My 96 RMW project...

Wow, those tank straps did clean up nice!

I thought you said that it was a rusty wagon!

are you discarding that engine and tranny? hmmmmm

Sounds like we need to organize a "Help Chris drop, clean and reassemble his wagon frame fest"

brokecello wrote:

Thanks guys About the frame...I just don't know. Have any of you really done this before without the use of a lift? I can see myself stripping a body bolt...crushing a floorpan (remember this still has a full interior) or not being able to get it back together right. I know it looks and sounds simple...

Well, Chris... I have to admit I was armchair quarterbacking this one a bit. But back in the day, I had a frame off of a 1980 malibu sedan that I replaced for rust reasons. The whole back part of the frame was rotted for some reason, but the body was solid. Found a frame on a beat parts car and swapped 'em out. The frame was not heavy at all, probably only a few hundred pounds. Could be moved by a few guys for the price of some beers.

What I can't help you with is jack points for the body of a wagon. These are heavy cars, so more care is probably needed. I can't make any real recommendations there. Maybe ask Gerry how he attached the lift to his when he lowered his frame? I'm sure the same concepts would apply to us folks working with floor jacks...

Guys, it's not rocket science. Looking at the assembly plant pictures, GM lifted the bodies at the perimeters before they set them down on the frame. The rule of thumb is this: always jack a body at an edge or seam, and use wood to spread out the load. Any joint or corrugation will have more strength than just a flat surface. On the interior, the front seats, the dash, and the spare tire in the rear are the biggest weight components; I'd leave the dash in but take out the front seats and spare.

Then just jack along the perimeter.

Chris:

The job is not technically difficult but should be done with help. At least one if not two helpers. The first thing is a trip to "Home Depot" or equivalent and purchase three 4x4s, 8ft. long. They will be placed between the mounts at the firewall, C pillars and the rear most mounts. Cut the 4x4s to fit inside of the rocker panels for the firewall and C pillar and wide enough to give you room to place your jackstands outside of the frame at the back.

Use your cherry picker to lift the front, using the lower door hinge mount as attachment places (lifting straps are best for this as opposed to chain for obvious reasons). Make sure the windows are open and the doors are closed and locked. Do not attempt to open doors until you have it securely sitting on the jackstands at all three positions. Lift the body up high enough to get clearance for the 4x4s under the firewall and C pillars. Position your jackstands at the correct hieght under the C pillar 4x4. Slowly lower the cherry picker down and the body should see the C pillar as a fulcrum, nose heavy, and raise the rear high enough to install the 4x4 and jackstands as well. Lower down onto firewall 4x4 and jackstands. Adjust accordingly.

You now deserve a beer (give one to your friends as well, they deserve it). While enjoying your beer, this will be the time that you discover that you have:

a: Not jacked it up high enough
b: Not accounted for the width of the tires on the chassis
c: all of the above

This is where you want two trolley jacks. Remove front wheels and "slam" the chassis down as far as it will go and wiggle, jimmy and inch the chassis out from underneath the body. If you bring the chassis out the front you may not have to remove the wheels. Position chassis where you want it (usually its where the body is...now is not the time to plan out your work area).

Time for another beer, your done. Time expired about 3 hours (plus time to drink beer). All told, if you install the drive train into the chassis before re-assembly, it should save you at least three days extra work, plus it will give you free access to everything you want to clean up.

Reverse instructions for re-assembly except for the rear 4x4. You'll have to jack up the floor pan after the chassis is in place to get the 4x4 out.

Good luck.

Bill

Just a little update All my front clip parts are loaded up in a (gasp) minivan and I will be leaving shortly to head up to VA to drop them off.

I also believe I will be coming back to SC with my RMS front clip!



I will post up some pics from the little wagon trip once I get back on Sun

Chris

well I'm all set to head out to VA with said RMS front clip in the back of the Peanust butter sammich
if I hit the road by 10 am I should arrive in bentonville at 7pm

YES! See you tonight!

Ps...good luck typing on Mike's keyboard once you come here...half his keys have the letters rubbed off.

ooooo can't wait for pics of the wagony mischief!!

brokecello wrote:

YES! See you tonight!

Ps...good luck typing on Mike's keyboard once you come here...half his keys have the letters rubbed off.

Oh for the days when people could 'touch type'.......

Lots of pictures were taken, lots of fun had, parts swapped..... stay tuned!

I just got home, after a total of 1277miles round trip. where are the pictures Chris? I expected them to be posted by now!

buickestate wrote:

I just got home, after a total of 1277miles round trip. where are the pictures Chris? I expected them to be posted by now!

Tonight!! I had to go to work today (lol) Man Pat...that is quite a trip. Good to see you and thanks again for the parts

Chris

buickestate wrote:

I just got home, after a total of 1277miles round trip. where are the pictures Chris? I expected them to be posted by now!

Glad ya made it safely! Does Bewbz have a new lawn ornament?

yes and I hope it's still there in 72 hours when it's cleared to cross the boarder, he did hint a few times about how much he likes 92OCC's, or was that he likes 92 year olds with OCD?
the right rear tire on the OCC blew out mid way through Ohio, got the donut on quickly then crawled doing 55 the rest of the way to the Zout estate

Man, sorry that tire blew Pat!! Glad you were able to limp on with the little spare...


Here are some pics of my clip arriving late Sat night. Pat is the master packer...crazy all the stuff he crammed in his wagon

Even brought a door for Mike!





.

My front clip parts! They came from FL...went to CA...then VA and now down to SC! LOL!!



