New frame, rearend is next....

I spent the weekend after Labor Day driving to Poughkeepsie, NY to pickup another frame for the car. I made the decision after all of the work that has gone into the car to replace the body panels that I really wasn't too keen to cut it up again.  The frame came from a 1966 Oldsmobile so in the end there's going to be some work to do but overall it was in good shape.  I had to take about 3 1/4 inches from the rear and I've got to replace the front horns on the frame due to the different style used for the Olds.

However, I was able to use the 10-bolt rearend for the control arm brackets so started by cutting off the spring brackets and control arm brackets. Then began to remove the ladder bar and coilover brackets from the 12 bolt.

Here you can see the before picture. Probably the only good thing the previous owner did with the suspension was not to cut-up the original rearend. I was able to get the brackets off fairly easy so it made the switch quite easily.

This is the finished product in the car.  The original Olds 10-bolt was about 1 inch wider so fitment wasn't a problem. I welded the brackets on with my welder but I'm going to have to get them burned in with a much heavier welder after I get the rearend sandblasted.  This project went quite well and I was able to complete the swap in a weekend.  The hardest part was actually cutting them off the original 10-bolt without mangling the brackets.  A torch would have made the job much easier.

The body is back on the frame ...

Now that I have a full frame again the next step is to make sure that all of the body mounts on the main shell fit before final welding.  After I sat the body back on the frame I only had to make a few small adjustments to get all 6 of the body bolts back in place so I was quite happy.  This is the first time in over a year that they body has been back on the frame and actually things look quite good!

As you can see the wheels are from a Pontiac but the frame actually came from a Oldsmobile.  There's no trunk floor in the car yet but I was able to get the rear tail panel in place to help hold the rear of the car together.

The picture above shows the difference in the length of the frame as well as how bent the rear brace is.  The frame has to be shortened about 3 1/4 inches to fit the Chevelle.   I also determined after putting the original trunk back on the car that it was not going to fit very well.  I ended up selling the trunk and some other parts.

This picture shows the major work that has to go into the frame to make it align with the Chevelle mounts.  The entire front frame horns need to be removed and replaced with the frame section from the original Chevelle frame.  The ones on the Oldsmobile actually go out at the end so the radiator can fit between them where the Chevelle is straight.