Found orginal frame markings....what next?

[Todd H.]

I am doing my first frame off and in power washing the frame discovered the orginal markings.

These include the shim markings, frame stencil, rear differential blue markings, steering box yellow markings, & orginal frame paint drippings of the top side of cross members.

I have two questions....how should I treat the frame seeing how I have discovered the orginal markings? (orginal intention was to POR15 but I think things should change with this discovery).

Second question is how do you decipher the frame stencil? (car vin is 25232 6/28/66 birthday)

Couple facts: The car is a weekend driver and want to continue to enjoy it. It is a 66 327/350hp vert.

Thanks

Todd

[Michael F.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

bump for you

[Stephen L.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

Congrats on taking on the task of a "frame off"......
As you proceed you'll become hooked on details.

To start with take photos of all the details, lots of photos! Close-ups really help! Document anything that can't be picked up in a photo for future reference. "Catalog" you photos in your computer for retrieval or you'll be overwhelmed later. I did a frame off on my 67 and have wound up with what seems to be a thousand photos.

I had my frame chemically stripped/dipped. This took off all the paint, rust etc but left the frame looking like fresh metal. It left the original weld spatter, VIN # stamp etc. My frame is a southern car so there wasn't any rust. Yours appears to be similiar. I then repainted the frame with Chassis Black spray from Eastwood. The photo is the way I got the frame back from the stripper... fresh metal.

Your frame is already 43 yrs old and has been well preserved. Driving the car on sunny days isn't going to cause any deterioration for the next 40 yrs. I'd stay away from POR 15 and just use standard paint.

If you post your frame numbers on here we can tell you what they mean.
It appears the manufacture date is incorporated in the number. "GC" will also appear for "GRANITE CITY" manu plant.

[Tom H.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

I would agree with Stephan ! Document your discoveries with lots of photos and do a nice job on the frame with standard paint. After the painted frame is done, you can re create the markings if you wish.

Sounds like a neat project and a pretty well preserved car. Looking forward to hearing about the progress.

[James W.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

I would agree with Stephan ! Document your discoveries with lots of photos and do a nice job on the frame with standard paint. After the painted frame is done, you can re create the markings if you wish.

Sounds like a neat project and a pretty well preserved car. Looking forward to hearing about the progress.

What direction you should go also depends on the condition of the car. If the stencils, paint dobs, etc are still there, maybe you should consider a survivor status vehicle instead of a frame off. I did a frame off on my 71 LS5 and regret it to this day. When I bought it in 1987 it had original paint, stencils and all that all over the car. I did a frame off after photo documenting everthing, mostly because that was the thing to do back then. Like they say, "It's only original once" and I missed my chance.

Jim

[Stephen L.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

James,

In looking at the photo of the frame I'd say he is already beyond survivor. The frame appears to be totally disassembled.

[Gary J.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

Todd:
If it were my car, I would mask off the data areas, and then repaint the frame and components are you would like to NCRS specs. If a judge wished to deduct because I did it that way, I would be happy to live with the minor deduction but preserve the originality. Just my nickle's worth, enjoy the rebuild.
Gary

[Ridge K.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

Congrats on taking on the task of a "frame off"......
As you proceed you'll become hooked on details.

To start with take photos of all the details, lots of photos! Close-ups really help! Document anything that can't be picked up in a photo for future reference. "Catalog" you photos in your computer for retrieval or you'll be overwhelmed later. I did a frame off on my 67 and have wound up with what seems to be a thousand photos.

I had my frame chemically stripped/dipped. This took off all the paint, rust etc but left the frame looking like fresh metal. It left the original weld spatter, VIN # stamp etc. My frame is a southern car so there wasn't any rust. Yours appears to be similiar. I then repainted the frame with Chassis Black spray from Eastwood. The photo is the way I got the frame back from the stripper... fresh metal.

Your frame is already 43 yrs old and has been well preserved. Driving the car on sunny days isn't going to cause any deterioration for the next 40 yrs. I'd stay away from POR 15 and just use standard paint.

If you post your frame numbers on here we can tell you what they mean.
It appears the manufacture date is incorporated in the number. "GC" will also appear for "GRANITE CITY" manu plant.

*Stephen, GREAT photo! Did you use "chem-strip", as I remember one of their locations is in your area?.... Looks like whatever outfit you used, did a superb job.

