Thread: 1964 Ford F100

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The frame grafts are ugly but I would consider just grinding them smooth, then making 1/8" plates to weld over, making it pretty and strong.

Originally Posted by firebird77clone

The frame grafts are ugly but I would consider just grinding them smooth, then making 1/8" plates to weld over, making it pretty and strong.

This was my friends suggestion as well. I dont want to spend too much time making is beautiful, not trying to make a show truck

I was taught that "If it's ugly, it is weak."

Don't just cover it up with sheet metal, take a little extra time and at least address that open ended section. It shouldn't be too hard or take to long to cut that out and make a piece to tie it all back together.

The abrupt and open end just leaves the associated stress to be handled by the surrounding pieces that are connected to "something". If you don't want to fix this, then don't bother boxing the frame , the stresses further back are relatively less that what this area has to handle.

I really don't want to sound harsh, of course it is your truck and your budget / your build.... We may have to share the same piece of road someday, I'd like it to be a safe one.

Originally Posted by 34_40

I was taught that "If it's ugly, it is weak."

Don't just cover it up with sheet metal, take a little extra time and at least address that open ended section. It shouldn't be too hard or take to long to cut that out and make a piece to tie it all back together.

The abrupt and open end just leaves the associated stress to be handled by the surrounding pieces that are connected to "something". If you don't want to fix this, then don't bother boxing the frame , the stresses further back are relatively less that what this area has to handle.

I really don't want to sound harsh, of course it is your truck and your budget / your build.... We may have to share the same piece of road someday, I'd like it to be a safe one.

What he said.
Here in NZ we are not allowed to grind or dress welds, the safety examiner wants to be able to see the weld exactly as it was laid; he them has a better idea of how good the integrity of the weld is.
In critical areas it's even x-rayed before being passed.
While it is a hassle; ultimately, for safety reasons it's a good idea.
I know that the scratch built car coming at me on the road is safe.

Well sorry if it came off that I didn't want to make the project safe, Im just looking for an easy and safe way to address the welds that I thought were not good enough. I thought by adding a plate over the top it would act like a gusset and add some rigidity to the section without needing to completely cut out portions and potential have things shift on me, but I will definitely think about this more before doing anything.

Thanks

Adding a plate is absolutely stronger. Plate over the whole mess, to incluse the open ended section. Grinding the welds first will let the plate sit flat.
Make nice pretty welds and it will be as strong as it looks.

Originally Posted by Coyboy54

Well sorry if it came off that I didn't want to make the project safe, Im just looking for an easy and safe way to address the welds that I thought were not good enough. I thought by adding a plate over the top it would act like a gusset and add some rigidity to the section without needing to completely cut out portions and potential have things shift on me, but I will definitely think about this more before doing anything. Thanks

Nope, no one is saying that you don't want to make it safe.. but in your paragraph above there is one sentence that says it all.. " to completely cut out portions and potential have things shift on me" , that's why I urged you to cut out the open ended piece and plate that by itself. Leave the other 3 sides in place and just clean up that face. Plus while it's open you can look up inside and see if there are other "surprises" you might have to deal with.

I think you're on the right path, no matter what you do to that area, it'll be better than what was left by the P.O., that's for sure!

Originally Posted by firebird77clone

Adding a plate is absolutely stronger. Plate over the whole mess, to incluse the open ended section. Grinding the welds first will let the plate sit flat.
Make nice pretty welds and it will be as strong as it looks.

I'm not sure I agree. A good structural weld needs to have proper weld prep, with the two pieces of metal butted, or very nearly butted together, with the edges ground back to a V that's about as wide at the top as the metal is thick, but not more than about 1.5 times the thickness (rule of thumb) that gets filled with welding wire, fusing the two together with full penetration of heat. You'd be laying down new weld atop bad weld that doesn't have full penetration. It's not going to be as strong as a properly done weld between two plates, in my opinion.

I'd start over.

Hey Nick, here's what I was thinking we could do. Since the grafted front end is actually bolted to the C channel, we could trim off the excess material from the Lincoln without anything shifting. Reinforce the inner sides where the pie sections were cut out of the truck frame, and then box everything in with new steel. Fabbing up plates is probably our biggest obstacle. You know Willy will weld it correctly.

What do you guys think? Does this look like a viable solution?

frameRepair.jpg

Regardless of how much you chop out and replace, if you do one face at a time, it won't shift.

Originally Posted by firebird77clone

Regardless of how much you chop out and replace, if you do one face at a time, it won't shift.

It "Shouldn't" shift, who knows what is under there, we can only see a picture. But, Fauxre has things well in hand! If Wes can dress out that area with those plates, it should be plenty stout and pleasing to the eye. And most important, safe.

ps, it was good to see your "handle" pop up there Wes! We don't get to see you so often anymore.

Thinking more on it- perhaps we are making a bad assumption: that it is correctly positioned.
Given the apparent quality of the craftsmanship, some measurements should be done.

What would I do?
I'd begin by thoroughly cleaning the garage floor and letting it dry completely. Then I'd lay out a rectangle where the truck would sit, 6 feet wide x 12 feet long. I'd make little stacks of shims from 1/8" thick wallboard and thin cardboard so that I could stack them on top of each other, making little 2" x 2" stacks about 12 inches apart and build a flat and level surface to lay my 6 foot x 12 foot 3/4" particle board on. The idea is to build a flat and perfectly LEVEL foundation to begin your build on. Of course there are any number of ways to do this with steel, but I have found that using wooden shim stacks and particle board makes a fine foundation from which to build a vehicle. I wish I had taken some photos of the one I used to build my T roadster in my home garage. The floor was off level by 2 3/4" from the front of the garage to the overhead door, so any of you guys who intend to build off the concrete should probably re-think that. I'd bet money that the fellow who welded this mess together started with a catty-wampus floor.

You can sit the frame on jackstands and drop plumb-bobs from several different places off the frame to the particle board floor and you can write on the particle board with a Sharpie. You can then measure from the marks you have at the rear to the marks on the front, for instance, and triangulate the chassis to make sure it is square with the world. Personally, I would cut the front clip off the main frame and start over, setting the wheelbase where I wanted it and insuring that the tire fills the wheelwell in the front, as suggested by someone earlier. Doing it this way, you could also set the front clip up or down in relation to the main frame and eliminate using any kind of lowering devices. Want the front lower?......then simply space it up in relation to the main frame. Want the front higher?....then simply space it down in relation to the main frame.

Not very high-tech, but it worked really well for me and was cheap to build.
.

i know this is not what you want to hear but i would start over. i doubt it is anywhere close to right just looking at the workmanship. my choice would be a camaro clip.

Tech, how thick or particle board did you use? 3/4"?