I was wondering how big a project it is to change the body mounting bolts. I have access to a garage with a lift. any pitfalls? can I leave the drivetrane in?

Thanks

I've read its not very difficult to separate the body from the frame in restoration books. The body mounts themselves with out total separation should not be very hard I would think, provided your bolts are not totally rusted out. I know others like Ken can answer your question alot better. I like your Vette! Any mods to help it down that dragstrip?

Beardface,

Sweet vette, I can see why you need new body mounts. The job really is not that hard, just time-consuming. You need to pay attention to detail, so you won't rip anything apart when you're doing it.

Start by disconnecting the battery, remove the rocker panels, disconnect the steering column from the steering box, at the rag joint, and the fuel lines, all wires connected to the frame, engine, and transmission will have to be disconnected, you're on your own here, too much to list. (if you have a manual, completely remove the entire harness for the reverse switch, I missed one of the bendable clips on the underside of the body, and now its toast.)

Remove the battery cables make sure the bellhousing bracket is removed. Remove the cable from the starter solenoid, and the ground cable. There is another ground cable on the #1 drivers side mount that needs to come off, and probably another that I'm forgetting.

It's pretty much common sense from there. I know I'm forgetting a lot here, I'm sorry for that. Just remember, when you think it's time to lift, just go up an inch at a time, and check for forgotten items as you come by them, and you will. Oh, I almost forgot, Don't forget to disconnect the speedo cable, that's an important one. And all the shift linkages.

I know there's more, but if you own a vette, chances are you're not brain dead when it comes to turning a wrench, and you can figure it out as you go along.

Good luck, it was a pretty fun job for me, real different than the normal jobs.

Alan

P.S. I'm sure Ken can fill in the blanks if I forgot some important things here. All praise to Zen Master Ken.

Two sites covering this subject..

the second one is a member here... forgot which one.

This one has more detail

http://www.69vetteman.com

This one has a checklist

http://hometown.aol.com/bmclau5079/page5.html

|UPDATED|6/19/2004 12:27:11 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

I did most of the work myself with alitle help when it came to putting the body back on. If you can get the bolts out without breaking anything you can replace the mounts using jacks and doing one side at a time. My rocker channels were rusted out so I had to do a full body-off. See link above.
Good luck.

Rust will be the biggest problem. Often the bolts will break off which will mean a lot more work then if they all come out intact. I really don't think you will be able to drill out broken bolts in certain locations (like the ones just forward of the rear wheels) without complete removal of the body. My advice is soak them good with Silicroil or PB Blaster starting a week or so before you attempt to turn them and hopefully you will get lucky.

Please trim your signature pick down and give us dialupper's a favor. Great looking car!

I'm going to defer to RedWingVette on this one. Look at his links.

Thanks for the info so far. It sounds like it can be done in a weekend, especially with a lift. I will check closely for rotten mounting piints before i get half way in and it turns out that a full body off is necesary.

Thanks for the comments on the cars looks, but it is a 25 footer. It is my plan to have the body work done and the car painted this winter.

The car hooks up well and goes straight on the track, but the times are not the greatest with the 3.08 rearend. With the original motor it turned 16.1/84MPH and with the new crate motor 14.6/93MPH. While i am happy with the times, a lower rearend and a 700R4 will certainly lower the ET's