The guys over at Autoholics showed us this neat little article of how an auto shop teacher resurrected a GM frame to use as a project in his auto shop class. One of the main reasons we brought this article to your attention, is that the techniques used to repair the frame can be applied to any A or G body chassis, and many others.

Many of the frames found under the early General Motors cars like the Chevelle, the GTO, and Buick Skylark, are sometimes too rusty to repair, especially if they have been weathered outside for many years.

Whatever the case may be; this auto shop teacher from Western New York shows us how he made a straightforward, and simple repair to an otherwise unusable chassis.

The main frame rails on this Pontiac wagon frame were rusted beyond repair. Take a look at pictures, as the shop instructor cut out both main rails and replace them with 2×4 by 10-gauge box steel sections.

He then proceeded to gusset and fish plate the 2×4 rails at each end where the graft was made. We can see that the instructor took time to measure and cut precisely, so that in the end he ended up with a perfectly usable frame. Not only did he save this chassis from the scrap pile, it can now be used as the foundation for his student’s auto shop project.

We know that it’s not something you would do on a big dollar muscle car restoration,  but it’s definitely an alternative to buying  an expensive aftermarket frame, or trying to find a worthy replacement.  We were really impressed at how easy and clean the repair looked. Sometimes with a little common sense and ingenuity,  you can actually save the day and stay on budget with a project.