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February 6, 2005 Goodbye, FrameJust to prove to you that I'm not working on the site only to make some coin, here's a new update: the frame is going to the powder coater's shop. A few weeks ago I asked Nick Seybold if he could help me drag my frame to the powder coater's shop. Nick has a truck and trailer, which, of course, I do not. He called me this morning and said he was coming over later to pick it up before the Super Bowl. Well OK then. So I scrambled outside and dug the frame out of the snow, hoisted it onto my body cart so it would be portable and easy to drag onto the trailer. Then I ran a few wood screws through the body mount holes and into the wooden cart to hold it in place. All-in-all, a pretty good setup for moving it around.
Nick showed up around 3 PM with his trailer, and by that time I had the frame mounted on the cart and sitting at the end of the driveway so we could just roll it out into the street and onto the trailer. I was busily removing the last few parts from the frame when he arrived—I didn't expect him today so I put off those items. Fortunately, there weren't many and it didn't take any time.
Nick took a look at my frame and noticed a few places where it was bent or tweaked and we worked on fixing them. There was nothing significant, but to Nick's expert eye, things could have been better. So with a 2-lb. sledge hammer and a chunk of 2x2 steel, we banged the frame into shape. He also noticed that the frame was cracked around one of the holes in the rear cross member (the one I straightened so long ago), so I welded that area up and ground it smooth. Nobody will ever see it, but Nick was concerned about the strength of the area. No problems now.
Once we were satisfied that the frame was straight, we winched it up onto the trailer and tied it down.
I will call Mark Brown at Creative Powder Coatings first thing Monday morning to give him the heads-up that the frame will be arriving. I'm going to have it powdered semi-gloss black (AKA Chassis Black or 60% black). I like the detailed look of using a variety of different gloss levels. Since the rear suspension, differential and torque tube are high-gloss black, they will really stand out against the semi-gloss frame and bottom of the car. Many experts think that the entire bottom of the car was just sprayed gloss black after assembly (and there's evidence that this is true on my car), but I doubt I'll be docked any points for over-detailing everything. It should look awesome and last forever. The cool thing about Creative Powder Coatings is that they'll sandblast the frame completely so I don't have to worry about doing it myself. In fact, proprietor Mark Brown even said to me, "Don't sandblast it yourself, because I'll just do it again to make sure it's right." That he cares so much about the final result gives me 100% confidence in his work. I don't worry for a moment about it being perfect when it's done. That's a nice feeling when farming out work that is so important to the overall project. And, once again, a HUGE thanks to Nick Seybold (and his father, Doug, who owns the trailer). I'd be really stuck on this project without you guys. Thanks! Previous Restoration Day E-mail me at toolman8@sbcglobal.net This page accessed Thanks, Fidget! |
