"Fly Low" 1964 Buick Skylark revival

[tim222]

I was able to buy 18"x60" of 10ga steel from local steel warehouse for $30 this is more than I need.

My plan was to cut it out with a 4-1/2 grinder with a cut-off wheel, but a buddy was kind enough to plas cut the parts:


Since I planned to bend them with a bench vise and a BFH, he also put the 90 bends in!

[tim222]

All this welding justified a Fathers day gift to myself, Lincoln Power MIG 210MP!
One thing leads to another, so this gave me a good Saturday project, running a 220 circuit for the welder.

[tim222]

I gave the Lincoln a bit of a workout and burned in the plating
Driver side:


Here is the passenger side that was broken after I hit it with a wire wheel:


2 layers of 10ga over the damaged areas should be overkill.
I know my welds arent the prettiest but I wanted to keep the heat up for penetration.

[tim222]

Now that the back of the frame is fixed I moved on to the center non-boxed section of the frame.
There seems to be a few options out there to address the inherent weakness of the A-Body frames.
The inside of the channel on my car seemed to vary between 2-1/2" to 3" on the inside.

I decided to slit the remainder of the sheet of 10ga. I purchased and have some bends added.
The kits I found online were anywhere from $400 to $800 for a couple formed channels. (too much $$)

By forming the channel to install over the existing frame it adds a fair amount of work fitting the part.
This is mostly due to factory variance on frame.



I make a quick sketch to verify dimensions:

[tim222]

Fitting the part to the frame rails took me probably an hour per side and the welding was painfully slow.
To not risk warping the frame I tack welded every 6" the whole perimeter before doing any longer welds.
Then I proceeded to weld it up 1-1/2" at a time moving from one end 1-1/2" then the other side 1-1/2" and so on until complete.




The result is a 3-3/8" wide boxed center section.
Getting close to being done with the frame work!

[tim222]

Measuring in a x-pattern from body mount hole to hole puts the frame within 1/8" of square.
I hope to not have to have the frame put on a frame rack, but we will see after I am done with repairs.

On the brighter side my welding now looks much better than when I welded to braces inside the rear x-member
I cant wait until its time to primer and paint the frame so I can start re-assembling this car!

[KB Camaro]

awesome build!

[tim222]

Stripped off all the rear suspension over fathers day weekend.
This allowed me to flip over the frame and begin stripping down to bare metal.

While cleaning the frame I found that the rear crossmember had come loose at the drivers side lower weldment as well.

I ground it clean re-welded the factory weld, and plated over it.
Now both sides are matching as well, however I wasnt expecting to find the weld broken on the drivers side.

These a-body rear crossmembers take a brunt of the force from the drive axle and are not designed for high h.p.

Re-welded factory weld:


Plated over weld joint:

[rixtrix1]

Looks great so far; good choice to start with beefing up the frame! I have 2 friends with 64 skylarks and One with a 65 SportWagon. My first car was a 63 Skylark.

[tim222]

Continue to make progress on frame, everything has been removed.
I primered "complete" areas so I dont have to keep chasing light rust.
At current rate the frame should be done and ready to start suspension assembly in 3 weeks.
I believe this frame could use some additional bracing, and am working on incorporating the transmissions mount.

So many suspension options out there, had to choose a path...
I decided to go with UMI for rear control arms and front and rear sway bars.
I believe I will build this chassis with air bags in place of coil springs.

Seems like progress comes slowly...pictures are easy:


Suspension parts I have picked:

[Paraman1]

Continue to make progress on frame, everything has been removed.
I primered "complete" areas so I dont have to keep chasing light rust.
At current rate the frame should be done and ready to start suspension assembly in 3 weeks.
I believe this frame could use some additional bracing, and am working on incorporating the transmissions mount.

So many suspension options out there, had to choose a path...
I decided to go with UMI for rear control arms and front and rear sway bars.
I believe I will build this chassis with air bags in place of coil springs.

Seems like progress comes slowly...pictures are easy:


Suspension parts I have picked:

I run a complete Stage 4 UMI suspension system on my 64 El Camino and am very happy with how it handles.

[davidford1]

Great work. I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome. I have a 64 LeMans convertible that I am just starting work on. Keep the pics and detailed narrative coming.

[skylark guy]

Love this build so far! Kind of scares me though. I'm planning high horsepower and might just need to pull the trigger on a new frame.

[Motown 454]

It looks good nice job.

[tim222]

Progress on the Buick has been slow, but I have a few updates:

I was having a hard time deciding how to coat the frame, I was really set on powder coating.
So it stayed primer until one day while I was walking past my flatbed trailer it occurred to me just how well the Rustoleum paint had held op over the years.

Not only had it held up well to all the abuse, it is really easy to touch up.
And it was decided just like that, Oil Based Rustoleum applied with foam rollers
Black

[RMMiller]

That frame was hurting, did you ever run air shocks? My GTO was still in great shape other than frame damage from a wreck and I was not kind to it. It ran high 11's weighing in at 3,900 lbs and the worst that did was bend the stock stamped lower control arms.

I like the choice of paint, Was planning on that for the bottom of my junker. Side not.....when you get ready for brake lines drop by Inland Pacific Hose on Trent, they will set you up. They can do custom stainless braided flex lines in house.

[tim222]

This car has never had air shocks, probably the neutral drops etc?
Hard to say, but it did not have the frame reinforcement braces factory

Back to the timeline:
This was about where I stalled out, move forward plan was looking for $$ outlay.
The decision to replace the suspension conponents was expensive.
So I worked on stuff that cost less for a bit.


Since it was getting close to winter I decided I needed to build a car-t
Had to stuff the body back in the corner of the shop to help make room in the shop for the camper before it snowed

This is how I rationalize keeping scrap iron around I suppose LOL

[grendel]

You can't go wrong with UMI

[tim222]

More opportunities to "stiffen" the frame here and there.

Not sure how much this adds to the end product but it was easy to complete.

I formed a Bracing between rear coil packets with 6 bends for stiffness.
I designed it so the weld would fall just after the radius (lost the actual dimensions)

Part Sketch:




Then I wire wheeled my fresh paint where the weld would go (+1 paint!)
Welded it up and capped the bottom:

[tim222]

One last Post should get me caught up to current.

I finally bit the bullet during the "Black Friday" sales

The condition of the rear components necessitated replacement.
The rear lower control arms had been bent in a previous life, also the flange had been compromised by exhaust wearing the lower flange thin.
The damage I repaired to the cross-member may have resulted imperfect mount locations, so adjustability seemed appropriate
These thing landed me at the "replace rear control arms decision"
Only seemed logical to match the front control arms with UMI as well...

Here is where I landed so far:
UMI: 64-72 GM A-Body Front A-arm Kit, ½” taller upper ball joints
UMI: 1964-1967 GM A-Body Rear Control Arm Kit, Fully Boxed Lowers, Adjustable Uppers
UMI: 1964-1967 GM A-Body Control Arm Reinforcements/Frame Braces
UMI: 1964 - 1972 GM A-Body Solid Front and Rear Sway Bar Kit
UMI: 1964-1966 GM A-Body 2” Lowering Spring Set, Rear

Aldan American: Coil-Over Kit, GM, 64-67 A-Body, 55-57 Chevy, Front, Single Adj. 450 lb. Springs

I hope this nets me the stance I am looking for.
I certainly want it to be as low as before I disassembled, but I dont know how to compare with 2" lowering coils???

I will have to spend a bit more time digging thru the other Skylark threads looking for stance nuggets of wisdom

Required Picture: