rusty frame

[jfhbird]

I have discovered a bit of frame rot on my 56 bird. It is in the place where the cross members meet the frame in the rear of the car. The frame starts to bend ther so it can provide clearance for the rear wheels. My quandry is do i have the frame repaired or replaced. Has anyone had this problem ?

[Ts & As]

jfhbird

I had your problem in spades with my 57. Could put your fist inside the rot holes by the front spring perches ahead of the rear wheels. This apparently is quite common in our little birds that have been subject to the elements over time. (Tom D - can you spell road salt?)

The body has to come off to repair. Hopefully that is in your plans - it was NOT in mine but that's the way it goes.

Repaired with a MIG welder and the same guage sheetmetal used originally (can't remember the exact guage at this point)and put in internal gusset plates (cross braces)every 18" while the box frame was cut open to strengthen everything up. Once the welds were ground down and the frame repainted - it is difficult to find the repaired sections.

The box frame apparently rusts from the inside out because metal flakes fall inside the box and holds moisture at the bottom to manifest the rusting process. While you have the frame cut open blow and flush all the crap that has accumulated over time - dirty job - but worth it. I chose to dump in a quart of Pour 15 inside the box and slosh it around for some added protection before things got sealed back up.

Also a good idea to drill 1/8 inch holes every 24 inches or so up and down the frame rails to check the thickness of the metal for additional thin spots that may not be visible otherwise. These holes can be spotted and ground later in the finishing process.

I have some pretty detailed pictures of the process if you are interested. Hopefully I have made some sense in the description above.

Tom R
57 Dusk Rose
CTCI #33126

[ashmatk2000]

Tom, On my '57, I haven't verified the thickness of my frame yet, but I like your suggestion. I'm doing a frame off and also have a lot of flakes inside the frame. Do you have a way of cleaning the frames interior without cutting? Acid bath maybe? Anyway, I would really like to see your photos. Could you please e-mail them to me at [email protected]

Thanks for the advice Tom

Ken Lambert
Las Vegas

[rich morrill]

Ken
I posted a question quite awhile ago about the chassis on my 56 It has steelplating all along the chassis including the place that you speak about. The consensous is that early 56 tbirds have 55 chassis's that were strengthened to support the continental, even thought the connie is hooked to the body. I thought it was a bad chassis. You might want to look into plating the entire chassis.

[Ts & As]

Ken

Will dig out the photos and scan them in to send to you.

Let me also crawl under the car tonight - runs in my mind that there is an access point toward the rear of the frame on each rail to be able to extract the "flakes and chips" , Not sure of the acid bath idea until rails are totally cleaned out. Maybe a small vacuum hose would work. Will let you know what I discover tonight.

Tom R.

[sc1956]

If you could vacuum most of that crap out, and then drill some strategically placed holes, it'd be worth spraying a healthy dose of POR15 in there for most owners...frame off or no.

[jfhbird]

Thanks for all the replys. I guess this is a common problem. The frame on the 56 has steel plating welded to the bottom of it i wasnt sure if this was repair work or original. Appears to be original according to some of the other strings i have seen on the forum. No one has suggested replacing the frame altogether is there any reason for that? Tom R. thanks for your offer of pics i would love to see them if possible. My email address is [email protected]
Thanks
Jamie H.

[ 05-08-2003: Message edited by: jfhbird ]

[Ts & As]

Pix have been sent - Since mine is a 57 w/o the Continental kit - no added plating.

Good Luck

Tom R.

[Ts & As]

Ken

Crawled under tonight - have 2 two inch by two inch holes above rear spring perch. If you are able to stand on end on back cross member - all flakes should fall to rear for a quick vacume - not sure if it would work if have running gear attached.

Tom R