since i finished the quarters and i forgot to post the pics of the right side, i forgot to take a pic of the prep before installing the new quarter.
Also in this shot the prep of the bottom of the car before i paint semi gloss black,I checked out all the welds looking for pin holes and welding them also i found and repaired a couple more areas of rust i didn't see prior to putting on the turner. I then primed with etching primer 3 coats and caulked all the braces and panel edges that where not flat with autobody seam caulk, Then reprimed over the caulk 1 coat.
Frame prep
I finally got the metal finished on the body so i could remove the frame.I stripped everything off the frame and discovered there was some frame rot in front of the rear wheel drivers side , not too bad but it was under the body bushing so i cut out a 20" section of outer frame and replaced it taking care to level the frame before rewelding the replaced section. Then it was off to the powdercoater.
Finish Frame
I got all my suspension parts and frame back from the powder coater and started Assembly. Even though i planned well for the assembly there were thimgs
That i forgot and parts that were shipped wrong. ( Check every part as you receive it to make sure its correct)
Engine Build
While waiting on the frame and variious parts i started the engine build, Still waiting on the heads and intake ( being ported) so i can finsh the job.I used crane roller
rockers and cam one step up from stock.Also the heads were planed down to increase compression from stock.
Frame & Body
With the frame together i couldn't help myself i had to install the engine block and what ever i had to put on the block ( still no heads) I also started prep on the botton of the body in anticipation of putting the body back on the frame. I will still wait though as i want to get the exhaust system and everything else on the frame. But guess what no heads which means no exhaust install.
Body Installation
Finally got the body back on the frame i had a little trouble getting a couple of the rear body bolts in. The body went on without hitting anything untill i went to install the gas tank, i had a lot of trouble clearing the 3" exhaust but managed to get it done. I have the hedman 3x2 coated headers installed which are supposed to be a good fit, and at first appearence they did untill i turned the steering wheel it hit the header. i tried to adjust the steering plate to the left but couldnot get enough out of it. i ended up dimpling it to clear the steering rod, the while installing the headers for the 3rd time i noticed they also hit the engine croosmember frame so i had to dimple that area also.I figured finally got the headers to fit right untill i installed the a/c box, Yep it hit the header on the left side i had to dimple in that area also to allow enough clearence with the heat i also used some heat tape on the a/c box for futher protection.
Repairing Door Gap
When i replaced the rear quarters and rehung the doors i noticed the door gaps where a little large even though the quarter was aligned in every other position, It turns out the stampings where a little off.. I didn't want to leave such a large gap so i decided to correct this problem. First i got a 1" by 1/8 thick steel bar i cut and bent the steel so it contoured to the quarter and door ,i then ground it thickness to retain a 3/16 door gap then spot welded the steel onto the quarter. I thought of just body filling the steel and quarter edge but was concerned that the putty would crack so i decided to lead the edge, i had leaded the quarter seams as the factory had done. The other two pictures are my msd installtion,I didn't want to have the msd box in the engine compartment so i decided to fabricate a recessed cavity above the glove box.
Engine starting
I finally got to start up the engine for the first time and man was i nervous,after a couple of tries she fired right up and its sounds awesome with the pypes exhaust and headers. I even pulled it out of the garage and turned it around so that the exhaust was facing the door.
Fitting Sheetmetal
It took me all weekend but i finally got all the body panels on and aligned . Had alot of trouble aligning the nos front qtrs. turned out to be the repro inner fenders where out of shape,I Had to redrill the some of the bolts holes after adjusting the fenders.
After a little trouble with my primer surfacer on my quarters i am finally getting the sheetmetal back on the car. The only things left to prime a edge color
and the hood and trunk lid,The trunk lid needs some leading along the edge where it closes, its not straight but its a fairly simple repair.
Finished Trunk
As you can see the trunk is finally painted , What a hassle do not use duplicolor trunk paint it is water based and even after 2 weeks it still wasn't dry and the coverage was bad also. I scrapped the duplicolor off and started painting with gm trunk paint but ran into coverage issue's. The trunk paint is really opague so you need to prime the trunk with black or grey paint depending on which color paint you are using.I finally worked it out and it came out pretty good.
Power windows
Just thought i would post a few pics of my power window install, I had a hard time finding any info about wire routing but i managed to get it worked out based on the position of the wire clips and The factory dimples .
Paint Application
After many hours of prep i finally was able to paint. I applied 4 coats ppg dbc and then 3 coats dc400 clear. As you can see i did get some orange peel but i think it is ineveitable with the hvlp gun.
Wet Sanding and Buffing
I finally got the wet sanding done it took me about 20 hours and some sore fingers.I started with 1200 wet sanding in a circular patern until i could not feel the paper cutting, I then went to 1500 wet and then 2000 following the same procedure. For the final sand i used the 3M trizact sanding system with 3000 grit pads this got the surface two a slight shine. I then buffed with trizact compound to acheive this result. I still have to use swirl remover and then glazing compound.
Finished Buffing and some trim assembly
Finished Trim install
As you can see adding the viinyl roof and the trim really makes a difference. before i installed the vinyl roof i consulted the chevelle forum and picked up
some great info.One issue to note,when i marked center where i was going to start glueing and work to the side i noticed the seams were going o be an
problem keeping them straight due to the vinyl stretching so i marked the seams on both sides and started there working my way
across the roof. this worked great,the seams came out perfect but not taking in account how much the vinyl would stretch as i worked across the roof the last seam ended up a little closer to the gutter on one side,fortunately it is not noticeable.I decided to check my digital photos of the original factory vinyl roof and discovered
that was off too.another note leave some material wrap around the edge of the gutter. Test fit all of your moulding before installing the vinyl,i used green tape to mark all of the trim edges so i had a reference when cutting the edge of the vinyl with scissors(do no use a knife to trim) The only repro trim i used was the wheel moulding and they fit suprisingly well, I only had to make a few minor adjustments.
Headliner installation
This was a project that intimidated me from the start,I changed sheet metal without a second thought and for the price of the headliner it was no big deal if i screwed it up but never the less i took my time adjusting and adjusting untill i got tired of trying to get all of the wrinkles out and determined that no matter what i did that wasn't going to happen.After taking this picture the headliner is slowly tightening up. As with the vinyl top i got some great information on the forum which was really helpfull with the process (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/3915/mycar/interior.html)
Interior Installation
I used Auto custom carpet, great fit. seat covers i used PUI and was impressed with the quality and fit . for the door panels i stuck with PUI and initially was satisfied with them until i was installing my power window switch and the chrome strip starting coming off. After much debate i decided to go with an aftermarket stereo mainly because the radio hole was already cut and i wanted a good sounding stereo.
Bumpers and wheels
The end is in site, As you can see i finally got my bumbers installed. The front bumper didn't fit the profile as i would have liked but they were
original bumpers rechromed so i will have to live with it. The rear bumper drove me crazy, when i installed it was tilted out at the top and in at the bottom
i tried several times to adjust the brackets but they would not adjust anymore. After looking at it closely for a hour i realized that the bumper only started tilting when i tightened the top bracket bolts so i placed washers behind the bracket and that did the trick.
