Since I can’t get the body mounted to the rotisserie until the rusted out rear body mounts are fixed, I tackled that job the other day to find that it will be much easier than original thought. I cut open the rear facing side of the brace near the mount to see that there is a second heavier-duty bracket inside, which means I can pretty much just do a cosmetic restoration on this area and it will be plenty strong enough to do the job. The drivers side bolt was spinning free, so it had to be cut off. The sheet-metal cage around the nut rusted away, letting it spin.

I just welded a new nut to a big washer, then plug welded the washer from the bottom into place, then butt-welded new metal over the areas I cut open and were good to go. I’ll finish the rest of the rust repair in this area after its on the rotisserie, for easier access.

Today my Dad came over and we got the Impala mounted up to the rotisserie. Didn’t take long at all. Once we got it adjusted and balanced, you can turn it pretty easily. A ton of dirt and crud fell out of it, and continues to fall out of it. In the little animation below, you can see some dirt pile up on the floor below. This is goona make the job Soooooo much easier!

Today I started with the media blasting. What a dirty job! I think I spent more time sweeping up the sand and sifting out the chunks to reclaim it than I did actually blasting! I think for the next session, I’m going to just stock up on 4 or 5 bags of new silica sand and just gather most of it up when I’m done. I do not plan to do any of the large body panels, just the door jambs, window rubber channels, floor pans and such. The reason for not doing the big panels is that the media I am using can generate heat while it strips the paint and surface rust. This heat can warp the panels. Areas like the door jambs are very ridged and not prone to warping. The shiny area on the roof was done with the D.A… no warpage!

Finished blasting the bottom of the floors, door jambs, and trunk floor today. This time I went to the hardware store and picked up four 100 pound bags of silica sand. I was sick of spending time sweeping up and sifting the used stuff, so this time I just let’r fly! After I was all done I think I reclaimed maybe 1/3 of the sand… so I guess the rest of it is in my yard somewhere. Still have to do the frame and the doors too, doh!

Treated all the bare metal today with Picklex 20 rust converter, and replaced the original seam sealer with fresh stuff.

There are lots of areas that still need attention before I can coat the bottom with Zero-Rust chassis paint. The body mounts still need cosmetic re-construction, and there are some minor pinholes that turned up in a few spots that will need attention.

Finally got the frame media blasted. Steve came over on Saturday morning and worked a good part of the day blasting it clean. Lots of work! The hood you see him wearing in the photo is part of a fresh-air respirator system that delivers clean air from inside the shop (no blasting dust) to the hood. Not only does it keep the dust out which is a health hazzard, it also keeps the inside of the hood cool. The system is made by Hobby-Air and runs about $300-$400. I use it regularly for painting in my vintage bicycle restoration business www.nostalgic.net.

After the frame was blasted down to bare metal, we could see more clearly what needed repair. The cross-member that supports the rear upper control arm was pulled away from the frame one one side… this we knew, but what we found after it was down to bare metal was that only a one-inch section of the cross-member was still welded to the frame! All other welds were broken loose, and on top of that a section of metal behind the upper-control-arm bracket was broken clean off, being held on only by one of the bracket bolts. Yikes!

The rear axle isn’t in much better shape. Check out the lower control arm ends where they meet the bracket coming off the rear axle housing! The ends are worn so thin you can bend the edge with your fingers! The bracket on the frame is worn away too, nearly the the point of allowing the bolt to pull through on one side. This car was a road hazzard in its last days to say the least! This car obviously spent most of its years on gravel roads.