Well . . . I was pondering how the hell I was going to stuff a 392 Hemi into my mint 34 Ford frame. Came to the obvious conclusion that I'd have to butcher the **** out of my original (nothing but frame rails would remain), so then I decided to start from scratch. Good ole' FlatDog encouraged me to not hack the originals - God bless his soul. I just couldn't see myself buying a "store bought" frame, so I did the male rationalization thing . . . you know: "Gee - for the price of an aftermarket 34 frame, I could buy the equipment and make my own . . . the equipment will pay for itself Honey - honest it will!" You guys know the sickness that we use to justify all equipment/tool purchases. This led me down the path of "Well - I might as well make a frame jig as I have multiple cars to do in the future!" Cha-****ing-Ching . . . the slot machine of steel purchases and tools has now starting ****ing in my wallet . . . pull the handle Dale . . . just pull that son of a ***** . . . look at the money get ****ed into the machine . . . isn't this fun! Also, I really wanted to buy a TIG welder and learn to TIG weld . . . so nothing better than to create the MOTHER of all FRAME JIGs . . . affectionatly now known as "THE IRON MAIDEN". The steel rack that has stretched my tool-purchase wallet to the screaming max . . . "Oh Honey, this is the sensible thing to do . . . No Really . . . trust me!" (I'll have to live as long as the oldest ***anic survivor to come clean . . . but I'm glad I've done it as God knows I need to practice TIG on something! Here are the pictures and some of the "tools" I've made along the way: 1) I decided to make the whole thing "bolt together" - as I really wanted to be able to take it apart when not in use as it takes up lots of space. 2) I pondered making rotating ends (like an enigne stand) - decided it was a good idea as I'm just learning how to TIG, the last thing I need are overhead welds. Made the rotating ends to accept standard engine stand heads - as I'll use them for engines when the frame jig is not in use (figure I needed as much use out of the pieces/parts as possible). 3) Bought ASC 34 Ford rails. They are pretty dang nice, but I can tell you that without a heavy frame jig to "stretch" the middle and "compress" the front, that it would be damn hard to actually match the original frame dimensions. I made a couple crude tools to help out with the stretching and compressing . . . pictures included. Here yah go . . . ole' Iron Goddess of Love . . . you big ***y thing you . . . [/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH] I made sliding 'uprights' - so that I can use the same jig for many types/years of frames. The last thing I needed was one hard-welded ******* that only fits one year. I designed the plates in CAD and had them CNC plasma-cut - as I needed a bunch of them: Here is the 'stretcher' and 'compressor' that I made - these are really necessary to move the rails to the correct dimensions. Just looked around the shop for things I could use . . . worked out well. I used chains on the compressor - so it could be adjusted for any size frame . . . I just tighten the bolts on the rods to pull the frame rails together: Here is my original frame - the one that I use for dimensions and also that I'm going to setup with a blown flathead some day . . . If anybody is thinking of building one of these, drop me a line . . . will be happy to share how I went about it, the materials used, dimensions, things to consider, etc.. It worked out well - though the damn steel was pretty expensive (especially earlier this year!).
Don't know exactly what you mean? I made the front and rear fixtures to bolt to the ASC frame rails -- with the exact dimensions for width and height. I leveled the jig side to side on both ends - and the rails are level their entire length (side to side). The ASC rails were good in this area as when the front and rear mounting points were level, the rest of the frame remained level (measured about every 2 feet or so). The difficult part is getting the frame width to be correct the entire length -- as noted, I had to stretch the rails quite a bit in the middle area and then pull them back together toward the front. Without the tools I made, I could not have done that. I now need to rework some of the rail flanges in a couple areas and start t******* the Ionia boxing plates to work in a "stepped boxed" type of setup. I am also fabbing some stiffeners to tie the boxing plates to the sides - every couple feet or so (will post more on that stuff later on).
I sure hope those 4" I beams as main rails dont sag over time. I had a set of 6", 12' long sag 3/8" after a year. Keep your eye on them, it would **** to get everything close to welding K member in and have it off.
I see you have need for more shop space. How's about you invite me over, I'll bring the beer and help you clean up. I'll start by removing those terribly dusty and dirty brake drums you have. It must discust you to have peolpe over for them to see such shamefull parts. So whats the addy?
Good point! Maybe I'll need to "turn" it once in awhile the other way . . . or more than likely create an adjustable center support that goes to the floor. Thanks for pointing that out - as these are 16' long. I do plan to take it apart when I'm done with the frame - as it is a big beast. Dang . . . you found them . . . I thought they were lost Not sure what you meant by "whats the addy"?
Quote; <!-- icon and ***le -->If anybody is thinking of building one of these, drop me a line . . . will be happy to share how I went about it, the materials used, dimensions, things to consider, etc.. It worked out well - though the damn steel was pretty expensive (especially earlier this year!). An in depth tech once you have progressed on the frame would be cool, that way you can share with us some of the inevitable things you learn about your new design. This is a very ambitious project, and we'd all like to know how well it works.
The Jalopy Journal
