Thread: Roadster vs 4x4 on fwy

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No sweat Pat


I appreciate everyone's input on this disaster of mine. I think it makes it a little easier when you have some car buddies to share with. Several of you have had accidents in your cars as well.
For me- shit happens & you move forward. I try & think about how lucky I was to not be hurt! That 1st board could have hit the windshield & then me!

I'm about 99% positive I'm going to send the car over to Pete at So Cal Speed.
One stop shopping, they can handle the whole package from repairs to paint.
At 1st, I thought of sending it over to my friend Earle Williams (Williams Classic Chassis Works) to have him do his Tig magic & plating on it but then I'd be shipping the car all over town to complete the car. Not in the mood to do all the leg work.
So- I spent some time on the phone w/ Ryan at So Cal Speed (shop manager) & he says he's seen this failure several times. According to him- these mounts are welded to side of frame right where crossmember is notched into frame. If you look down a TCI frame- you can see the buldge from welding it in (probably from the heat as mentioned above). So- what happens is the guy goes after it w/ a grinder to clean it up for powdercoat & gets that edge very thin. Also- that threaded insert is only 3/4" deep! It's not attached to opposite side of frame. He says what they do is cut the side of frame open outside the X member & weld in a thick plate inside the X member. Then they use a long threaded coupler welded to the plate & then to the new piece on the outside of frame. He says they have done several of these like this & they turned out nice & are much stronger.
He says I'd probably like this approach better than a shock tower welded to the frame which may detract from the period look of the car. But he says he'll leave that call up to me.

Now if I was building this car from the ground up- I would have used another frame. Read too many negatives on TCI's frames. But that's what I have under the car & I'll have to work with it. I doub't Grundy would spring for another brand frame just because I'm not happy with this one. If it can be made stronger than it was- and safe- I'll be happy.

I'd think the perfect rail would be 1 piece mandrel bent w/ the correct reveal on side of the frame but I don't think anyone offers that.