My '55 Belair 2 Door Hardtop Build (sort of

[Troy]

Hey Everyone,

I have my frame up and under the body, it's in great alignment and I'm happy!!! It's sitting solid on some of the body mounts but I need to add some shims to some of the mounts, the problem I'm having is I can't find out what I should torque the bolts too. I've looked through my assy manual and found a statement to find it in the shop manual (which came with the car in 1972) but I can't find any info for the torque rate. Does anyone know what the torque rate is? Thanks for your help!!!

[BamaNomad]

You want to just slightly compress the rubber mounts.. Since I'm not remembering the specific torque, I'm guessing around 15-25 ft-lbs.

[Troy]

Thanks Bama, I'm not using rubber mounts, they are Polyurethane so I don't think they will compress much!

[chevynut]

the problem I'm having is I can't find out what I should torque the bolts too. I've looked through my assy manual and found a statement to find it in the shop manual (which came with the car in 1972) but I can't find any info for the torque rate. Does anyone know what the torque rate is? Thanks for your help!!!

23 foot-pounds is the spec for a 3/8-16 grade 5 bolt. Bushings like that are designed so the two washers are compressed onto the center sleeve so you really can't over-torque the mounts. I think the urethane mounts don't give as much as the rubber ones do so you may not bottom on the sleeve. I torqued all mine to 30 ft-lb and used higher grade bolts and SS washers.

[Troy]

Thanks Laszlo!!

[Troy]

I HATE SANDING!!!!!!!!! Man it's taken forever to get just 1/2 of my firewall sanded/striped!!! I'm using a pneumatic angle grinder with 2" diameter sanding discs with either 36 or 60 grit!! Can anyone tell me about a better way to sand/strip the firewall? Thanks for your help!!

55 Firewall.jpg

[Custer55]

When I stripped the paint off my 39 Ford I used a small propane torch. I heated the paint until it just started to bubble and then used a scraper or wire brush to remove the paint. Not sure if this would be an option for you or not as you have to be careful not to start anything else on fire but it worked well for me and I had no issues with warping any sheet metal. Shouldn't be an issue at all on your firewall.
Brian

[Troy]

Thanks Brian, I might try that!

[WagonCrazy]

gel based paint remover. spread it on, wait an hour, scrape it off.

[BamaNomad]

gel based paint remover. spread it on, wait an hour, scrape it off.

I agree with Paul, with a few caveats.... 1) tape over all seams/cracks so it doesn't get between panels, just sand those areas..
2) after stripping, make sure the stripper is removed and residue neutralized (do it twice, to be sure) before priming/painting...