Pontiac LeMans-Refurbishing the Frame

OK, you muscle car

fans, you've seen Lou Cut Shop and burn his way through projects today.

The softer side of Lou as he begins a simple restoration project.

Well, almost

of all the cool cars out there. You're probably wondering why would we restore a 67 lemons? It's because they're very high on the endangered species list

and they're getting harder to find

every day time. Hasn't been too nice to them. Not to mention they're just real easy to clone into a GTO.

In fact, most goes, you see today started as lemons,

they're the same body with different options, even the aftermarket caters to that trend.

So we decided to save one and came up with a cost effective plan before we bought it

to end up with a beautifully restored matching numbers piece of history. 16 5 engine and all

or for about 6500 more, we can convert it to a four speed at a tougher rear end stroke that 326 out to 375 with about 400 horse. That's more than the factory GTO offered in 67.

Talk about little brother kicking your butt.

Now we're gonna blow this car totally apart and how you do that can affect the cost of it. Not to mention how well it goes back together. It's pretty scary how the first bolt I attack.

I gotta cut off.

We already determine which parts need to be replaced,

but to keep costs low, take every part off, like you're gonna reuse it.

In fact, you hardcore resto guys would do just that,

but it's not too easy for an old thrasher like me to tear things down slowly.

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not a fan of clones. A lot of them are built to f the unsuspecting buyer strictly for profit and with parts availability, the way it is nowadays it can easily be done. But there's one thing that they can't change

the data plate.

There's a lot of information here. Your paint code, your trim package, the factor in which it was built. But the quickest answer is right here. 37 means it's a Lamon. 42 is a goat.

If you can't read it, don't buy it. Year one's got a complete breakdown of all the codes listed on their website. 64 was the first year for the goat.

So that data plate may not be correct. A little more homework is needed.

The trim is next, Brent wouldn't let me do it. Something about using the right tool for the right job.

A

lot of this trim is replaceable, but some of it isn't.

So you may have to refurbish a few pieces. Check with your local chrome shop if they don't do it. They know someone who does,

there's new glass available as well, but ours is pretty clear.

So we really wanna save. It.

Looks like our budget just got tighter.

The seal. It was simply too old and too thick. Let me show you my special tool

and I made it myself.

She's already,

I'm not concerned about the extra cost.

It's the time and clean up that kills me.

We got lucky on the rear.

This is a factory install. Let's seal it.

When we got the car, we were worried about the rust under the vinyl.

Ours isn't that bad, good thing that can wreck a budget.

We're saving money on the inside as well. Most of it's really nice considering it's 40 years old.

Now. We've got the car stripped down far enough to where we can separate the frame from the body. I'm going to leave the doors on just to help keep everything straight. I could use our lift over there, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to separate them just like you guys would do at home in your driveway

with the body bolts removed,

use a temporary cross member and a jack to separate it far enough to slide in these longer supports,

then tack them in place

with some extensions, raise it high enough to clear the tires.

Then rest it on the Jackson.

Not bad for a few hours worth of work. Now, I wouldn't leave it this high to do the body work on it. But once the chassis is clear, you can lower it down, you can even put it on some rollers.

Now, a frame this old with obvious repairs is more than likely going to need to be straightened and we're not spending all this time and effort to roll down the road sideways after the break. I'm gonna show you how to prep this frame without a trip to the media blaster.

We're back on our La Man's restoration. The body is stripped and the frame is out before we can see what condition it's in a good pressure wash is in order.

At least that's what it looks like to the neighbors. In reality, we're sandblasting as well for 100 bucks. We bought this one with this inlet tube that you could use with either glass beads or sand.

The more p si the better the effect most media and even sand is considered a carcinogen.

The dust cloud can kill you as well as your neighbors. If you don't believe me, check out the EPA laws in your state.

This combination eliminates that danger. Since the water keeps it on the ground. When it dries use precaution in the clean up,

we're using a sand and recycled asphalt mixture. Seven bucks a bag,

about five bags will do it total cost

100 and 50 bucks plus water.

Now, it doesn't go as deep as a media blast. It does for 800 to $1000. But it is a really good start on our sanding. As far as the smaller parts go. We're going to clean them up in our blasting cabinet,

just like the body parts. We're saving everything. The rear end transmission and spindle will go into storage somewhere down the line. You may wanna put this back to a matching numbers car.

Now it's time for my favorite chore framework

using the mounting holes to measure from, we can figure out just how twisted it is.

The center is still square, so we'll lock it down to the gym.

We knew the rear half of the frame was messed up from the previous repairs. It's got to go about a half inch over that way. But what we didn't expect to find is what we found up front.

This gnarly hole is where they pulled the frame straight from a previous encounter. The problem is that they pulled the frame about an inch too far over. So that means our back end goes like this and our front end goes like this.

I don't know how this thing even rolled down a road straight.

We'll tie the frame together here because this is where it needs to bend,

then brace it to the jig. So it doesn't move side to side

and more bracing to keep it parallel to the floor

with a come along

some chain

and lots of heat.

We should be able to straighten it out.

This marker will tell us how successful we are.

That's a good half inch. It's a little bit more than what we need. We're gonna let it cool and see where it settles.

Now, the back will be real easy being that it's a box. All we gotta do is square it up.

This needs to be at 54 inches.

It'll flex back some.

So we'll over pull it a little.

It's a man,

the center didn't move during any of the polls.

