Technical no frame? build my own model a

Well I haven't found a good solid frame for my 31 tudor so after almost a year I decided to do my own.

I've decided a couple of details it will have, 1- I'm adding 4" to the length in front of the firewall so I won't have to inset my firewall. 2- I'm using a stock front xmember but I'm leaving the original front flange that fits inside the frame rail and then narrowing the xmember to fit between the rec tube walls. So from the front the xmember will appear all stock and riveted in.

I'm building out of 2x4 rec tube, 1/8" wall. Between welded in front xmember, extra bracing and extra xmembers thru out the frame 1/8" being boxed should be fine.

I'm also shortening the length of the taper on the rear section of the frame rails to give it alittle more strength. That should allow a full 4" frame height where the rear housing mounts will be placed.

 

If you use 3/16 or 1/4 wall you can drill and tap for various items.

 

Are you going racing or is it a street car, channeled, fenderless???

It's pretty hard to beat a '32 reproduction rail for all around service. Plus, they look much better, gas tank is in the right place, they are longer, more available and maybe less expensive by the time you figure your time and effort. My 2 bucks...

 

have you drawn out the beginnings of a frame fixture jig?

 

It's a street car, fenderless. Yes channeled 3" to 3 1/2" total.

No frame jig needed, I straighten and build frames for a living so it's no big deal. I just hate doing it all week and then doing it on my time but I figure doing it for others might as well do it for myself.

I'll finish cutting the rest of the front curve radius`s out tomorrow. Ran out of cutting discs.

 

Ok so I made a late run to home depot for cut off wheels and got alittle more done tonight

Notice my patterns I made, 1 is full size (fit pattern) the other is 3/8" smaller (cut pattern) around the circumference as this is my cut line. I also drilled a 1/8" hole in the center of the front horn and another one randomly at the rear of the fit pattern, then I transferred the holes onto the exact same location on my cut pattern.

I set up the fit pattern to the tube and square it up. Once happy I clamp the pattern down and drill the holes into the tube. Now I have a pattern that is repeatable over and over. I then mount the cut pattern, trace and cut with a 4" grinder. Piece of cake.

 

Ok alittle more done today, got the front of one rail done other than the very end. Need to pick up some 2" round tube. Also ran out of gas for my Mig.

So one roughed in and no gas I decided to build my pattern for my rear xmember.

So it will be close to the middle of the week before I can get back to these. Hopefully I'll get a break before that.

 

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Looks interesting. I'll tag along.

 

Got the other rail cut and squeezed and ready to weld. If I had more gas and 4 or 5 inches of 2" tube I'd have the horn ends of the frame done!

I may take it to work and finish welding it there. So far no exotic tools, a couple patterns, 4_1/2" bench grinder and welder.

Pulled the original front xmember out and it looks like my plan will work out perfectly. If I could have finished welding today I would have had the rails done by the end of the week. Hope to have the entire perimeter frame done within 2 weeks.

 

Great work! I am following closely and hope to learn. What is a"perimeter" frame and how is that different from a stock frame?

 

Stock frame manufacturer built
Perimeter frame custom built.
He will not put holes, brackets and braces like original.

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When it rains it pours!

Last week I had a small stroke and yes I still worked on the frame over the weekend. This week the muscles in my lower back went to hell so I haven't been able to get much done, BUT if all goes right tonite I'm going to try and get something done on it!

 

Take care of your health,we want a long term thread on this.

 

Perimeter frame = rails with cross-members installed.
Stroke is nothing to take lightly, take some time to figure out what happened, a remedy and recovery.

 

In motorcycle language, a perimeter frame is a frame that is as wide as the widest part of the bike, usually made of extruded aluminum rails combined with cast sections for the steering head and/or the swing arm mount, or sometimes (like with Ducati's) out of triangulated pipe. In that way, Deuce frame under a Model A would be a "perimiter frame".

 

hate to hear about the stroke, take care of yourself.

love what you got going with the frame fabrication,
nice to see someone not only using an A frame but taking the time to show how to make your own
nice job!

I too made my own a few years ago and posted it here.. almost 12 years ago!

here's a link to that old thread: FRAME, basic frame fabrication condensed version

 

Thankfully, we're not talking motorcycles!

Perimeter is just a basic frame where the rails roughly go to the outer part of a body. A backbone or X frame comes together in the middle and widens each end for suspension.

Perimeter also means a basic frame without brackets and suspension stuff. When talking hot rods, which = early Fords, they are all of the 'perimeter' style so when some says a perimeter frame, they basically mean the bare frame (rails joined by some cross members.)

And BTW, take heed of that stroke, it is telling you something really important. I'm sure you doctor has told you this. Take all appropriate action!

 

Just the rails alone, using 2 x 4 x .250 mild steel, would weigh 170 pounds

 

In the old days you could purchase 4x2 tube .156 wall, which was perfect for many applications.

