[boss351]

Last night as I was putting on my air shocks I noticed somthing..... My left rear frame rail had a chip in it.... I have elimitnated all the rust in this car....... SO I THOUGHT. ONE OF THE PO'S OF THE CAR had put BONDO over the frame rail to conseal the rust!!!!!!! LOOKS LIKE IM GOING TO BE REPLACING BOTH REAR FRAME RAILS....... its rusted really bad where the shackles connect at the rear of the car. I have found a kit with 2 rear frame rail patches, and shackles for 100.00....... is this a good deal? Im going to do all the work myself. How hard is this job? Do I just cut the old section of frame out and weld in the new? Oh yeah..... im kinda really pissed right now!!!! Thanks in advance for your help.....

 

[robbie]

yeah I had a deal like that on my boss car and when I had it acid dipped it did not lie about what needed fixed then,,at least you found it before it gave way and hurt you and or the car

 

[66i6]

I can relate... I recently found out that my frame rails are pretty much shot too. I've never welded before and have neither the tools, space or time to tackle something like this. I had a pro check out my car after I finally got a good luck at the frame rails and he pointed out several other areas that needed to be taken care of at the same time (inner wheel wells, torque boxes, parts of the trunk floor, etc). You may have a can of worms on your hands like me. I wasn't so much pissed as demoralized. Money is tight and what little extra I have I had intended to fix cosmetic things. But safety comes first and I need to either fix it or sell it (and I'd feel guilty selling it someone knowing what I know). Apparently some people don't feel this way.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

You need to carefully evaluate the rest of the frame rail and make sure it is good to go. If so, you can get the patch kit and CAREFULLY measure to see where you need to cut. You need to have it pretty much exact, because as you know that portion of the frame locates the back of the leaf spring, and the leaf springs locate the axles.

You'll have several spot welds to drill out. My '65 vert's frame rails were also welded to a support at the back of the car, but I don't think your's has that support.

Once you have everything clear and are ready to install the new ones, you should probably butt weld the patch to the old frame rail, then grind you weld bead flat and weld a c-shaped channel to overlap the joint. Then lap weld it front and back. That should be strong as can be. When I bought my full frame rail it was actually made from three pieces welded together like that, except the extra supports were on the inside. You couldn't do it that way without removing the trunk floor...or taking out the entire frame rails.

What you really need to do first is get under the car, clean off all the paint and undercoating in the areas you are worrying about and see how bad it really is. Then you can make a better decission.

Good Luck!

Phil

 

[390GTAcv]

Dave, did ya get the 1/4 ext. chrome clips I sent ya ?

 

[boss351]

Oh yes! Ive been waiting for the weekend to end so I can send you some money for them. I really appriciate it, now I have all the chrome on the rear of the car! Thanks again!

 

[toddwallace]

Did you drill the spot welds out from the top or through the frame rail. I have my coupe on a rotisserie and have good access underneath. The frame rails are thich and I can't see where the spot welds are. I have a donor car, but I have to remove its rails first. I think it would be easier to remove just the section I need instead of the whole rail. My spot weld cutter seems to small for this type of job.....