Just thought some of you guys might be able to use this..... Any job I end up doing over and over again I come up with goofy little things to make it go easier,.... Problem is, I end up lending my goofy little gauges, tools and fixtures out,.... and they never come home again..... This was the case yesterday when i went to drill my friends boxed frame for a "through the frame" brake bulkhead fitting (Yes I know,... there not traditional,.... But I see a lot of "Traditional Rods with them)..... Instead of doing all the measuring and trying to drill it straight, I simply take two 3" pieces of 2"X 3/16" strap and one 2" section and tack them together over a frame rail with a double layer of tape on it (For a little spacing). Then tack a 2"section of scrap across the bottom to keep it from moving around while I weld and drill it..... I finish weld the top.... locate where I want the hole top to bottom, take it to the drill press and drill a small hole all the way through both sides. Just big enough for a Sharpie marker or center punch head. Break loose the scrap that was tacked to the bottom.... Then with a single layer of tape on the frame where you want the fitting to go.... you slip it over the top. locate it where you want. Mark the spot through the holes. Center punch them.. drill the inside and outside separately with a pilot hole. followed by the actual size needed straight through..... The inside pilot hole centers the drill. Fast, effective, straight....... Now all I have to do, is not lend this one out.... Yep, I know it's simple.... but I like simple things. Hope this helps some of you guys.
Yes, nice "Street Rod Tech" item. The drill press, chunk of 2X3, guide hole held in place with a C clamp is far more traditional. Bob
DANG ! ,..... I lost one of those too ! True story,.... A pal of mine must have seen this thread ( although he swears he didn't see it) And called me tonight and asked if he could borrow that cool little tool for marking the bulkhead fittings ! So I told him if he had a spare 10 minutes and a dollar or two, He could just whip one up himself,.... Then, when people want to borrow mine,... I can just send them over to him !
That's genius, thanks! Last time I drilled through-frame fittings it took an inordinate time to precisely measure from each side to make the holes perfectly align. And even that's not a guarantee you'll get them right.
Can I get just a little OT for one question? Why is it so important to go through the frame? Is it a clearance issue or something else? Us carpenters use jigs and guides all the time, just isn't intuitive to whip one up out of metal! Thanks.
It's not,.. like I said in the OP, but it is cleaner and you don't have to put the tab on the bottom of your frame or the clip for a connection through a unboxed frame. again not totally traditional ,... but I do see these used on a LOT of traditional style cars.
Great idea. Would it be beter to drill a 0.125" pilot hole in the jig and use that to drill into frame rail, rather than the large hole which is dificult to drill without a pilot?
That's a great little tool that many of us who have drilled crooked holes through a boxed frame or even through a piece of square or rectangle tubing would have wished we had earlier.
I understand where you're coming from, maybe I asked the question incorrectly. Does it serve any functional (as opposed to aesthetic) purpose to run the lines through the frame?
I used the same technique to build drill jigs for the running board and fender bracket holes on my rectangular tube Model A frame. Bob
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