 

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Alright picked up gas for the Mig today. Now both rails are welded on both sides completely. I ordered some 1_3/4" x 3/16" thick round plates off ebay and they showed up today also. I found center on the plates and drilled a 1/8" hole thru the center of both. These will be welded on the inside of the front horns to add strength for the front cross bar and it gives me a perfect circular end to my frame horns to mount and weld the end caps to.

Also being playing with the original front cross member. The original frame is 1_3/4" & my rails are 2" so when I cut the sides off the cross member i`ll have to take into account the extra thickness plus the extra 1/4" (1/8" rail thickness per side).

So I'm hoping by the end of the weekend to have the rail ends and caps welded on and the cross member cut and ready to sand blast. Going to try and cut the 2x3 req. tube to lengths so I can start the rear cross member.

 

I did get one rail cap done today. In the first pic you can my pattern. I found center on the front radius so I knew where my cut lines would be on top and bottom of the rails. I put the pattern onto the rail and made my marks. Second I put on my 1_3/4" reinforcement disc and traced it. Now I have exactly where to cut and round the rail tip. I rough cut the side rail then bolted the disc to the inside and with a grinder cut the rail to match.

One the cutting was done I put the end caps on and tacked it on 2 corners. I then took a small square down the side of the rail and squared the tip and added a couple more tacks, once square and happy I welded it up. Last pic is it rough cut with a flapper disc, I'll finish up with a d.a. and some 80 grit. That side is ready to cut the inner front horn open now. On to side 2 tomorrow. Any questions just ask!

 

That is looking GREAT.

 

Alright I now have the second rail cap finished ! I'm ready to cut open the frame horns and then I will have to figure out my oem front xmember. I know how I want to do it, it's just figuring out how to get there.

Anyway the cool thing is my patterns with the alignment hole drilled in the tube worked out perfectly. Both rails fit the finish pattern and when the rails are laid on top each other they are a perfect match.

Now as i said off to figure out the xmember

 

I think I figured out where to start on the xmember, below you can see what I'm starting with. The yellow chalk line kinda shows roughly where I will cut it to fit the rails.

Most usually roll the xmember to gain more caster as they weld it in but I'm not going that route. I'm going to lower the spring location 1". I'm using 2"x2" tube to do this. The stock xmember is supposed to have about 5 ° caster built in so when I weld in the new 2"x2" I will actually roll that piece another 3 degrees more than the xmember itself. I will cut the front center of the original xmember free on the front, roll it to match the angle of the 2x2 I weld in so it should make a nice un_noticable transition between the 2.

Next up is the inside rail under the xmember. The taper on the front of the rail actually starts about an inch behind the xmember face. So with the xmember welded in I would have a 1" or so of open rail under the xmember. Well that won't work for me. So I'm going to locate the xmember on the rail, make a pattern to fill this void and I will angle it to match the angle on the front horn. Remove xmember, weld in filler, dress so that it looks like one solid piece then reinstall the xmember. This will give me a 100% weld area all the way around the xmember to frame rails and also be nice looking and very solid with no weak spots or frame twisting in that area.

Ordered the 2x2 today, should be ready Thursday so hopefully this will be the weekend project !!

 

Alright a little more progress but not as much as I hoped.

I got one rail horn cut open and squared. Got the other one ready to cut. Got both sides of both rails sanded. I laid out the position of the original cowl mount then added 4 1/2" & got it marked on the rails. Got my measurements laid out on paper where I want the rail bends to be.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get the other rail horn cut open and squared then the front rails will be done. I will, hopefully, cut the 2x3 tubing to lengths for the rear cross member.

My frame will not match the original frame as much under the body as I've channeled it and I will run the frame to match closely to that. I want to add as much width inside the frame rails as possible in order to try and add room for a gas tank and battery....

 

I don't quite understand why you "cut pattern " is 3/8 " smaller than your "fit pattern " if your cutting with 4 inch cutoff disks...I could see it if your pattern was a torch guide...are you allowing the nut that holds the blade on rub the pattern? Other than that NICE BUILD

 

Great question, the reason is because I'm actually cutting almost 3/8" on the top and bottom flanges too.

So in actuality I'm not changing or welding the corners only on the sides.

If you enlarge the 3rd image in the 1st post you can see the bottom of the tube which becomes the bottom of the frame rail is cut right above the corners.

It gives me even and matching corners thru out the entire rail.

I hope I made sense

 

Got alittle more done. Basically both horn tips are done. Got the metal tubing cut to length for the rear cross member and the pattern marked on the side pieces so they ready to finish shaping then the rear cross member is ready to weld up.

Measured up the front cross member and rough cut it. Set it into the front rails and I'm a 1/4" to wide so alittle trimming and it will be ready to drop the spring area. The way I wanted to keep the original riveted legs is going to work perfectly from the front you can't tell it's really welded in. If you look at the picture you can see the legs up inside the horns.