Time for an update! Or... "how to build frame rails in an afternoon!" I've been gathering parts for my Dodge Brothers Modified for sometime, finally was able to make some good progress. This is my first hot rod build, so I'm learning as I go. Feel free to make any recommendations on changes or suggestions. I got off early today & decided to take the 2 pieces of 2 x 3 x .120 wall rectangular tubing and build some frame rails. I have had the tubing sitting in the garage for a couple months now while I was thinking about the best way to build the frame. I've never build a frame from the ground, up so this was something new to me. So far it's been a great learning experience. I decided to Z both the front & rear, in order to get the body to sit very low. I took the 2 pieces of channel, which are 14' long, and laid them side by side. Once both pieces were level I clamped them together and tack welded each section that was going to be cut out, top & bottom. The center of the frame, where the body will sit, was measured out at 48" on the top. From there I made 4 cuts on the chop saw, each at a 75* angle. On the front I cut 10" out of the frame. The back had 18" cut out of it. After getting the tubing cut into 5 pieces, I had to mock it up to see if I liked the layout. Here's how it looked. Looks great!! I was getting excited at this point! Next up was welding the pieces together. I wanted to make sure the frame was as level as it could be, but I don't have a fancy frame jig or a welding table. I did have a piece of metal I bought years ago for a project that is long gone & haven't been able to part with it. I thought it would come in handy, and did it! It's some 3" x 3" square, 1/4" thick tube. I decided to tack my center frame piece onto the 3x3 and add the kickups from there out, measuring as I went. From the kickups, I worked my way to the front, then the rear. Once it was all tacked into place, I checked the heights again, then started welding the joints together. The cuts allow for 6" from the bottom of the frame to the ground on the front Z and 13.5" from the bottom of the frame to the ground on the rear Z. After I had welded up the visiable joints, I got out the grinder & cut the tack welds that were holding the rails to the 3x3 as well as holding the rails together. I seperated them and set 'em up to see what they looked like.
Here's the Farmall tractor grill, after recently being slathered in flat black from a rattle can, And since I now had frame rails, I just HAD to set up the tub & grill. The grill is further forward and higher from where it will sit once it's completed, but you get the idea. In this picture, the rear frame rails are about 10" too long. They need to be trimmed, gonna do that tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll be adding 3 crossmembers and capping the opened parts of tube in the frame. Next up... suspension & drivetrain mounts!
Being a fellow ColoRODan I won't be too hard on you Seriously, it looks great so far. The one thing I would suggest is to tack the crossmembers and rails together in a full structure along with some temporary crossbracing before final welding. Then skip around making shorter welds at the joints. This will go a long way in keeping the frame square, level and untwisted. Keep us updated, and good luck.
Looks good. Do you plan on gusseting the joints? Not to cut on ya or nothing your car should be light enough but I didn't think butt joints would be strong enough when I built my A sedan. So I cut my tubing so I had a kinda ready made gusset. It overlaps the other metal and gives more surface area to weld to. My fear would be that over time the welds would crack on a butt joint. Just my .02
Looks good, I've done 3 sets of rails like that, I add gussets to everything at least on the inside because I want it to be bullet proof.
Thanks, I'll remember the cross bracing idea. I have plenty of scrap tube that I can use for that. I'll do the short weld suggestion too.
Yeah, I'm going to add some 1/8" or mabey even 3/16" plate on the inside of each joint that'll overlap the weld, extending onto both pieces of the rail. You really took the time to think yours out, it looks great! I'm kind of a simple guy, need to keep my projects simple too.
Once again I am learning stuff! Why dont you send me that D60F axle shaft on the floor...better yet, gather up all that 60 stuff and send it to me, it looks like its in the way!!!! LOL... looks good!
Nada, those parts are for the 'other' hobby/project. High pinion 60, Dodge kingpin knuckles and 35 spline shafts. Gonna build me a front 60, seems to be cheaper that way!
looking good but just a quick note before you weld her all up, it looks like the weld seam on the tubing is on the outside on both rails the way you have it siting so if you swap them side to side the seams would be on the inside making it stronger when you tie all the cross members into them, the frame will also look alot cleaner once painted as you won't see that electro welded seam running down the side. you should deffinetly gusset everything and for future reference you'd be better off pie cutting the rails (leaving one side in tact) instead of cutting them clean through.
That's a good point, I hadn't thought about the seam before. Thanks for the idea, I'll make sure I keep the seams inside. I'll remember the pie cutting idea for the next frame.
i like it your frame is fairly similar to the one i just built for my A mod but i didnt step the front that much http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145068
That grill kicks ass-just trim it so the top lines up with the top of the cowl. Or sell it to me, I'll give it a good home!
Yeah, it's a near perfect combo. I like how the lines are very similar, the match turned out better than I thought it would! I'm going to trim it so the grill sits down in the frame, level with the cowl. I'll keep it for now, took me long enough to find this one.
NICE! i dig those old Dodge bodies like that. my buddy, Dan, built a 1918 Dodge modified a while back. the project had been started by a guy named Jim Allen (a friend of Dan's) so Dan dubbed it "The Allen Special". you should check it out. i posted it a year couple years back. try searching for "Allen Special" or "Dodge modified". i think you'll like it.
found the thread. there are actualy a couple but this one had the best pics... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20545&highlight=allen+special
Looks really good. The only thing I'm wondering about is the butt welding of the horizontal pieces (front/rear clips) to the kick ups. Isn't it better to stack them ontop of the vertical uprights rather than placing them on the faces of those vertical pieces? If it's stacked, then you can weld around a lot more metal than just the end of the tubing. I'm probably wrong, but that's what I though. I gues if other guys have been doing it the way you've done than I wouldn't worry about it. Looks nice and square.
The welder ran out of gas on saturday night after finishing all but one the remaining inside joints, got my tank filled tonight and I'll be back out there tomorrow evening.
Thanks! I'm sure there's more than a few ways to build a better frame, this was just the easiest for me. As mentioned eairler, I will be adding a piece of plate to the inside of each joint. I'll also be capping the opened ends and extending the cap about 4" or so beyond the joint. I think that will add enough horizontal strenght that it'll be fine. We'll see as time passes...
That 1918 Dodge is badass! Thanks for the link, I've been getting some ideas for my Dodge from the pics.
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