I'm going to double check that the rails are level, squared, and not diamonded and probably run it. If it weren't mirrored on each rail I'd be a little more concerned. I'll run it by Lucky, he's got a really nice table/jig setup....if he thinks its no big deal to fix it when he's helping me out with the body, I'll get it fixed then....otherwise, onward and upward. I'll just make damn sure the next frame is right on the modified I want to build next go round. I will say this....it's hard when you're in the company of so many professionals and experienced guys here on the HAMB to not be OCD about all this stuff. Guys who can get it perfect in their sleep can make it pretty intimidating when you're just trying to make a fun, yet safe, "beater" rod to just have some fun around town and look cool while doing it.
Poboy.. My A was rolled, many many years ago, and it snapped the rear cross member in half. I was just planning on welding it up, and adding in some extra plates for strength.. Now you're gonna make me lose sleep over that decision.. lol.. but not really... It will be covered up, and I don't plan on telling everyone about it, and no one will see it. I'm sure everyone has some nit-noid thing that bothers them about something that they've built, and would do it a bit different the next time around. Enjoy your build..
Yeah, I think so. It is somewhat of a long run from the front crossmember back to the next one and anything you can do to strengthen that area helps. My thinking on when I put that tube crossmember under there was that all the weight and twist of the motor would be directly on the tube, not the rails that are 26 inches apart. I also had the fact that I am running a fiberglass body and fiberglass does not take well to any twisting so I wanted the frame to be as rigid as possible. With a Hemi sitting on 80 year old rails (even boxed and crossmembered ones) you need all the support you can get, so I think it would be a wise move. But we all build our cars differently. Don
With fenders and running boards it is more important to have straight frame rails. I had this coupe rails bent at the rear motor mount and it was twisted much too. I guess the rails could twist down if people stand on the running boards? I disassembled the frame to bare rails and cut the rusted rear motor mount hole area off leaving only the bottoms of the rails intact. Then I bolted rail tops against each other to force them straight and tacked the rail patches. Then I welded in the new crossmembers. Then I used tiedowns to hold the frame width and jacks with bars to push the rail lower edges out and tacked the boxing plates. Finally I welded all with short welds going around the frame. I measured body mount holes and checked rails with an angle finder the all the time.
510MadMav's turned out to be not having it the frame bolted together properly, as he got it in pieces...reckon he's got it solved now. I might toss the motor in this weekend and see what change I get even though it's boxed.
I had similar issues with my frame and also used the speedway crossmember. I had a slight twist.I cut my crossmember I hair long and beat it in place with a rubber mallet and took the twist out, but it might also push your frame out. In my case it did the trick. If you didn't fix the twist, I can't think of any driving issues that the twist could cause as long as the front axle is square to the frame.
my model A frame has a slight twist too,its like its wider at the bottom than the top, its not fully boxed but it has a few points of boxing and has a crossmember in the middle. it seems to be alright,its not bad,but i can slightly notice
Right on, man. I like your quote in your sig, too....I feel the same way. SO...I went out tonight and took a lot more measurements, used my trusty level, and came to some slightly new conclusions. 1) The twist on each rail actually runs the *entire* length of each rail...tapering down to about 1-1.5 degrees of top/outward twist at each end of the rails, close to the crossmembers. The most severe roll outward seems to be around where the rear of the engine would have been/front of the cowl. It maxes out at about 4 and some change on the driver's side, 3 or so on the passenger. I measured on the outside of the rails this time, taking into account that the insides may not have been cut evenly. Just because I like to beat a dead horse, I'm going to venture to guess that the old center crossmember was removed, perhaps not braced adequately before the new K member was welded in. 2) The frame is level from side to side from the front of the cowl (now 5" further back than original) to the front. I can't get to the rest of the frame at the moment...I'll check then. I checked to see how level the concrete floor was under that span, and it matched almost exactly between the levelness of the floor and rail to rail. Question....I don't visually see any diamond action going on, what points do I use to check that, and what tools, other than a carpenter's square? Outside of all that, as mentioned before, I'm at least a bit comforted that the rails mirror each other for the most part. Visually I think I can live with it as long as it doesn't present any big issues mechanically. Once the motor is in and radiator/grill installed, no one will likely ever notice....and the permagrin on my face will likely wipe away any other misgivings I've got left.
Ya, i'm thinking its from lack of boxing in fully. measure catty corner to catty corner in an X pattern to check for diamond.
Yep, pick identical points, usually a bolt hole or rivet, near all four corners of the frame and measure left rear to right front and viceversa, if they come up different by more than about 3/16 or so, measure from points further forward and try to narrow down exactly where the issue is. Then, I'd say you need someone with a good jig and some experience straightening frames to pull it back into shape. Granted, I have SEEN much worse going down the road with no ill effects, that's just what I would do.
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