frame boxing

Gettin ready to box my A frame and was wondering what's the best way to address body mounts and other things that bolt to the frame. Should I weld nuts inside the frame in the mount locations or bolt clear through with a spacer inside the frame? Any other pitfalls in this project?

 

Personally for things like body mounts I would tap a nut into the hole and weld it in place (might want to do this before you box the frame, just in case you drop it in). Im not sure what else you would be bolting in, I like to weld motor mounts in for added strength. If you're running a heim style rod end and it's mounted to the side of the frame (not a mount hanging below) I would drill through the frame and weld a sleeve in there. Personally I like to use Ford Tie Rod ends, I like the look better..

- brian

 

I boxed a Model A frame years ago and for the body mounts I took some pieces of 3/4" steel and drilled and tapped them for the body bolts (7/16" co**** thread) and then welded them into position inside the frame rails...and then ran a tap thru the holes to take care of the distortion that's bound to happen....I felt that it was more substantial than a welded in nut...which will really distort because it's a lot smaller. I used a really heavy duty welder.....a Miller 250 MIG welder with .030" wire.

I then cut boxing plates from 1/4" CRS plate...ground a good "V" for the weld, and then ground the tops of the welds and put a nice radius on the plates....

 

I just got done welding 1/2" nuts to the frame of the '36 i'm doing....Drilled a 3/4" hole, held the nut to the underside of the rail, installed a long bolt into it. pulled it up and centered it, tacked it, removed the bolt and welded from underneath.....Let cool and run a tap through

 

I've used different sizes of "caged nuts" from Restoration specialties too. Basically a square nut that is inside of a steel "cage" ***embly. There is some "Slop" so that the nut can move around, and the cage has a generous flange around it for welding. You can attach these inside of frames or other areas where you have a hard time holding a nut, like where fenders attach and such on bodies too. The nut is held securely but it can move around, so you can adjust fit and alignment. It can't spin so you just run your bolt in and sock it down.

-Scott

 

When I did mine I found some old square nuts at the hardware store and welded them in before the boxing plates. they are nice and thick and don't have any coatings to burn off when welding.

 

As a certified welder, it always mind boggles me how so many people create a weld (Like boxing a frame) and in turn gring the weld down plush so it looks like it started life as a whole square tube rather than C-channel with a side plate welded in. I mean, for looks; this looks nice. But I would think any certified welder (I'm AWS cert'd) would be against this 'cause what this truly is is 'Weld Reinforcement' and to remove that is not as safe / quality wise as grinding it off. My frames I've boxed have all the weld reinforcement still there. It does look a little FrankenStein just with all the stiching you see, but a Ground Off Weld is NOT certifiable. It's always good to trim the plate to where it is recessed into the c-channel also, rather than just ****ing the plate up against the c-channel. They are more prone to break when done that way. Carl Hagan here in KC

 

i'm debating on wether i should weld steel plate to drill and tap later or weld a peice of angle iron on the inside of the frame(after it's been boxed). This would then be bolted to my subfloor

 

I have had success t******* a 4 inch boxing plate to about 3 3/4 inches ,sliding inside c channel about 1/2 way making a step box,you will than get a good weld joint and also have a place to outside of boxing plate to drill and mount body..

 

I bolted the body peices on and welded the nut inside the frame before I boxed any of it. Regulary ole grade 8 nuts and bolts. I cranked the heat up to get good penetration. Then I had to re-tap a couple due to distortion and seizing of the bolt in the nut, and what-not, but so far, so good. I am however afraid of tightening one down too much and breaking the nut off insude the boxed frame rail.

If that happens, Ill have a major pain to fix it, so I just torque them down nicely, but nothign crazy.

For the boxing plates, my next one, Ill use a inset boxing plate method (recessed into the "C" Channel of the frame like mentioned above) and not grind any welds. Carl is deffinitly correct about the strenght of my boxing compared to a slight recessed boxing plate with no weld ground down.

My boxing plates are welded flush with the edge of the frame and the welds dressed, thus, currently are not certifiable. But they are a bizallion times stronger frame rails than what I originally had, so I am satisified. If I was needing them to be certified for racing, well....... then it would be a total tube frame that I would have built, and well, I wouldnt need boxing plates.

 

Thanks, I really like the idea of using 3/4 plate to make my own weld in nuts and the inset boxing as well.

 

before you box the frame weld in any cross members to the frame first so they are not hung off the boxing plates. also it is a good idea to weld some 3/4 conduit tubing into the frame for wires, fuel lines and battery cables to run threw.

 

I mounted my Model A through the boxed frame with a crush sleeve.

I also slathered the bolts in antisieze before inserting them so I will be able to
get them out if necessary.