So let's see how well the front end settled.

I'm happy with that

to keep the frame from twisting on the road. We'll brace it up here in the corner

and add more here

for the rear end.

Now, the Stroker motor we're building will also cause a lot of stress here in the center

and boxing it in will eliminate that chassis flex and there's a couple of different ways you can do that. Some guys say it's strong if you put it about a half inch in and weld it up. The thing that's nice about this. It gives you room to run your brake lines and fuel lines. Other guys will mount it flush and bend it over, creating a nice overlap joint. But for our purposes, we're just gonna, but it up and weld it

once the inside of the frame is prepped.

We'll protect it with some well through primer,

Brent's gonna sand down the entire frame. Two reasons

we need to paint it. But more importantly, this will help us find any cracks or weak spots that also need attention.

Anything serious would have shown its ugly face when we were tugging on the frame.

But even the little things can grow over time later in the show got a couple more neat tricks to show you.

This week's muscle car flashback, the 70 Mustang mach one

when Mustangs first started roaming the streets in mid 64 they were a far cry from being a true muscle car.

It didn't take Ford long to realize this little pony could be turned into a full on hob

by 67. Any Mustang could be ordered with a 390 cubic inch power plant in 69. The mach one was born

by 70. It had made a name for itself and it was awarded the manufacturers rally championship by the SEC A

to win this award. The mach one has to prove itself with over 8000 miles of tight cornering, sprinting straightaways and heart breaking through all types of weather and road conditions.

This piece of rally history belongs to Tom Acres. But for him, it's more than just a rally car.

When I was a senior in high school, I had a 1970 mach one and always wanted to have another one. Now don't let this fancy paint fool you. This is more than a look.

A 300 horse 351. Cleveland is what drives this mock one,

an FMX cruise Matic three speed transmission

and a 325 track lock in the rear end sends power to these 18 inch wheels. A sticky set of tires. Keep this classic held tight to the road

an inch and a half drop gives it one fierce look to Max. What's under the

getting all that power to stop is no problem which is custom set of calipers

and cross through rotors. It all adds up to one nice ride. This car is a lot of fun to drive. When Ford made these cars, the Mack ones and the boss editions had a little bit different suspension

panels and corners a little easier. It was made more for uh a little more rallying type cars if you will instead of just going in a straight line

and it's got flash to go with all that dash.

The front grill was redesigned in seventies, bringing back dual headlights and integrating them with the grill

recess brake lights and his honeycomb rear panel with the mach one logo will let you know what just blew by

rear spoiler and window mover. Put the finishing touches out back while twist style lashes and a cosmetic hood scoop give the front one nasty look. This brand new paint job has just a bit of metallic flake in it to make it pop.

And the black and red interior,

keep the driver in his seat

and it stops.

If you ever pull up to one of these at a like you may stand a fighting chance off the line. You just better hope there's no twisties up ahead because this car was made to catch him in the curve

and we'll catch you after the break.

So far today, we made good progress on our 67 Lemons restoration project.

We pulled the frame,

pulled it straight

and boxed it in, then sanded it down for paint and final inspection,

we poured over every inch of it and found nothing. This thing is solid. Now, we could prime and paint it the way it sits. But to dress it up even further, let's lose this Swiss cheese. Look by filling in all the unnecessary holes.

There must be at least 30 of them. They were used in the assembly process for forging an alignment. And the only thing they're good for now is a place for dirt and wasp to hang out.

The larger ones will need plugs.

You can buy a bag of different sizes or make your own.

The tig wire will work as a handle to set it flush.

The smaller ones can simply be filled in

and we didn't have to go through all of this. But for that guy who wants to stick his head underneath and find fault,

you just keep on looking,

this could take a while.

So while Brent gets a sun tan, I'm moving on to the suspension part.

We want to keep the stock look, but these simply aren't designed for what we want to do.

Up until the early eighties, there were no tubular control arms for strength

and drop spindles to lower your right height were really rare. You have to solve these problems yourself. So that's what we're gonna do is we're gonna plate the lower control arm for strength. Then we're gonna cut our spring pocket and raise it up to lower our right height.

We'll do the play first. This is 316, start the same as the original.

These aren't flat.

So make sure your template allows for enough steel for some persuasion.

Find a way to lock the arm level,

mark a quarter of an inch around the hat in a slight spiraling pattern.

You don't want the two ends of your line to quite intersect

because of that.

A cut off wheel is your only choice

when the line makes a full circle.

Join it with the notch

with a rounded one inch band of equal stop. Start at the notch,

bend it tack it as you go.

The reason for the spiral, it guarantees the top gets put back on correctly,

check your level before you make it permanent.

This is our stock arm

and this is what we finished up with that guy sticking his head into the car won't notice the difference except for that mysteriously low ride height.

Now, the lower the rear end, they could have raised this spring bucket just like we did on the front end. But it's really difficult to do with the body on the car. Now, when I was a kid, I used to watch guys heat their springs and lower the car. The problem with that, you heat them too much. You're buying new springs or you could get your big cousin Tony, throw him in the trunk of the car and as long as he kept his mouth shut, everybody was cool.

I'm happy with the way this frame turned out.

It's straight, it's solid. It's looking good

and it's ready to be primed and painted.

We're gonna stop here for now and get this thing in the blasting shop. Now, that pressure washer sand and water combo

way too tough for your body panels. Next step for this project, transforming our 326 into a modern day Stroker later.