*Todd, you will probably get many varying opinions about the best approach, as far as.....leave it original as a version of "survivor", or restored in keeping with the mission statement of the NCRS. Either way,...plenty of expert opinions here.
I used the word "version" of survivor, due to the fact that I have found there are dozens of stated opinions about..what really is..."it's only original once". Is that a car that's never had a wrench on it, and is found today, exactly as it was assembled on the St. Louis assembly line (less wear & tear)? Or,...is it a car that's mostly "original", yet has had parts that are found in better condition than those on the car, acquired, and installed on the car?
Does the "it's only original once" mean it has it's original rubber hoses, seals, and fan belts, making it virtually, un-roadworthy and un-driveable, or does an original "survivor" have those rubber parts that age takes a toll on, replaced?
Which is the right version of original? Probably,....all of them. Different people have different opinions. Who's to say which is right?
In short, you should put your car back together, in the manner that you will be happy with. There isn't a right or wrong. For some "original" makes them happy, and that's what this hobby is about. For others like myself, frame off restored to as close as humanly possible to that March of 1967 day, that mine rolled off the assembly line. Hundreds of experts in this club are helping me achive my dreams. Then hopefully, 42 years in the future, the owner at that time can restore it once again with the help and advice of this club, as it will have been driven for as long as I can crawl behind the steering wheel.
Best of luck with your work, and please keep us posted on your progress.
Ridge

[Tony S.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

I agree with each of the comments. I'm in the midst of my third C2 body off project. In my opinion, there is nothing like doing a body off resto!

Did you count all of the body shims at each body mount location? You'll need to know that when you prepare for the body drop again.

Invest in a really good digital camera and take many many photos. The more the better. You'll never know when you'll need to view a photo for reference purposes.

GOOD LUCK! and don't be bashful about asking questions in here. That's what this is all about.

Tony

[Stephen L.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

Ridge, I used CAROLINA Stripping located in Fountain Inn SC. This type of work is a sideline for them.
Steve

[quote=Ridge Kayser (45955);425644]*Stephen, GREAT photo! Did you use "chem-strip", as I remember one of their locations is in your area?.... Looks like whatever outfit you used, did a superb job.

[Ridge K.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

[quote=Stephen Lavigne (7553);425758]Ridge, I used CAROLINA Stripping located in Fountain Inn SC. This type of work is a sideline for them.
Steve

*Stephen, GREAT photo! Did you use "chem-strip", as I remember one of their locations is in your area?.... Looks like whatever outfit you used, did a superb job.

Thanks, Steve. I really, really like the looks of that job. That is EXACTLY what I want my 42 year old frame to look like, before I paint it as you mentioned.
I'm taking all the photos of markings, etc., as discussed here, but might mention one additional precaution. Don't just leave them in computer storage. It's a good idea to have a disc burned of your digital images also, and/or some prints as back-up. My other desk top computer has crashed so badly, due to a trojan virus that snuck in,... I lost the disc storage. Thankfully, I have the CD disc, and prints of my hundreds of disassembly photos.
Thanks for the info on the frame stripping. Ridge

[Chuck S.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

Thanks, Steve. I really, really like the looks of that job. That is EXACTLY what I want my 42 year old frame to look like, before I paint it as you mentioned.
I'm taking all the photos of markings, etc., as discussed here, but might mention one additional precaution. Don't just leave them in computer storage. It's a good idea to have a disc burned of your digital images also, and/or some prints as back-up. My other desk top computer has crashed so badly, due to a trojan virus that snuck in,... I lost the disc storage. Thankfully, I have the CD disc, and prints of my hundreds of disassembly photos.
Thanks for the info on the frame stripping. Ridge

Ridge, if you still have the hard drive, you may be able to recover the data using Active@Undelete software.

The data is not erased...it's imprint is still residing there if you have the right software. I have had some success recovering old files from a virus corrupted hard drive using Active@Undelete and other proprietary recovery methods (I can't remember the site, but if you're interested I'll look it up). If you're a computer whiz, you've probably already tried these methods without success...in that case, forget my suggestion. )

Edit: Oops...I see now that you have a CD...forget my suggestions.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

I'd agree - the stuff is there on the drive if you wish to go through the trouble of getting it.

I have a 250GB mirror hard drives in my computer (though I've never found the mirror function useful when I have an issue), but given the cheap cost of memory I also have 250GB and 500GB drives as backups. One of them is running "real time" and the other goes on a regular schedule (Memeo AutoSync and Memeo Auto Backup). For under $250 total for the pair (at the time but much cheaper now), I never have to worry about recovering anything. I just checked - Best Buy has 500GB drives under $100. There's no reason not to do it.

Patrick

[Joe R.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

You all might want to think about storing pictures online too. I use Google's Picassa. All you need is a free Google account, which also gets you a Google email account and online docs. I'm only using 2 % of my free 7343 MB on there. Granted, I haven't uploaded all my pictures yet, but I know they will fit. There is also a downloadable Picassa program that makes it easy to upload your photos.

Joe

[Thomas N.]

Re: Found orginal frame markings....what next?

Steve:
Did you use a torch on the seams after the stripping process and before refinishing? I've heard that you should use heat to work out any of the stripping material out of joints/seams before refinishing. I'm wondering if that is fact or fiction. Thanks!




[quote=Stephen Lavigne (7553);425758]Ridge, I used CAROLINA Stripping located in Fountain Inn SC. This type of work is a sideline for them.
Steve