1934 Ford pickup frame repair

[planecrazy29]

I inherited this truck and the story is here:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1820711#post1820711

The frame is pretty rough but I decided to try to repair it. I'm not the world's greatest welder, but I have some experience in fab and machining.

So we'll start with the bad news:

The frame rail and x-member have rotted through on both sides. Look close and you'll see this is the good side.

I marked the area to be repaired and made a cardboard template. I got some 11 gauge steel from the steel store and got to work.

The first repair parts were cut out with a sawsall. It sucked bad so I sold some excess **** I had and bought a Harbor Freight 40 amp plasma cutter. This is the first piece:

 

[planecrazy29]

After I cut everything out, I started tacking it up

I cut the outer frame away from the x member between the lines I had made

At this point, a member of the HAMB mentioned that I should probably brace it so it wouldn't move too much. I took their advice:

And a picture of the old and new:

 

[planecrazy29]

A little note about the last picture: The first parts I cut out and tacked together ended up being for the opposite side. I tacked the rails on the wrong side of the plate. Oops. So I had to write myself a note so I wouldn't make 2 rights....

On with the repair:

And tacked into place:

I went through the same procedure with the x member. They were offset so the vertical welds do not line up and create a weak spot.

I spent a lot, no really, a LOT of time grinding everything down and making it look nice on the outside. The finished repair looks pretty darn good if I do say so myself:

I did get a copy of the frame dimensions and checked everything for square and trapezoid and made sure everything was as close as I could get it. It's within 1/16" so I'm happy with it. I still may box it for extra strength. I've got about $200 in materials into the repair. A new frame runs $2500. And since everyone loves tools here, the welder used was a Lincoln Pro-mig (Lowe's special) that I got from CL for $430. I did add a bottle to get better welds. It was welded with .035".

All 3 crossmembers also need repair and I'm tackling the center crossmember first. It was packed full of 77 years worth of oil, grease and gravel.

 

[neonnblack]

How did you like the HF plasma? And nice job on the rails.

 

[planecrazy29]

The HF plasma works fine. It's not like the Esab I used years ago in the shop I worked in, but for home use I think it's fine. I haven't really had it long enough to see how it's going to hold up. That's my biggest concern. I got it on sale for $599 and nothing else was even in the same ball park. Not even CL. It's got a Trafimet torch that I should be able to get parts for if need be. Consumables are pricey at HF. I'll check to see if I can get them at the welding shop for less. The only ***** so far is it does seem to flame out easily. I'm not sure if that's me or the unit. It's mostly when starting the cut and a second pull of the trigger usually lites it up.

 

[930dreamer]

Nice fab work.