'76 Chassis Tear Down and Rebuild
The rolling chassis was in very good shape and all the major components will be able to be reused. The rolling chassis was broken down into a pile of parts where they went into several different piles: sandblasting pile, trash pile, eBay pile, and rebuild pile. All of the major hardware was sandblasted and sealed and is ready to be used. Only 1 bolt on the entire chassis had to be cut off and drilled out!
The frame and suspension components were cleaned and sandblasted revealing very little rust at all. There were no places that needed to be cutout and replaced. A couple of welds were reinforced on the front extension forks, but over all the frame is in excellent shape! A self etching epoxy was used to prime and seal the chassis, then a semi-gloss enamel was applied for the correct look. All the A-arms were primed, then they had their bushing replaced with poly bushings, then painted with the enamel.
The rear suspension was relatively in good shape. The 9 leaf spring will go to a new vette home, but is replaced with a much stiffer 7 leaf spring. The rear will be lowered by 1" and poly bushings have been used throughout. The differential needed minor work as the retaining pin for the driver's side spindle had come off and been ground into small metal fragments. All was cleaned up and the rear was inspected and put back together. It is very tight now and I can't wait to put some power to it. The trailing arms looked good upon initial inspection and after I took them off, but after sandblasting them there were layers of rust near the spindle mount on the passenger side. This was replaced and new spindles were needed because on the right side the bearings just fell off, and on the left side the teeth were twisted! No worries, they are back together with new bearings, rotors, and emergency brake pads. The run out has been adjusted to '0'! A 3/4" sway bar was also added to the rear to limit roll and increase handling along with upgraded shocks all the way around.
The front suspension is much easier then the rear as it can be broke down without special tools. All the components were blasted, etched, and repainted. The wheels received new bearings and the rotors turned. The sway bar in 1 1/8" thick and the springs were upgraded from the factory 330 lbs to 550lbs and are 1" lower. This along with the rear suspension improvements will help this car corner like a 90's vette.
The steering linkage needed a good cleaning and some new parts. All of the tie rod ends are in good shape and will be reused, but with poly grease boots. The steering box was torn down and is in good shape. Both the control valves and cylinder for the power steering were rebuilt with new springs, bushings, and 'O' rings. The pitman arm was shot and replaced with a new heavy duty arm.
The fuel tank for '76 has a protective cover that sits over the entire tank. It's ugly, but in the end no one will be able to see it or the clean tank that it covers. Since I am not going to be using any of the emission systems (True, I'm not very 'green' when it comes to horse power) I did not need the return fuel line or the vapor line from the charcoal canister in the engine compartment. To solve this I just routed the fuel and vapor lines around to each other closing the loop. This way the tank will still be able to build up vacuum and will not have loose lines connected to it. Personally I think it looks better without the cover, but the cover will go on and stay.
Here is the final rolling chassis with the gas tank cover on and off.
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