Shep Garage

Well, after a year of just thinking about it, I finally started. The past couple of weekends were spent separating the body from the frame. The process went fairly well, only having to grind off about a dozen rusted bolts, most of which held the body to the frame. My garage is big so I built a loft that raises and lowers so I can lift the body out of the way while I begin work on the frame. In all, the body isn’t too bad. The frame on the other hand is a different story. There are quite a few places where the frame is completely rusted through. It looks like the frame is shot. The only thing this might be good for is some brackets and a template for making the new one. I thought about trying to find a frame in better shape but 40 years old means that any one I find will require work, although not as much as this one. For the next month or so, I’m going to draw up the frame and suspension in SolidWorks, research air bags to adjust the ride height and generally figure out what I need to do. I welcome any suggestions or ideas as well as recommendations on air ride suspension components.

I posted more pictures in my garage if you want to see the rusted thing I’m calling a frame.