Ensuring you have durable and secure body mounts on your car’s frame is a necessary part of any classic car build. But when faced with rust issues, prior damage and shotty reinforcement, you can only do so much with the original equipment before needing to replace the body mount all together for the car’s safety and security. Check out this unique process in the video above as the crew of The Build moves forward on their ’65 Malibu project car this week.
Before new body mounts can be installed on any kind of car frame, the old ones must be removed. In the case of the 1965 Malibu project car being worked on by the crew of The Build, this means cutting them off with a cutting wheel and then grinding down the leftover material on the frame for a clean fit when it comes time to put the new mounts on.
But in order to make sure that the mounts line up properly, the new components can’t just be welded on without first checking that they will line up correctly with the body of the car. Thus, the crew of The Build once again lowered the Malibu’s body onto its frame to ensure proper positioning for the mounts.
With the mounts bolted in place, it’s easy to see where they need to be attached to the frame, but before any welding goes down, the frame behind the old mounts gets a coat of weld-through primer to seal everything off from the elements and potential rust. Once the frame is sprayed down, the body mounts are clamped to the frame and welded into place from both sides.
Although this episode of The Build only shows one mount being tacked into place, the process is the same for installing all of the new body mounts. Of course, there will also be more than just tacking done to hold the mounts in place, as they are the securing position between the Malibu’s frame and its body.
Be sure to check back next week for more work on the ’65 Malibu SS.