About when did boxing frames become common? I'm guessing late 50's or early 60's and was the whole frame boxed in the early days or did it progress from a "week spot" to where the full rails were boxed? I'm also guessing it started at the drag strip long before it made it's way to the street too, right?
Thanks daliant but I should have mentioned that I'm interested only with the hot rodding scene. I'm trying to figure out if my "traditional build" 32 should be boxed or not and if so, to what extent. I'd prefer not to box it but if history shows that it should be I'll do it so I'd like to try and figure out a ball park era of when boxing a rod's frame was "the thing to do".
I don't think i would care when it started. It is just smart to box it just to be on the safe side.... My two cents........
I'd like to know as well. I think it's a new(like 30-40 years ago) thing, but can someone prove it wrong with some history?
My buddy, "The Old Geezer", 81 Years young, told me about his '30 Tudor he built when he was young. It had a flathead, no interior to speak of, wasn't painted, ("only the rich kids could afford paint..."), and stood about 3 feet tall at the roof...when I asked him about boxing the frame, he said "Sheeet, we never boxed nuthin', and we never had any problems!"...he sold it to go in the army at the start of the Korean Conflict, so that was what 1950? He grew up in Arizona...Don't know if this helps any, but I'm guessing it might have been a regional thing, too, like some styles/geographic locations might have done it, while others were slow to pick up on the benefits of boxed frames and it might have taken years for it to catch on in some areas of the country...me, I'd box the heck out of it, but that's just me, I always do what's safest, (yah, right...)! Eric
Unless you are running a big motor, low rear, and slicks boxing is overkill. As a youngster we had a 40 coupe with a 450Hp++ 392 hemi unboxed frame, it had so much torque you could easily put it sideways. A few years ago my brother pulled the frame ou of storage to build a new car, he checked the frame and it was within 1/8" of square. I think the boxing idea started in Cali. as a col thing to do .
The 1949 MG-TC I had had a boxed frame stock from the factory, I'm sure cars in the 1930's had them as well. Someone must have noticed this and started boxing Hot Rod frames.
I think partial boxing of frames started when it became obvious things were'nt right due to bigger HP, going faster and frames where cracking. Boxing can serve several purposes all of which are a choice each individual should consider. I prefer full boxing of the frame because it; Helps protect your investment in time and effort. Keeps the underside of your vehicle looking clean and tidy. Is an insurance policy for your body, helps to reduce stress and sheet metal cracking. Makes your suspension do what it is supposed to do "WORK". <!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
It's been talked about and recommended all my years of building since the early 60s. My guess would be the early 50s when Cadillac's and Oldsmobile's started to twist the originals without the reinforcing. It was really only done on Ts, As and Deuces in those days. This truck had the original X member completely cut out when I got it. A piece of 3 "channel iron for a center crossmember bolted across the bottom of the frame rails... An after market X member kit and home made boxing of the front rails saved a POS frame. This was done 40 years ago and was considered normal for that time period. There were no reproduction frames back then but they did sell kits for guys like me that could weld to make a nice frame out of a POS. Original 34 Frames are double walled and don't need the boxing unless an idiot cut it out like mine. It's still on the road so I must have done a descent job.
I have the reprint of California Bill's Ford Speed Manual (1952 edition) and they show how to box and add a X member to an A frame.
My Dad told me that frame boxing was from the circle track guys once they found out that a stock frame twisted like a pretzel...would "wind up" and as soon as you nailed it coming out of the corners it would "unwind" causing the car to be really hard to drive. Can't really say I could verify that statement but, he was there in those days...I suppose he would know. Too bad he isn't around anymore, he sure could spin yarns.
I have a fenderless RPU mostly stock with the banger. I drive it hard and i drive it off road sometimes. You can feel it twisting and sometimes you cant close the doors. Im sure the idea started very early. For lots of reasons. The welding/cutting im sure is what limited a lot of people.
i have a book that I got in 67 which recomends it on T's and A's. It also had a section of filling front axles. And "boxing" connecting rods. I can't say that i would do either of the last two, but the frame, yes.
Boxing will improve any frame but the T's and A's really need it, the 32's, not so much. Those were stronger as is, but if I were doing one it would be boxed anyway. Don
That's what I had heard also, boxing the frame helped with stability while you were winding out your Flathead. The advent of Potvin forced induction and Ardun heads exasperated the problem in the 40's long before the ohv valve engines were competitive. But In 54 when the Hemi's came along it became even more apparent that the model A's needed some stiffening. The flexible frame worked just as planned on the crude muddy rutted roads of the 30's but when the serious torque/potential of the first viable OHV engines/conversions came into play the T and A frames needed help. Yes, You can still buy the reprint... A local has a very early edition of that book, 1948 I think. California Bill ran ads in the back of late '40s popular mechanics and mechanix illustrated. The earliest ad I've seen was in Pop Mechanics June 1949 issue: Bill had a speed shop in the late 40's at 6195 Figueroa in LA where he would box frames if that's what you wanted
I have been told by many old timers that they never used to box frames on hot rod builds. But keep in mind that in their hot rod days the flathead Mill was mostly what they were running, I have been told that boxing the rails didn't really come about until the sixtys, when pretty much the bigger overhead valve motors replaced the flathead. Although I am sure there were some guys doing it before then, really depends on the frame you have, I think the 32-34 frames are plenty strong stock for a mild street motor. I also do not like the look of a boxed frame, but that is just me.
When I was building my 32 roadster in 1958, I boxed the frame cause it was the thing to do on a hot rod
I could believe that it kind of went along with splitting the bones on a Ford. That twist and bind puts a whole lot more stress on the rails than the original wishbone.
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