Projects My rough '28 special coupe build!

Oh shit man!

 

32 frame time. I put together this table using metal I already had. The 8” I beam that I had was only 7 feet long, so I went with it. It’s just about dead on as far as being square. I spent way too much time on that part. Being my first chassis build, I’m not sure in some of the techniques. So...
Do you guys prefer to place the frame rails flat on the table, and build from there? Or, do you place the frame on the table at the angle of the desired rake or stance of the car? Hopefully I didn’t confuse you guys as to my question. Thanks for the help.


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I would think if your building caster into the cross members like a stock ford has I would at least do the front and rear cross members with it mocked up at the correct rake?

my thoughts anyhow.

 

I’m kind of torn on what to do with the rear crossmember. It’s from a ‘40 pickup. I’ll be using ‘58 car 9” rear. I guess I need to flatten the crossmember. All the ones I’ve seen being flattened online are done attached to the frame when the work is being done. Have any of you ever flattened one off the frame?




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Seen it done both ways plenty. If it’s not in the frame now I wouldn’t hesitate to cut it before it goes in

 

I cut my first rear crossmember out of the frame, will be cutting another this month. Made a fake one out of wood, cut it in a chop saw to get the angles correct, then transferred the cut lines to the steel one. Bob

 

I worked on the crossmember some tonight. I’m very happy with the way I decided to go about cutting it. For my first time flattening one of these, I think it’s turning out perfect! It’s definitely not looking bad for rough cuts with a reciprocating saw! I cut a 8.5” section out of the center, then cut another 1.5” wedge shaped section out to remove the curved section. I’m happy with it so far.
























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Crossmember is ready to blast clean and tack together.




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KidCampbell put me back on this, and I'm calmly reading old updates, when Bam! Holy smoke, that messed up my demeanor, but only briefly. Reading on, I can see you haven't let it slow you down much. Nice to see a couple of elephants in the room.

 

Messed up my demeanor for a long time. It was a big bump in the road, but I’ve got to keep moving. I’m not rich at all. My father and I run a body shop in a small town, so starting over has been tough on my budget. I built my new shop with borrowed money and make payments on it. I was able to save the model-a and I bought the 37 pickup last year. I’ve bought several parts as I could over the last three years as I can afford to and with income tax refunds, etc. I’m beyond needing money to get this done at this point. This is getting done with pure determination. I’m angry at what happened and I’m determined to fight through it whatever the cost. Determination is worth a lot.


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I was hoping to have the crossmember done over the weekend, but rain slowed me down and I was only able to get enough sand blasting done in the rain to get it ready to weld. I got it cut to length and clamped together. The Wescott drawing that I have don’t show the rear crossmember placement, only the axle centerline. I need to know how far behind the axle to place the crossmember if you guys know. Also thought I’d share my Weiand intake and 4 stromberg 81’s that I just got for the Desoto 291. Now that’s exciting!


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If you are looking at a drawing of a stock 32 frame, be aware the 32 used a curved spring and the crossmember off centerline spacing was different than a 40. If you are using a 40 spring, you might want to use the same distance as the 40 axle had. But, if you are welding somebody else's aftermarket spring hangers to your 9" axle, you should probably measure them before you lock your crossmember into the frame. I know for a fact that some of the suppliers use different offsets than others.

 

Thanks for your reply. I didn’t think about the spring being different. I still need the 40 crossmember placement. The distance between the axle centerline and the crossmember. I have a complete 40 chassis untouched that I may have to measure. Accurate measurements will be the difficulty. I haven’t thought about the hangers yet. I’ll likely have to build them to get ride height where I want it.


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If you will be building your own hangers then you can have whatever axle center to spring center measurement you want. But using the 40 axle as a basis would be reasonable.

 

Am I overlooking something, or can I just drop a rear axle in the "C" notch on a set of '32 rails and locate the rear crossmember using the spring hangers? I my case it will be 35-36 Ford rear bones. Bob

 

Thanks for your reply! I still have to get the '58 9" out of the car and it's in the woods close to the ground. I really need to do that before the weather warms up and snakes begin to crawl. My thoughts are that I should set the crossmember in the '40 location so that if the 9" doesn't pan out, if it's too rusted through or something, I can just slide my '40 banjo rear and spring in place and go with it.

