hey guys, im currently going to remove my engine, and i want to take the front subframe off and repaint it

is por15 the best stuff to put on there? i cant powder coat it unless they have a way to do it at home, i am doing everything myself

i currently need to replace most of the body panels (quarters,taillight panel, rockers and floorboards)

is it ok if i replace these parts with the subframe off and the body on jack stands? or when i put everything back together are the body lines going to twist?

also should i put the panels on with the car on jackstands, or with the wheels/tires on and on the ground?

im not looking for a show car finish, but i dont want the bodylines to be all twisted and unequal

also, are all of the stock body parts put on by spot welds? can i just buy a spot welder and use that to put them on, or am i going to need a mig welder also?

thanks!

Lots of questions but here are a few answers. First of all, there are many many threads discussing all of these things if you search for them...

Subframe - Lots of folks like POR15 and lots hate it. How you deal with the subframe depends on what your plans are for the car and how much you want to spend. First, you need to get rid of the rust. Having it sandblasted or dipped and then powder coated would look nice but be expensive. I wire brushed mine as best I could, treated the rust with a converter, then sprayed with an enamel with a hardener. (My car will be a nice weather driver.)

Body work - Most work can be done with the car on jackstands (no subframe) but I would recommend doing the rear quarter work with it sitting on the rear end or at least the leaf springs.

Welding - you don't need to spot weld but you will almost certainly need a mig welder. It was one of my best investments.

Have fun!

General rule of thumb when doing any panel replacment or chassis work level the body on a jig or jack stands.

Brian

On the subframe, I wire brushed the rust and put on 2 coats of gloss black por15. It's holding up VERY well, and it looks ok.

On the panels, what you do is "simulate" a spot weld by using the mig ro make a "plug weld" You drill a hole in one layer of steel, not in the other, then fill the hole with weld with the mig.

I followed a tip from SRmartin (if you haven't read his "basics" series in the bodyt shop sticky, you should, great stuff!

Anyway, I predrilled 3/8" holes in the edges of the new panel, put it into position, then used self drilling "big head screws"(the kind that are used to fasten metal studs together in construction, you can buy them at homedepot) to fasten the panels tigether thru my predrilled holes.

Then I just took the screws out one at a time and plugwelded the screw. The welder had no trouble closing up the lil hole from the screw.

nice, thanks for the quick replies!

i am unable to transport anything, so basically everything will be staying in my garage

since it is in the garage, the floor has somewhat of a tilt so the water drains into the drain in the center of the garage

the subframe is actually in great condition, just a bit of surface rust, no really bad rustholes or anything

so basically i need to put the enitre car on jackstands to do the body work?

im just afraid that i will replace the panels then try and put the front end on and have it not line up

i made a thread not too long ago about this, but i now know that the quarter skins that are on the car now (just revited in place to make the car look nice) are actually put on over some of the existing panel, so i still have the body lines to line the doors and stuff up

is it possible to replace the rockers with the doors on?