welding body to frame (model a)

is there a reason NOT to weld the body to the frame instead of bolting it on, other than not being able to easily remove the body? Wouldn't this strengthen the entire chassis and create a kind of "pseudo-unibody"?

Just curious, never seen anyone talk about it. Newb question i'm sure.

 

Its just once your done with the mess it makes it hard for the next guy to cut the cobs out and try to save the body.

 

Kinda like welding a carb to a intake to make sure you dont have a vacume leak...

 

squeak, rattle and cracks come to mind

 

Unless you have a particular reason to do it, I wouldn't.

It's nice to be able to pull the car apart if need be, and unless you actually design the inner structure of the body to add additional strength when welded together, it won't.
Also you need to consider that door alignment often relys on slightly shimming body bolts to twist the cowl etc and fine tune the door fit etc.
If you don't nail that the first time with a welded on body you're outta luck.

Now...having said that...IF you DID do the required bracing and prealignment of components and did actually create a true unitized shell/frame the resulting vehicle would be a step ahead of a regular A in stiffness etc.

I think you would need to have a major goal in mind however to make all the required reworking worthwhile.
Unitized is not as simple as just welding the crossbraces to the frame!

 

combobelation

 

There were a few cars in magazines "back in the day" that boasted that the body had been welded to the frame. On the surface it seems like a great idea.........makes one strong unit out of it all. But in reality it isn't a smart thing to do.

As was mentioned, it makes going back in later on and doing work very hard, and you have no way to shim to get good door alignment and body fit. Another problem would be rust........if you do them separately you can shoot epoxy primer and paint between where the body sits on the frame, but on a unibody you can't.

My advice is to do it just the way 99.9% of the rest of us do it, use bolts.

Don

 

Do it, it's traditional as hell, mabey not 'right' in most peoples eyes but ive had enough '32 frames in my or friends of mine's posession to prove it was done a lot back in the old days

 

It all depends on the color you plan on painting it and what your using for a grill

 

Just picture Pauly Shore looken at it sayen. COMBOBULATATION!!!!!!!

 

By all means do what you want.
Looking at how much flex and movement there is in a car cruising down the road, the body is going to want to move at a different rate than the frame will. Knowing that the weakest link is going to give out first, even though there is more steel in the door skin then there is in an entire Honda, the frame is more rigid than the body. With this the body will develop cracks from the fatigue. There's a reason for the 99% club on this one...

 

Makes it hard to lift the body to check the serial stamped on the frame, that's for sure.

 

if (heaven forbid) your in an accident and need to replace or fix panels, it may be difficult....mine is channeled over stock frame using rubber pads under mounting points.

 

Cob job....

 

Very good

 

The only car I remember reading about with a welded body to chassis was the John Buttera '26 T Tudor. I wouldn't do it myself, I like nuts and bolts. Bob

 

Ha ha ha! Well said.....

 

There would be no increase in beaming and torsional strength on a roadster.
Take off the hood and side panels,and open the doors and you'll see the weakest points haven't been strengthened.
All you would have effectively done is welded the cowl and subframes to the frame.

To increased strength in the passenger area [ the point furthest from the springs ] You would be better off welding in a high tunnel to create a backbone style frame.
If you looked down the frame longitudally [front to rear ] Ford triangulated each end of the frame by using spreader bars and "V" shaped crossmembers.
A Deep "X" shaped crossmember in the center would do wonders

 

One of the coolest roadsters to grace this site is unibody …. just sayin newB’s

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=331971&highlight=metalshapes+roadster

 

Very true...but it was designed by a person who knows how to make the body actually work as a unibody.
It isn't just a stock body welded to the frame!

 

There is a reason the fame of a Model-a is make to flex. The wood blocks and shims to aglin the doors. Welding is not the answer!

 

welded at the cowl

 

Welded solid since the '50's.... None of the problems ya'll are guessing about.

 

Agree with strengthining the frame with an x member. Building a steel cage inthe body as well. Thats what I am going to do to my roadster when i do it over again. It flexes too much on these crappy New England goat paths!

 

So, you can easily remove the body? Cool lookin' roadster, btw.

 

mine has been welded on since the early 60's. the left rear sags down a bit, it would be nice to shim it up a little instead of major surgery..........traditional as hell......and it hasn't fallen off yet.

 

Sure, some things were done that way in the old days, like using a torch to cut out the floor, letting the body drop down, then welding it all back to the frame. But that is just one example of how some "traditional" methods of doing things was not the right way to do them. We've learned a few things in the last 60 years, I hope, and we care more today about things like door gaps and body alignment.

Don

 

That's right. The way he did it was genius,and he had some good reasons to do it. Much more extensive than just welding vs bolting.

I can't think of a good reason to just weld the body to the frame.

 

Yea, but on the HAMB, politically correct trumps period correct every time...

 

To me if your going to weld the body to the frame. Its just a lack of skills and craftmenship and maybe pure lazzyness.