Has anyone ever dismantled down to the frame?

[Silver71]

Out of curiosity, has anyone ever fully dismantled their DSM down to just the frame itself? Taken off all of the components of the car to be left with simply the unibody frame? If so, it would be interesting to know just how much work it would be (I imagine a lot) and if there is a thread with pics, or on another website perhaps.

Just thinking ahead, for those of us living in the rust belt, haha

 

[riopgtmn]

Ah, Close?

2G DSM

Everything was removed, blasted, powdercoated, etc

 

[mike96]

For all intended purposes I have...

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/blogs/mike96/1461-god-i-am-horible.html

the blue one came all the way apart and i found too many issues with the frame to be worth repairing (too much rust, both frame rails were totally crushed to the point where the floorboards were pushed up about 1"-1.5" into the cab, and the frame was twisted almost 2" at one corner). The green (now red/black) chassis was in much better shape to begin with but it didn't get 100% stripped only the front end and interior for paint, the fuel tank and rear suspension stayed in.

Anything in particular you want to know?

 

[Colt4G63 also]

I've had my Colt to the shell all except the quarter panel windows, and it was pretty stripped down when I put the AWD rear in. I have two 1g AWDs in my shop now that are down to just windows doors and fenders. One still has the dash in too.

 

[Silver71]

Nothing in particular, just wondering if there was anyone out there crazy enough to do it! You never know, I may find myself on that situation someday.

Mike96:

On a scale of 1-10, how big of a PITA was this project for you?

Then, the important question: Was it worth it?

I guess there is a possibility that I may want to do this one day to fully prep a frame for a ground-up build. As I do live in the rust belt (MN), it would be a wise idea to get rid of all the cancer, and paint it all over again, and coat the underside in rust-proof coating. This is only a vision at this point. But awesome thread!

 

[Colt4G63 also]

It's worth it if you have the right shell. It takes about two weeks if you are dedicated, and have a lot of spare time.

 

[born2tune]

My current project went down to the frame. All I can tell you is that once you put it all together you gain a huge sense of accomplishment and it seems pretty easy afterwords until you have to pull some things apart because you might find out the correct order of putting things together might not seem the same as tearing it apart but other than that you learn alot. Oh and tearing down a car is something anybody can do, its putting it back together what counts.

I am documenting my build online but its not available too see until I finish because I am like that.

I can tell you the minimum requirements to do this comfortably:
1- have a garage, preferably a 2 car garage.
2- alot of tools unless you plan on doing a lot of ghetto tactics and breaking things.
3-time, time, time. Bring friends and buy them beer if you want to knock it out faster.
4-MONEY. you will find so many things that needs replaced its not even funny. let alone the things that you will upgrade "just because you are there" and its not easy to get to everyday.
5- Camera. take pictures of everything and from different angles, A lot of them during tear down, maintenance, and build up because you WILL have to go back and reference your self with things the way it was setup to your particular car, and if you are putting something together thats complicated or broken you can go back and reference it to know what to do or what happened.
6-Tag your parts with a parts tag, I also bagged and tied the hardware to the part it came off, so during buildup time I wasted no time looking for hardware or parts.

7- 4 gallons of degreaser, 4 bottles of orange goop hand cleaner, 20 boxes of shop towels and a lot of band-aids.

 

[Silver71]

Lots of good tips.

Looking forward to seeing the pics!

 

[mike96]

My current project went down to the frame. All I can tell you is that once you put it all together you gain a huge sense of accomplishment and it seems pretty easy afterwords until you have to pull some things apart because you might find out the correct order of putting things together might not seem the same as tearing it apart but other than that you learn alot. Oh and tearing down a car is something anybody can do, its putting it back together what counts.

I am documenting my build online but its not available too see until I finish because I am like that.

I can tell you the minimum requirements to do this comfortably:
1- have a garage, preferably a 2 car garage.
2- alot of tools unless you plan on doing a lot of ghetto tactics and breaking things.
3-time, time, time. Bring friends and buy them beer if you want to knock it out faster.
4-MONEY. you will find so many things that needs replaced its not even funny. let alone the things that you will upgrade "just because you are there" and its not easy to get to everyday.
5- Camera. take pictures of everything and from different angles, A lot of them during tear down, maintenance, and build up because you WILL have to go back and reference your self with things the way it was setup to your particular car, and if you are putting something together thats complicated or broken you can go back and reference it to know what to do or what happened.
6-Tag your parts with a parts tag, I also bagged and tied the hardware to the part it came off, so during buildup time I wasted no time looking for hardware or parts.

7- 4 gallons of degreaser, 4 bottles of orange goop hand cleaner, 20 boxes of shop towels and a lot of band-aids.

Amen to that...Is it worth it? All depends on what you are trying to get out of it. For me it wasn't about getting rid of rust but getting rid of the nasty green color the talon was from the factory (one of my OCDs). I cant stand it when you get a car and think nice color then pull the door panel off or the carpet back to do something and see a totally different color, drives me nuts. So yea it was worth it. In hindsight I should have thought it out a bit better and done a little more prep work for other things... Like right off the bat, take the car to the collision shop and had them make sure the frame was straight. Then I could have done a full seam welding on the frame while I had it stripped down before I painted it...

My advice.

Try to leave the car in as many sub-assemblies as possible (engine/trans, front cross member with steering/suspension, rear sub frame with suspension ECT.) And don't dissemble/clean those sub-assemblies until you are ready to install them.

I try to make it a habit to take a part out and put the bolt back in its spot whenever possible. That way you are less likely to forget where the bolt goes if the entire process takes longer than you anticipated...

Lastly. When taking on a project this size (full restoration). Figure out how much money you are planning on it taking and how long you think it will take you and triple those numbers. That's a good starting point for at least what it will cost and how much time it will take.