I made a set of rails for a Model A the other day and took pics as I went. I used a plazma cutter to do my cuts, but the same thing could be done with a cut off wheel on an angle grinder. Of coarse the cut off wheels will take a lot longer and you will go through a lot of them. With a plaz you can use a guide or pattern to make your cuts. My plaz needs about a 1/4" from the guide to the cut. My measurements include that 1/4". My pattern was also cut a 1/4" small so I can run the plaz around it and end up with what I want. I started off with two lengths of 2"x4" tubing. It is 1/8" thick. I marked the tubing for the taper. The taper will start 40" from the front of the frame. The horns start about 10" from the front. I set my guide 3/8 from the edge and cut the bottom starting at the 40" mark.(first pic) Then cut the other side the same way. You can see how the plaz cut the bottom real close to the sidewall. (second pic) I then flipped the tubing on it's side and set my guide up. (third pic) It is set at 3/8" from the bottom of the rail at the 40" mark and 2 1/8" from the top of the rail at the 10" mark. Be careful when cutting not to cut past the 10" mark for the horns. After cutting the taper I clamped my pattern for the horns on and cut just the bottom. (fourth pic) I waited til after I got the bottom welded to cut the top. After cutting the the horn the scrap came out leaving the band for the bottom and the new shape for your rails. (fifth pic) The plaz leaves a nice clean edge and needs no grinding. Remember to get the slag off of the inside so it doesn't contaminate your welds.
Now you're ready to start welding. At first you just want to tack it together about every 6". I used a "C" clamp vise grip to pull it into place.(first pic) Tou don't want to push the bottom back into the rail. You want to bring it down till it just meets the sides. This gives you a good place to weld and keeps the grinding to a minimum. Once you have it tacked in place now you can go back and start filling in the weld. Go slow! Weld 2" at a time about foot apart. (second pic) Make sure the rail is supported on a flat surface. After the bottom is welded I cut the top of the frame from my 10" mark forward just like I did the bottom. I then clamped my horn pattern back on and cut the top half. (third pic) Now you can weld the top just like the bottom. With the curve you may have to make your tack welds closer (fourth pic) I left the ends open cause I will weld a speader bar in when I start to build the frame. All that is left is to grind the rails and you're redy to start building a frame. The last pic is of the finished rail. As a side note. If you don't want the welded seam of the tubing showing on the outside of a rail make sure you cut the second rail opposite of the first. Clark
Clark - very cool, nice post. For some reason the chassis fab. portion of this hobby really appeals to me. Thanks for sharing.
Very cool! I did this about a month ago on the lunar lander but I didn't take pics. Nice point on the seam though, I forgot and made mine with the seam to the outside, oops.
What does a pair of 2"x4" sticks sell for? I'll need to build a frame for my next project later this summer. Someone please put this in the Tech-o-matic. JH
Harrison...20 feet cost us $125 Alteredpilot...I left the end alone cause when I put the spreader bar in I will make it go to the outside wall of the rail. If you don't want a spreader bar you could cut a piece of tubing in half and use it for caps. Should I take pics when I make the frame? Clark
Great post Clark...I did mine very similar on The Kid...but we ran with 1/4 inch wall, and used the frame horns and off of my original frame...used the original crossmembers too....don't cry too much about me cuttin' up an original frame...rails were pitted pretty bad and starting to swiss cheese....wow..$125 for 20 feet...man! The price of steel has gone through the roof! I remember when I got mine...2- 10 foot sticks of 2"x4" 1/4 inch wall square tubing...$65! And that was only 2 years ago! Amazing how things change...
I am saving this along with 60 Style's tech posts. If you and Paul ever get together, one slick car would be built. And, That's all I got to say 'bout that.
Great post... On your side note. As someone who builds alot of things like gates and handrails, I notice other guy's work, and it's hard to believe how few fabricators ever take the time to locate the seam on a piece of tubing where it's least degrading to the project. So, I agree... Take the time to do it... people DO notice things like that. I do, anyway. JOE
If a guy was to believe all the rumors flying around, better get that steel for your frames NOW. Price will be going way up again shortly. About 3 months ago steel prices just about doubled in a matter of a few weeks. Within the next month its suppose to almost double again. Days of anything cheap are gone for good, I'm afraid. Gene
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