Frame Repair

Here it is, the bare frame of my '37 Ford pickup. Not much to look at right now and a couple of places are down right scary! More on that later.

The finished chassis will run a dropped axle with split wishbones up front. Disk brakes will be added to the original front spindles. A parallel leaf spring set up will be used in the rear holding up a GM 10 bolt rear end. A 283 Chevy will be mounted up front backed by manual four speed. As you can tell I'm not going for latest and greatest zoom of the month club. I'm going after a solid and economical foundation.

The first order of business was to see what needed repaired on the basic frame before anything was added to it. Both outer rails on my frame have damage in the same location. Sometime in the past these areas have been repaired, if that is what you want to call it! The rear crossmember has been modified in the past for some unknown reason and will need to get some attention. The two braces between the outer rails and the center X section are also damaged and will need replaced. Not the best material to start from but that's what I have and my starting point.

Before I did anything else I wanted to make sure frame measured out ok. After looking at the damage I was afraid of what I would find. The frame was set level and the first measurements made diagonally corner to corner. I expected it to be off a large amount but was surprised by a 3/16'' difference. I checked over and over from different locations but that was the largest error I found. I also checked to make sure the frame was level from side to side and it checked out ok again. I was pleasantly surprised, if the frame was way out of shape I needed to start looking for a new one. Take a look at the next two pictures and you will know why I was so worried.

From here the frame was placed on the trailer and delivered to my good friend Steve. I knew the next steps would involve an experienced welder. We decided the best thing to do was weld the frame to the welding table to keep everything in place before anything else was done. Working on one side at a time I cut out a section of the old frame rail including the previous fix. I made a new section to fill the gap and tacked in place.

When Steve had that side firmly welded in place I did the same procedure on the other side. We wanted to add more strength to this area so after both sides had been welded in places a longer plate was welded on the inside. This plate overlaps onto the original frame sections in both directions. After both rails had been repaired mounting nuts were welded inside the frame rails for body, fender and runningboard mounts. Boxing plates were then cut for the center section of the outer frame rails.

The side braces from inner to outer frame rails have now been removed. It was much easier to make and weld in the boxing plates with these removed. With the boxing plates tack welded in place a new rectangular tubing brace was welded in place of the mangled originals.

After the top side was completely welded I broke the frame free of the table I had it spot welded too. The frame was then turned upside down to make it easier to finish weld the bottom sides of the boxing plates. When Steve finished welding I burned up a couple of cheap grinders smoothing out the welds.

Once this was finished it was time to update the center crossmember and transmission tunnel.