I've Z'd the frame pretty agressively on the front of my RPU project... since it's in the front, & has the weight of the engine on it, I've been planning on adding some fishplates... & thinking I want to add a little style to the plates... you guys have some pics of yours, if you did something more than square corners??? was thinking about flame ends, or diamond ends or something... thoughts
anything but webs or skulls. Metal flames have been overdone by the crap they sell for pickup and semi grilles/bumpers. Don't forget, fish plates are permanent, so whatever you decide to do will have to stand the 'test of time' and the tastes and preferences of anyone you may ultimately sell the car to. I think that a tasteful diamond end or perhaps stepped down as they taper - like the much-loved Indian blanket designs seen sometimes. dj
still looking for ideas... I realize any design I put on the ends will need to be chased with the welder... so I want something kinda simple, but don't want just a plain "L" bracket... kinda thinking a WW2 vintage airplane theme... maybe old bomb shaped plates ??? the thought crossed my mind of cutting out fish shaped fish plates, & bending the tail out from the frame... might be kinda cool, ( "fish plates"... ha ha... get it ??? ) but not the style of my build so... file that thought for later... any pics you guys have would be great... thanks
Naw I would avoud anything that looks like a fish. My experience with cars with a little fish on them is that those people don't drive worth a flip and are not real polite in a traffic jam. You could gusset it and put holes in the gussets that look like thuderbolts, Those would be lightning holes.
lightening or lightning ??? I'm more of K.I.S.S. kinda guy, I'll probably just diamond out the ends or something more simple... maybe I'll put tapering holes in them... will allow "weld stick" in the center of the plate, & I'm doing a wedge of frame under the middle, where I'll be taking the frame rake off the top of the frame under the cab, my plan was a chunk of tapered 2" - 2.5" I beam with 1.75" or 2" holes in the center, & tapering smaller towards the ends... if I did the same on the fish plates, it might tie it together more ???
BTW... how much does drilling holes in the front axle weaken it ??? was thinking I could do the same on the front axle while I was at it... maybe 1" in the center, tapering to 1/2" or 3/8" on the ends...
I can't give you numbers but most of the strength of a beam comes from the flanges not the web. If it is a stock axle and not a cast axle you should be fine. Yes to both. Long story but I'll shorten it up a bit. When I was little I heard fellas saying lightening holes and I could never find them because I thought that they were saying lightning holes. Took me the longest time to figure it out. To this day I put a thunderbolt on anything that I own somewhere, just because of that.
VOODOO... the rivets would add something & kinda give it a bomber / vintage plane touch... I've never riveted anything... my frame is boxed at that section, so I'd have to "fake rivet" the fish plate by drilling holes & welding the rivet from the back side... but that might look good with my tapered holes though ???
You could do rosette welds and then build them up to look like rivets, then you get form and funcrtion on one simple step.
that would be a good idea, but if I combine them with tapering larger holes, I'll get plenty of additional "stick" in the center of the plates, & by doing the rosette welds, I'd have to shape each to look like a rivet, & if I went... say... every 2"... it'd be alot of shaping of rivet heads, for what little "stick" I'd gain from them, if I only have maybe 1" between the "lightning" holes & the edge, just zapping the rivets from the back side would probably be good enough ??? & alot less work
I wouldn't get too carried away with a fancy design. A proper fishplate is tapered (like a fish) to gradually transfer the load from the reinforced area to the non-reinforced. If your design has too much vertical weld it creates a stress point, defeating the purpose of the fishplate.
Stager all the welds/cuts and give it a smooth transition, then box and you wont need them. If you must add them, do them inside the tube/rail.
I did interlock my frame inserts, so it should be plenty strong... see if I can find a pic that shows what I'm talking about... Top welds on my inserts were professionally done by my fabricator buddy, so I think those would be should be fine ( plus those parts are 2" X 4" square tube ) I interlocked the square tube into the C channel frame when I put the inserts in... my welds were done with a stick, buddys welds were done with MIG was thinking about boxing the original frame from the insert to the new front cross member, & about 1 ft or so behind the inserts... after that the frame is plenty heavy
Yup. You can make your own rivets using old slotted head machine bolts. Just weld up the slot, grind it smooth, insert it into a drilled hole, and weld it on the backside.
this is a crappy paint version, not a P shop, but you might get the idea... holes in the center, & rivets around the outside... I can make it so all the holes should be the same, for left or side, inside or out, & just place the rivets depending on placement of the plate
The Jalopy Journal
