Hot Rods holy crap.... this could have been really bad! Like dead bad!

So.... I just moved to Austin from Seattle.... had a couple cars transported by enclosed carrier with no issues (I actually think what I am about to explain happened before I even loaded on the carrier).
So... my Dodge Ram SRT10 and my 27 Ford 5 window coupe arrive safely and unloaded and I moved them into the garage. The brake pedal on my coupe seemed stuck and I figured I pinched a brake line or maybe some sort of lock up happened in transit (I know, I know, brake fluid doesn't compress). So I go out today, start checking things out and well.... to make a long story short... the frame is snapped clean at a weld (unslugged weld) and I didn't build the car, so I had no idea how dangerous this frame actually is. Now I know and now I have a new project to say the least. Now that the frame broke at the weld, I cannot trust any work done on this frame, so.... looks like its time for a rebuild.

I will post pictures once I get over the thought that had I been driving at speed, it probably would have killed me and anyone around me.

 

If ever there was a day to buy a lottery ticket... today is your day.

 

What was the brake problem? HRP

 

Holy ****! Count your blessings, be glad if it had to happen it happened where it did! Joe

 

That's a real bummer.....but be thankful you found out before anything bad happened. Now you have reason to carefully inspect the whole car and repair any other ****ty work you find. Unfortunately, I suspect there are a lot more problems lurking out there with wannabe "Chip Fooses". Buying a welding machine does not make one a real "welder".

 

pictures?
good thing you found it.

 

Guessing the broken frame was puting the linkage in a bind.

 

GV Gordon is correct, level was bound up through floor opening. and yes, I will post pics soon.
Obviously going to full the body and go through the frame front to back and probably time to do some upgrades. It's def. not a show car, its a driver, but safety is key and if one weld broke, the others are possibly about to. Also... the fact that the square tube steel used for the frame, welded together with no slug is a recipe for disaster.
Looks like I found my winter project.

 

tough to inspect a weld when its clean and painted,
scary to think one good jolt on the road and your frame comes apart.
glad you found the defect without killing yourself

 

Glad you found it when you did.
If there are any remnants of weld wire sticking out from frame welds, examine them for flux. (gallows humor for wire welders)

I bought a '52 Cad Coupe DeVille from an old car lot in '63, drove it home (new freeway!) and when I pulled into my driveway the car just 'collapsed' on the driver side!
Jacked it up...the frame had broken at the left tube, just behind the front crossmember.
I fixed it, but was nervous...

 

The word of steel fabrication changed once they started stocking welding machines across from the Dog Food and behind the Coffee.

 

All those sorts of joins should be fish plated with a section that joins the individuals pieces and spreads the load over a larger area rather than the **** joint. If not externally, internal fish plates plug welded at regular intervals. Mandatory down here.

 

On one of the tv car shows recently (Fantom Works, I think) they took in a nice looking model a touring car to do some things for the customer. He had bought it from someone else and didn't like the way it handled. When they got the body off the frame and suspension were absolutely SCAREY ! Big cracks in the rails, horrible bubble gum welds, and rust everywhere. They had to build a new frame for the car to make it safe.

We commented how we would never trust anyone elses work, and it looks like that is what you are finding on your T. Glad you found it early.

Don

 

On a side note. Love your 27.

 

Thanks.... It'll be good to sort some things out this winter and get it back on the road for spring

 

Some of these opinions sound like anyone who builds simply ****s. This is 1 bad one. I know there's others and I've seen a bunch too but **** fellas, we don't all need to be hung from the gallows. As far as welders behind the dog food, I agree. When I did bracket racer work every jamoke with a 110 mig thought he was Jerry ****in Bickel. The worst I had seen was a mid 70s Monte Carlo. The brakes failed at the big end. How? The guy used zip screws to mount the master cyl on the firewall. Yes, ZIP SCREWS like for garage doors. When it rolled bumper to bumper and then on it's side the bars in the 8pt started coming loose from the floor. 5 out 8 points! Flat welds onto the 6X6 plates that came with the kit, no grinding even done to remove the mill scale. Worse than all of it, some **** said "Jocko (me) put that bar in there!" Not seeing who it was I jumped onto the flatbed and as loud as I could replied that anyone who had the balls to say I did that work was welcome to speak up. Silence. They knew who did it, he knew he did it, he slithered away from the track that night. The point being that anyone can do good work. If "going for a ride" is the more important thing, well you do indeed ****. It doesn't take to much of a trained eye to spot the bad ****. Get help, get a 2nd set of eyes when buying a finished car. Find out who did it.

I'm very happy it happened when it did, and happy you and yours are ok. You know what to do and so do the rest of you. Discipline kids, discipline. Good luck on the fix...

 

Where's the pics ?

 

Winter isn't the same here as Seattle, you can wear shorts in January!

 

PICS ADDED
soooooo..... now that I have climbed under and looked at the damage.... I can tell by the broke weld that ALL welds are going to be terrifying (notice there is no penetration on this frame rail). the pictures below are at the point of the frame just behind the brake pedal. The last pic shows that the steering knuckle is actually resting on my very custom made #Gear Drive lake pipes (sigh). Seeing this weld (and no, I did not build this car... although I'm about to makes me not trust ANY weld or structural part. I knew it was a little ratty as it was built or redone in the 90s and done with a stick welder, but had no idea it was this sketchy.
The chop and channel was done well, I have worked through a TON of other issues but the frame was not something I have touched yet. Guess I will be now for sure.

 

That's really scary! Glad it happened there and not on the road!

On the bright side the gear drive headers seem to be pretty tuff.

Good luck!

 

that is the why my wife wants me to buy a pile of junk and put it together .than buy something all ready built.

 

thank heavens no one got hurt ,our rules in this country are strict to try and stop, **** builds like this happening but some times they still get on the road ,we have to have to have a engineer report just to put juice brakes on a old ford when I challenged the goverment official ,also a personal friend, about this he said scott we have to protect the road users against the idiots!, not the people like you who know what your doing! accept then he showed me some pics of **** work ,so I now just accept the rules

 

Oh ****, no penetration and then he ground off the ugly *********** weld to make it look better! Lucky you, glad it happened the way it did rather than while driving it at any significant speed. I would rather build it myself than have to go over everything someone else screwed up, like the guy that I bought my project from that was screwing it up.

 

Looks like 0 penetration on that tubing. Might as well been jb weld. You are fortunate, a bump at 50-60 mph and you might have been toast. What are your plans? New frame from scratch?

 

I'd like to keep the frame..... it's just steel and all the mounts are where I want them. I think its more about redoing every weld.... making some mods, etc. But never say never..... maybe a new frame, who knows. Once I dig in, I will get a better sense of what is really worth redoing from scratch.

 

when i see somthing like this i can't help but wonder how many ticking time bomb rat rods are out there. i'm not calling your car a rat rod by the way!

 

Yikes! That's UGLY!!! They could have at least used a couple of fish plates on the top and bottom or the sides. Not enough heat to get any penetration, either. Must have been welded with a 110V Harbor Freight welder!

 

Did the trucker strap to the AXLES or FRAME? My guess is he strapped to the frame and the trip cracked it. Bob

 

Damn scary

 

I was gonna say that,here in Oz we have to have our ch***is's inspected and approved before we can progress with the build before it can be p***ed and presented for registration.

Crikey how did that even survive that long from the nineties like that! Man that was a ticking time bomb and lucky for you and everyone else it went of during transport.
The really good thing is you can rebuild it and put your name on it.
I like the look of it too,post pix of the rebuild.