Its Just Me Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Long story short...I have a bent frame on my '71SS . It was bent when I purchased it. My body/frame guy has tried with limited success to straighten it on his frame rack. The majority of the issue is located in the portion of the frame below your feet when sitting in the drivers seat. The "dogleg" as my guy calls it. This bend causes the car to dog-track about 1 1/2" (it was close to 3" initially). The rear of the car follows/tracks to the right of the front. It doesn't seem to affect handling. Most body panels line up decent, tho not as nice as I would like. It just grinds on me, knowing the frame is bent. I keep bouncing back and forth between replace the frame, and just drive it. Yesterday on CL, I found a frame from a '70 MC for $500, only 50 miles from me. The photos and description make it out to be in very nice condition, no rust, straight and original. The photos are quite clear and it looks like it was blasted and painted. Not the typical layers of undercoating and rust. It has the rear control arms,front lower arms, front coil springs, sway bar, steering gearbox and all front steering assembly except the spindles. It looks like the brake lines and fuel lines are all still on the frame. Needless to say, I'm back on the replace the frame kick. I did a search and found that the VIN should be stamped on the left frame rail, behind the rear wheel, outer portion...if it is stamped either 13857 or 1H57 I can be assured it's from a FGMC. So my questions are... -Are there any differences in frames from year to year, that would be of concern to me? -Is the SS frame any different than the basic? -When I go look at this frame, are there any areas to concentrate on that may indicate bends, or faults or??? -Any cross tape measurements I can do to be assured that this one isn't bent? -Anything else to check? -Is $500 a fair price? (I will, of course, offer less...it is craigs list you know). Here's a Linky Dink to the ad. Let me know what you think or see. Thanks Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 500 is a good price, good luck at finding the VIN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostnFound Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Hi Scott....You will more than likely be more apt to find the part number on the frame in that area which for the 71 is 3990562...not sure what the 70 part number is (same for non-SS as it is for the SS) I have the frame measurements that I can email to you but I won't be near a scanner until Monday or you can order this from Ebay... http://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-CHEVROLET-M...K-/131084175346 As far as I know the frames are the same for 70-72 Montes. $500 is a great price for that frame if it is straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footballubet Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 That is a great price on the frame. I'd be all over that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its Just Me Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Thanks for the quick input fella's, I called on the frame this morning. The guy seems like a stand up fellow. He purchased the frame out west a few years ago to begin a frame off restoration on his FGMC. He decided to do a frame on instead. He couldn't bring himself to scrap the frame or even sell it as a stock car frame. To protect if from rusting, as he thought it would have to stay outside this winter, he did a light blasting job and shot some black paint on it. Then his uncle allowed him to store it in one of his sheds instead of outside. Since access to it is essentially nil, thanks to snow, he will hold it for me until spring, when we will re-connect. -Larry, thanks for the offer, but I just remembered I have a GM chassis service manual in my garage...time to go dig it out. Looks like my Monte Carlo plans just took a sharp left hand turn. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footballubet Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 That's the start of the snowball! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cny first gen 71 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I thought the G body frame was different. You may want to make sure its a Monte frame. There was talk a while back that there not the same on Grand Prix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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