I spent today giving the entire frame a thorough second cleaning and de-greasing. I had washed the top of the frame once before, but it was so greasy that another washing was in order. I also cleaned the bottom side of the frame. I used undiluted Simple Green with rags, scouring pads, and a wire brush where necessary. After applying the detergent I scrubbed down the frame, one section at a time, and then sprayed with the hose at high pressure in order to clean away the debris.
I hauled the frame out of the garage and set it up on a pair of sawhorses.
As I was cleaning around the transmission mount, I noticed that there was a lot of grease in the area behind it. From underneath it was clear that there were six bolts attaching the transmission mount to the frame.
I removed the bolts using a 1/2" socket.
The transmission mount was actually two pieces. The lower piece mounted to the frame, and the upper piece is made of rubber and is the piece the transmission actually attached to. I removed the two bolts that held the two parts together using a 1/2" socket.
With the two pieces apart, I scrubbed the transmission mount with some more Simple Green. Both pieces came fairly clean.
Back in crotch of the frame's "X" where the transmission mount had been there was a lot of grease and dirt built-up. Also, the four outside corners of the "X" where pretty bad as well.
After scrubbing and using more de-greaser those areas came fairly clean.
On the areas of the frame where the horsehair frame pads had been located there was some adhesive residue. I used a paint scraper to remove it.
The adhesive came off in clumps and the paint scraper was pretty effective removing it.
There were some remaining bits I had not removed from the frame. The first was a bracket that the exhaust had mounted to, located midway up the frame on the driver's side. I removed it using a 9/16" socket.
From right to left on the rear of the frame there were four brackets to remove. The first was on the right edge of the frame. The second was in the center of the frame. The rear bumper was mounted on these brackets, and I removed each using a 14 mm socket.
On the left end of the frame there were two more brackets. The first was oriented towards the inside of the frame; it held the exhaust. The second was another bumper-mounting bracket. I used the 14 mm socket to remove the bolts for each of these.
After a final rinsing I was satisfied that the top of the frame was clean. Here are a couple of pictures of the front of the frame.
And below, left is a shot of the inner corner of the "X" crosspiece of the frame, nice and clean. To the right is a shot of the top of the crosspiece, clean enough to almost see my reflection.
I used my hoist to turn the frame over so I could then clean the bottom. I hoisted the front (heavy) end up, rotated and lowered it onto its edge, and then put it down on the ground upside down. Next I was able to lift one end at a time back up onto the sawhorses, the same way I had originally done (only upside down).
The front and middle of the frame were pretty greasy.
The rear of the frame was dirty. I began by spraying the whole thing down with the hose. From the bottom I could access some of the areas that were difficult to reach from the top.
The front suspension housings required a lot of attention. I removed the upper spring gaskets. There was a lot of road grime and small pebbles up inside the frame, which had no-doubt been kicked up from the road by the wheels.
So I scrubbed inside with a scouring pad and more Simple Green. Then I used the wire brush to remove more grime.
After spraying at high pressure with the hose, the area ultimately came fairly clean. I moved on to the rear portion of the frame. Much of it was caked with dirt and grime.
With more elbow grease these areas came clean.
On the underside of the brackets where the steering and idler boxes mount where a couple of bolts that I removed using a 13 mm socket.
That completed my cleaning of the frame. Although there is some orange surface rust, the grease and dirt is largely gone.
The middle and rear look good as well.
Remember this???
After the frame dried, I flipped it back over and lowered it onto a mover's dolly I've been using to cart it around, and pushed it back into the garage.
I think the frame is
finally ready for sandblasting and then painting.
