Then the madness commenced. I decided to photographically document each step of the tear-down to insure that senility would not overwhelm my limited mechanical skills. I also acquired every part that I thought I would need to replace, and have it on hand so that I could put it back together as quickly as possible. Little did I know that the list of parts would exponentially grow as the project proceeded.
I removed every part that could be taken off, and replaced every bolt and screw with new fasteners, since automotive fasteners are readily available in the Detroit area even for vehicles 50 years old. I became a daily visitor at several fastener supply companies, and their bottom line increased nicely while my wallet decreased proportionately.
After stripping the vehicle down to a shell and rolling chassis, I sandblasted the entire frame and undercarriage. Then I primered it to prevent rust scale. Next it was off to the media blaster to completely remove everything down to the bare metal, preserving only the original headliner, which was in excellent shape, other than needing a coat of vinyl paint at the end.
The only rusted areas were the bottoms (rear) of the front fenders, some small pinholes around the clamshell hinges, and the right inner hinge pillar cover. The vehicle was immediately primered.
Before turning the 'Burb over to the body and paint experts, I boxed in the front frame rails to accommodate the new 454 big block, and welded in the motor mounts and transmission mount for the 700R4 -- which had already been rebuilt to specifications for this engine. All the brackets, short water pump, fuel pump and fittings were already on hand before primer.
