Have you tried to lightly sand the top of the rail with some fine sand paper like 320 and some water ad lube, or 180 dry?
Post a picture of your left front crossmember at the rear where it meets the frame and post it please.
The serial number is usually stamped in the rail somewhere in the three pics you show. No idear why yours isn't. Also check on top of the rail in the vicinity of the B pillar, and the raise over the rear axle, usually on the front half. The second and third stamp locations won't have the stars that the front stamp should. Also, I agree that a good shape 40 frame shouldn't need boxing, especially in the section in the middle of the car. I would find a way to replace those torched out side braces though.
Take some paint stripper to the top of the frame rail between the front crossmember and the firewall; if there's a serial number stamped there that's the best way to find it. Mine was right in front of the steering gear; found an almost legible one on the rear crossmember, but had a little too much rust pitting to find the one in towards the middle of the frame.
I had issues finding my VIN # it was on left (driver side ) and it was close to the front cross member (2-3" back) I had looked back towards the front leg of the X member and there was none I sanded the area with a 220 grit sandpaper then sprayed the area with red paint and then let it tack up and then wiped the excess paint off leaving the Vin # somewhat exposed, enough for the Div. of Motor vehicles to confirm the # good luck!
Thanks for the help. I'll be picking it up tomorrow from the grit-blasters. Hopefully I'll be able to see it then.
Before: After: Looking pretty good: Back on the stands (with the help of my favorite assistant). Also note new, unfilthy gloves... I think I showed this before, but now it is easier to see. At some point a previous owner welded a piece of 1/4 or 3/8 thick strapping across the bottom of the right side rail and the X-member and then torched a portion of it out again. I previously managed to take off the piece on the bottom of the frame rail leaving just a little remnant of the weld on the rail: But the piece on the X-member won't be quite so easy to remove. Plus, you can see the serious damage they did with their stick welder: More pictures later. Including interesting artefacts (!)
It's always nice to work with clean metal! That old modification is pretty ugly but easy enough to fix if you have the tools and skills or no where to find em.
My 39 VIN is right next to the 3 rivets that hold the front crossmember in. They aren't as big as you might be used to seeing. The 'secret" numbers at the middle and the kick up near the rear are usually just behind or near the mid body mount pad., and a 3rd set near the rear spring crossmember. Several sources say a 40 is near the steering box for the front or visible number. I half-ass recall the 2nd and 3rd numbers being in the same places as a 38-9. Were you able to see them now that it's clean?
Among other things revealed was some pitting where the body cushion strap (not sure the correct terminology for it) trapped moisture: Here is a curious marking (the circled L). I assumed it stood for "left" as it was on the left frame-rail. So, I look on the right frame rail expecting to find an "R" only to find another "L". Hmmmmm...What's up with that?? Genuine samples of Montana gravel roads. You'd think that by now all the crap and gravel would be out of this frame. But, you'd be thinking wrong! This pretty brown rock looks more like a river rock than gravel...perhaps polished by the grit blast? Just peeking out... The discoloration you can see on the metal is from the After-Blast. These rocks look like genuine gravel... I guess I should try to fish them out. Let's see how much time I waste on that!
And here it is with the After-Blast applied: And now I'll have to flip it over and do the bottom of the rails. After that I'm not sure what I should do next as I think I need to know what engine and transmission I'll use before I can order the boxing plates since the cross-member will be modified differently based on the transmission. Maybe not, I'll have to check.
Back from vacation in Montana, so time to work on my 40 again. Flipped the frame over and laid out a new sheet of plastic under it to catch the After-Blast drippings: Sprayed it with the After-Blast, then scrubbed it with a 3M pad, and then wiped it off with a rag. Here the back half of the frame is done and I've already moved the plastic sheet forward in preparation for doing the front half of the frame: Moved the plastic sheet and did the front end: Next, I've got to clean up the mess made by a previous owner by grinding this crap off: I'll soon be buying a larger compressor. My old Sears 20 gallon is just not cutting it with powering air-tools. So, I am going to get an 80 gallon upright tank and compressor. Any suggestions? Is there such a thing as an affordable, quiet one that is not made by Chinese slave labor?
Thanks for the recommendation! That looks like a really nice one. Any challenges in installing it and getting it set up?
I bought it thru Lowe’s ( I had to order it), delivered on a pallet. It was ready to go once the power connection was made (220v). Quincy contacted me if there were any questions, have great customer service.
Got home from church, ate lunch, and started at it. I have two problem areas (and found a third, but it was minor) on the frame bottom to fix. I've shown these before in previous write-ups, so they may look familiar. First: And this one, but I ran out of steam today before getting to it. Here is my chosen weapon for clean-up, at least initially: And here is the frame rail after grinding (note that I am taking this picture in opposite direction than the "before" picture above): But I still had a problem, as the frame rail itself was bent: I tried a couple of things. First, I found out that clamping just didn't move the metal. It would straighten it, but as soon as I removed the clamp, it would rebound. So I went to the hammer and used this old sledge head as the "anvil" on the opposite side: More....
Using the old sledge head (plus an awful lot of pounding) got it mostly straight. I marked out the low spots in chalk and hammered away. I used both a heavy mallet, but also a tack hammer. Looks a lot straighter now: Then I noticed a smaller bend on the other frame rail. I could have had a career as a proof-reader as these little things just sort of jump out at me. I always have to remind myself to just ignore them: But this one I couldn't, so: After this I sprayed both areas with After-Blast, scrubbed them with a 3M pad and wiped them down. And by then I had already chugged down a bottle of water and toweled off half a dozen times and it was time to go inside and cool down (and down-load my pictures and write this.) After I get my welder I will be doing some "restorative" welding on that first area on the frame rail and also on the area that I didn't get to today. Also, thinking about getting one of these: or: Comments?
Invest in a really good moisture filtering traps, good for the air tools and when painting, don't go cheap
Scott, I just finished reading this entire thread. You're doing an outstanding job on a really nice car. Let me know if you ever need an extra hand. I work downtown and live in Chantilly, where #50 intersects F'Fax Co Pway.
Nothing close by in the immediate future. I used to attend Katie's Cars & Coffee in Great Falls, Pre-COVID. It was BIG, a bit of old American muscle, but mostly European sporty stuff; Porsches, BMWs, Ferraris & some Vettes. All events for Katie’s Cars & Coffee – The Old Brogue & Katie's Coffee House The Karb Kings host the Mobtown Greaseball in Dundak, MD Sep 25th, 2021. I haven't been in several years. Baltimore's ONLY car kulture event « Home - Mobtown Greaseball Mobtown Greaseball
Get the Quincy conpressor. They have not changed that design in 30 years and you can buy everything to rebuild it later on down the road. I have had mine 14 years and so far its been perfect no issues at all. Great build thread by the way.
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