I've never done this before, and I'm not the one you directed the question to, but I do like that idea.

 

You guys probably ought to be sure the frame is located fore and aft on the body like you think it is to make sure the wheel will be centered in the wheelwell. Everything is flexible until you start welding stuff in. Then you kind of lock stuff in place.

 

so sorry to see the fire. fire is a bad thing. i lost my shop, 3 cars, a life long collection of tools, and the walls were full of cool antique shit, in 2010. i never have posted any pics here, i dont have any! the wife does, and its to depressing to look. keep the good attitude, you'll make it

 

I plan to cut two Plywood "Tires" that match the wheel well radius on the body and center them on the 9 inch housing to determine were center is.

 

I finally found the magic numbers... the axle centerline to spring/crossmember centerline is 7.5".

 

I got a little work done on my frame table / jig, finally. I can’t go any further until I get this figured out. I’m not sure what you would call these pieces that I made, maybe line up brackets or something, I don’t know. These took way too long to build because I’m a bit obsessive at this point about everything being dead on. I know that’s critical. I’m also trying not to weld a bunch of pieces to the table. I want everything to bolt in place so that I can remove them and still have the table to use for a body table, etc. I made the table 43.5” wide, which is the widest point of the frame. So I started with the first brackets at that point. Now I have to decide where to locate the second set of brackets. I certainly hope everything speeds up after I get the rails squared up. If you guys have any ideas at this point, I’m listening!




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Looks good so far, hope to be in the same phase in a month or two. For the guys that have been there done that does it matter if the rails are setup level front to back? They will have a front leaning rake as soon as the axles are added, but I'd think the top of the rail being level front to back and side to side would be the way to start things, correct? Bob

 

From what I understand, it doesn't really matter how you set the frame up on the jig. Just do the math to get the crossmembers right. I'm going to stick everything together and establish the ride height before fully welding the crossmembers and setting the engine angle.

 

Someone mentioned using the notches in the frame to locate the axle centerline... well, the notches aren’t exactly the same on the left and right rail. The marks I made are the axle centerline verified using multiple measuring points and using the Wescott drawings. The notch on both sides is too far forward with the passenger side being the further forward than the driver side. I may shift the axle forward 1/4 inch or so to help the situation. The JW rails aren’t dead on, and the holes at the cowl are 1/2” off. I just happened to pick those holes as my starting point and I had a hard time figuring out where I was at because not a single measurement matched the Wescott drawings. I moved to a different set of holes for my starting point and everything was then in the ball park except that one set of holes at the cowl. After realizing they were off, everything made sense. This definitely isn’t a job for someone with OCD.


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That's good to know about the JW frame notch. Bob

 

More crossmember work. I can see why people make them out of tubing. Modifying a stock one is quite time consuming, especially if you’ve never done one before. It looks like the flattened ‘40 crossmember will end up sitting about 2-3 degrees up at the front. That should be ok I hope.




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I finished the rear portion of the crossmember today. Now I have to figure out what to do at the front. The cardboard templates are my current idea. I think I’ll box the frame from the front of the crossmember forward, but I don’t see any reason to box the frame inside the crossmember, or behind it. The area inside the crossmember should be pretty strong after its fully welded and I’ll most likely cut the rear portion of the frame off. If this is a bad idea, I’m listening for better ideas. I’ve never done this hahaha!


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I can’t go any further on the chassis until I sit the body up on the rails. I’ve done some reading and talked to some folks and I may need to narrow the whole chassis. I’ve planned the whole time to pinch it at the cowl, but I may need to pull the rails in at the rear also. The problem I have now is that the body is falling apart. I need to get it squared up before setting it on the chassis. When I pick it up, it just flops around. Does anyone know this measurement across the top of the door posts? I’ve clamped the doors up tight to the body, and that got it close, but it will still move in and out 1/2” or so in the middle. I need this measurement right so I can make a X brace off this down to the sub rails. Thanks for your help guys.






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Found this thread again after I talked to you on Facebook book. I was already subscribed. Here is a picture for a little inspiration.


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I got some bracing in the body and worked on the cowl area some. I just sat the body on the frame, and I need to figure out the best way to find the center of the wheelwell so I can locate the body, and exactly where the rear frame rails should be cut off. Any tips? I’m searching the H.A.M.B. now for good information.