Yes Brerhair that is correct there is more strength in a repair like this over a **** joint . Theres more of an area that is welded .A friend of mines uncle told us quite some time ago to never cut and **** weld a frame together . Always try to V it or in his case a Z pattern . He welded heavy equipment as a living and did it for 40 years . I would think that he knows what he is talking about . I did it on my 1986 F-150 and the frame never gave me a problem . He also said if at all possible always weld frame with frame if you have access to old pieces.
You can make that splice even stronger by welding in some fish-plate or even a couple of lengths of heavy 2" angle-whatever you have laying around. Nice work so far. Really looking forward to seeing the Buick body dropped onto the Caprice ch***is!
Yes, Hot Rods Ta Hell . I am looking forward to it as well .Hopefully I will get some time in tonight and tomorrow morning as well . If I do ,The body should be over the frame by tomorrow . ( Early Christmas present to me ) That is a major corner turner in the build of any project . I still have a very long way to go but at least the rebuilding will begin .
Well I almost got the other side done . I ran out of wire and it was 10:00 PM anyway . I told the cheif I would be in at 10:00 . Funny how that works . Anyway pretty much a duplicate of the Left side . As far as the pictures goes . If I can steal away for about another 3 hours tomorrow I may be able to get the body down and placed on the frame . We'll see . Stay Tuned . LOL!!!
Just a Christmas eve update . I stole away a few hours this AM and finished up what I started last night . I am back to having a roller again , but 5.5 inches longer . Be a few days I am sure before I am back at this again . Anyway , Merry Christmas to all . PS I received a christmas gift today as well . I had ordered some interior side window trim from Wheatbelt Buick in Oklahoma on the 14th of Dec. and it arrived today . Very good stuff. Thanks Wheatbelt !!!
Hello All I have a few more pics here , not to much accomplished other than the lowering of the 51 onto the caprice frame . A few obsevations. I see that I need to lower the front frame mounts a few inches and I also have to continue to remove the rest of the floor ( trunk ) all the way to the tailpan . That way I can lower the body down over the frame as far as I want and then start the reconstruction of the floorpans and body frame mounts . This is all in good time , after all it is a long winter . A few hours a week and it will be a roller by the spring . Have a look . Sorry the pics are out of sequence a bit but all from this evening .
Very interesting build. I been seeing more and more of us on the east coast of Canada build projects from very rusty cars. maybe the guys down south might realize that if a car is good from the door handles up!! It worth saving. I`ll be keeping a eye on this.
I hear ya fitzee . I have your thread already on my watchlist . There are som guys out there that would not dare try the things us Atlantic Canadians do . But when we have nothing but this to start with what is a guy to do ? Building these cars builds your confidence as well and I feel after tackling something like this I am up for just about anything. Stay tuned this should get interesting LOL !!
Looking good ! Its a great incentive booster (for me anyways!) when the rotten old body rolls around on a solid frame once again! So we will see it at the Nats in July right
Ill say . I see he was layin it on you as well fitzee. I think Nats 2012 maybe more like it LOL How about you Steve ? We gonna see a chopped coupe in Moncton this year ?
A daring project to take on, I'm watching this one. I'm not a big fan of whole frame swaps, but I'm interested to see how this takes shape. If anything, the craftsmanship is admirable.
Yes you got it 296 moon . I am not sure how much yet . I am guessing maybe 5 inches . That frame is 5 inches thick and I dont want any of it poking out from under the Buick body . Stay tuned . Later !! <!-- / message -->
Thanks for the compliment strange agent . I will take as much tech pics I can . Time consuming but easy enough . This is the kind of stuff I love to do . I just wish there was enough bussiness around here to make a living at it . I'd be in , definitely <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
Lol it would be nice....I am gonna try ! If it dont happen it will be from lack of money not lack of effort !
Thats cause in Texas you dont have to try and replace frames that are rusted into several sections ! We have to fix stuff that wouldnt even be considered a parts car down south ....its even hard to find a newer donor frame cause they are usually pretty rotten as well
Just another short note . I began to sink the body into the frame . You can see where the frame has been cut . On these GM frames the frame kicks up at this point . You need it to be flat for the buick body support to lay . As you can see I cut the body support and will section what I need out of it when I determine the amount I am going to channel the body over the frame. The third picture is the original main body A piller support that is currently supporting the body . I will section this piece as well . Its nice to see that it rest right on top of the frame . These two sectioned body supports will be what will hold the body to frame . This will mimic the 1951 body to frame mounting points . Thats it for now will post more as progress continues .
Wow! You're certainly ambitious! I'm always awed by what you guys up there will take on. Where I live, that would certainly be a parts car that would have been stripped and sent to the s****per. Great work and good for you for taking it on. I'm anxious to see how this comes out. Good luck and keep us posted.
Merc o I dont know the width of a Olds but I do know that the caprice is 57 1/2 outsid of frame to outside of frame above / below the trans crossmember . The frame of the caprice tapers back as you go from front to back . I think overall 3 inches but dont hold me to it !!! Saxman, ambitious? up here we dont have much option unless you have lots of $$$ to have somethng shipped up from the US south .Yup I am ambitious , ambitious out of desperation . LOL .This would be s****per material for a lot of people around here as well . I on the other hand am drawn to the challenge to take a pile of **** and turn it into something of beauty.Thanks for your feedback and subscribe as this is going to get interesting within a few weeks . Later
Man, you Canadians are some tough mother****ers. Below The 50th: "Sure looks like a rusted out POS." Canadian: "Oh yea, I can see how you might think that, but really she's not too bad!" Below The 50th: "Too much ****ing work if you ask me." Canadian: "Oh no, this one's in pretty good shape. You shoulda seen the one my Uncle Darryl finished last year." Below The 50th: "Brrrr. *******, it's cold !!" Canadian: "Oh you shoulda been here last week! We were just saying as how this has been a mild winter so far, ya know?"
Thats pretty funny brerhair. You must have done some time in the great white north . On the ends of the canadian comments you needed the odd EH! or two to make it really authentic canadian lingo . LOL!!!!
This all looks very familiar. Check out my pics. I used a 79 Pontiac frame. Same thing, had to stretch 5.5 inches http://photobucket.com/fiddy3Buick