hey guys, originally, i was gonna run a 40 ford steering box(cross steer) on my roadster so i boxed the frame and that was that. Then I decided that i wanted to run side steer, so i got a 48-52 Ford F1 box and im trying to figure out how to make the hole in the boxing plate to allow the steering box thru. I was gonna cut out a triangle the same shape as the F1 box flange, but then i thought a circle would look better or a cut out with some sort of a radius. I go to mock the boxing plate where it used to be tacked and i noticed the plate doesnt line up the way it used too because the frame is sagging a little because it has no boxing plate on the drivers side.... so my 2 questions are..... is cutting the boxing plate to allow the gearbox thru gonna defeat the purpose of having a boxing plate(weaken the frame at that point)????.... and if not, how should i cut the frame for gear box access??? triangle?? circle??? Im running a 55 olds 324 motor so its gonna have some torque and i dont want to tweak the frame....I saw this bitchin 32 2 door sedan(blue with orange frame) at Santa Maria with a plate that bolted to the frame and placed the steering box above the frame which means no cutting the boxing plate and if running it thru the frame is too much of a pain in the ass, i guess ill make a plate, thanks fellas, any help is appreciated
Whatever you cut out for your steering box, wall that section in around the steering box and you will be fine. Just make sure whatever shape you cut out you can get in there with your welder to weld it to the back wall of the frame.........if that makes sense. Fix the sag before you tack the boxing plate in. when you weld the plates in the frame is going to move again/also...... keep control of that my doing a couple of inch weld and moving to the oposing part of the frame. I did it with a square cut out if you like then made a C section, slipped it in the gap in the boxing plates (that sounds dirty) and welded it in, the steering box mount wall ended up being double thickness. Hope i helped.
I used a '53 pickup steering unit, just square cut the boxing area out enough to accept the triangle shaped cast iron unit, when angle of steering shaft is where you want it, drill the 3 holes thru the frame.----You will notice a wedge shaped gap about 1/4--3/8 inch at rear of triangle steering box, just make a spacer to fill in the gap before tightening against the frame, this makes a very solid mount.-----Don
Round is fine, so is triangle, but the basic rule is no square corners. If you cut a tiangle round the corners were cracks start. Search arcives, there was a thead just a couple weeks ago, a guy triangled the hole it looked great.
Here's what a buddy of mine did with his F1 box mounted in his boxed frame. Started with a square and boxed it back in with a triangle. Shameless plug- I make and sell weld on flanges for F1 and F100 boxes to be mounted in deuce and A frames. Do a search in the classifieds if you're looking for more info.
"Shameless plug- I make and sell weld on flanges for F1 and F100 boxes to be mounted in deuce and A frames" Hi, old thread, but i just acquired a '31 roadster with F1 components and wondered if you still sell the flanges? Thanks, jgiles [/QUOTE]
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