I'm the last person to be able to answer any of your questions, but I did
see a discussion of painting order, etc. in Classic Car Restorer's Handbook
by Jim Richardson, HP Books. He recommends painting and body work before
removing the body from the chassis. BTW, this is an excellent book for an
overview and enough detail to be useful.
JC
At 03:20 PM 9/19/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Item Subject: cc:Mail Text
> I have worked for some months taking parts off the TR3, and soon will
> be ready to lift off the body. I'm looking for input on the best path
> to follow, as I can imagine some different possibilities. So assuming
> I have removed all that is required:
>
> 1. How to brace the door openings? I would like to do it with wood;
> has anyone come up with a clever scheme for attaching it? I don't want
> to weld pieces in as I don't have a welder and don't want to have to
> grind off the subsequent welds.
>
> 2. What portion of body work should be done
> a) Before the body comes off
> b) When it's off
> c) Once it's back on
> d) Sould I take off the fenders now or later?
> It needs rockers and some floor repairs; after that just small stuff
> and a paint job (which I won't do myself). I'm wondering if a
> satisfactory paint job can be done with it back on the frame, or if I
> should paint it and then very carefully lower it back on.
>
> 3. Once it's off, should I make a dummy frame out of 4 x 4's (not
> SUVs!) to park the body on, and work on it like that, or just leave it
> hanging from the rafters till I'm ready to lower it and work on the
> body with it back on the real frame?
>
> 3. How far apart should I take the rest of it once the body is off? I
> do intend to clean up the frame and use something like POR-15, but is
> it worth it to take it right down till I'm looking at a bare frame on
> the garage floor? I realize it will be a good time to attend to engine
> work etc. but would there be much benefit in taking off all the
> steering linkage, for example?
>
> 4. Can the body come off in one piece without removing the rad (and
> therefore the apron)?
>
> I will not be showing this car; I want to drive it, I want it to last
> as long as possible, and I don't have buckets of American dollars to
> toss at it until it's fixed. The car has almost 50K miles and has been
> parked since 1970.
>
> Any and all suggestions appreciated.
>
> TIA,
> Jim Wallace
> 60 TR3 TS81417
> jwallace@canada.hp.com
>
>
|