.
All loaded up Sun morn in the minivan.

very cool indeed. Lot's of miles on that front clip!

glad to see it south of the Mason Dixon line again

I knew something changed when I crossed the Potomic!

Was finally able to make a little progress on the underbelly tonight. Had most of the wire wheel work done and rust converter sprayed a few days before.

I wanted to keep the underbelly silverish....didn't want it to be black. I knew I could not get some of the corn flake spots perfectly smooth, so I decided to try out some of the Rustoleum Hammered Silver paint. I used the black on my tool box and liked the results.

I like it! Covers up the little blemishes well I think. Sorry the pics are not so good, I only had my cell phone.

I hope to have the rest of the floorpans done on Sat. Once that is all dry, I will tape the edges up and start work on the frame. That will be black (and I have Eastwood stuff for it)

Chris

looking sweet as honey

Bam! Lol Thanks Sprocket

ooooo, that looks great. I might have to put that on the bottom of the SS...

Stupid question, but why silver on the undercarriage? I would think a darker color would work best in terms of overall vehicle presentation.

sherlock9c1 wrote:

Stupid question, but why silver on the undercarriage? I would think a darker color would work best in terms of overall vehicle presentation.

Not a dumb question at all...I expected more people to razz me about it.

If you look at the center (concave) section where the gas tank goes....that is still factory silver paint. It was too nice to mess with (and it saved me paint)

I wanted to keep it kinda factory like. I like that look better than all black. Gives me the illusion of a rust free bare metal underside. Lol

I think it will present well when all the other pieces are put back in. Just the floorpans will be this silverish color. It is a darker shade in person (looked at it again for a sec tonight)

Sometimes when I see a black underside....it is because people get lazy and just spray everything black to hide stuff. Since I am taking the time to really clean it all well, I would like to have some contrast under there.

Chris

Looks good, Contrast is always nice to have.

The rust free sedan I parted had the floors and stuff a nice shiny Silver.

Chris you are doing a wonderful job. I wish I were healthy enough to do the same. It really bothers me that I can't make mine look like say your's or the reconditioner's. Heck, I can't even do a proper detail job on mine anymore. All you guys who still have your health should consider yourselfs very lucky, cause once it's gone it's gone! Great job Chris.

Well, I was able to finish up the floorpans today! Was a little too windy to start off, but conditions improved before dark. You can still see some surface imperfections, but not as bad with this paint! I am happy with it still.

Next step for me is the frame.

Drop the frame! Wait, did someone say that already? lol

Hey Chris, you really oughta consider dropping the...

oh nevermind.

drop the frame change the body bushings while you are at it

Or he could just leave the frame in place, with all the associated rust, gunk, and crappy body bushings sandwiched between the body and frame...

When he's really only 8 bolts away from separating the whole thing. Oh what a shame...

Chris ask yourself what would Frank do? then go one step beyond.....

Just finished reading thru all 9 pages, wow great job there Chris!
That underbelly looks very nice with the silver paint

Chakotay wrote:

Just finished reading thru all 9 pages, wow great job there Chris!
That underbelly looks very nice with the silver paint

Thanks for the compliment! I really do appreciate it.

buickestate wrote:

Chris ask yourself what would Frank do? then go one step beyond.....

Lol!!

This is not gonna be a show car. I am not dropping the frame. I waited around to try to get help to drop it, and it never happened. It will be fine.

Let it go guys. Thanks.

Looking very good man, great job so far.

Looks great! Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. It will be fun to watch since you always have so many great photos.

hey chris,. drop the frame ,. its only 8 bolts!!
then you can work magic on it..paint it all bright red!!it,d look wild with the silver paint contrast,.

*snicker*

nick

Thanks guys! Lol...Nick...that is a thought though. Humm...*cough*

Goofing off at lunch today and found another RMS clip conversion. Never seen this guy around before...wish I could contact him and invite him over here.

Chris

https://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/thedrewbert/Roadmaster/?start=0


.

don't know if you want to do that, he also created this buick ummm

buickestate wrote:

don't know if you want to do that, he also created this buick ummm

OMFG, what is that abomination

Chakotay wrote:

buickestate wrote:

don't know if you want to do that, he also created this buick ummm

OMFG, what is that abomination

With a 3.8, it's fast.

Quote :

With a 3.8, it's fast.

It's trying to get away from its reflection!

jayoldschool wrote:

Quote :

With a 3.8, it's fast.

It's trying to get away from its reflection!

LMAO!! That thing is umm..."creative"?

So...got a lot done today with the front frame area. Finished up right as the sun was setting. (so sorry for the bad pic) Eastwood makes some nice stuff...
I need to still do some more detail work to the control arms too.

Chris

Looks GREAT! Keep up the good work...

you know your whole frame could look like that if you were to drop it.... now that you have the CC you can make this one a show car Chris....

I believe you are doing the underbelly the correct way from what I remember Frank saying. Great job on the front frame too. Have you ever considered dropping the ...... P.S. If you ever replace the body mounts would you please do one of your award winning photo tutorials on the subject. I'm still kinda chicken if you know what I mean. Cluck Cluck !!

Thanks guys. I saw this pic again this morn of Gerry's wagon....ug. It is more of a reminder that this project is NOT a show car project. I do not have the money or facility to do that at this point in the game.

I can do a little better job on the detail work in the front frame area though after looking at his pics. Man I wish I could see his wagon in person someday.

Went by a few mins ago to check on the paint...that Chassis Black really dries hard and fast. Seems like it will be pretty tough. Here is a clearer pic.

Lookin great Chris. Nice work!