Crusty Rusty Leaky Squeaky 67 Step

[Elliot949]

Great plan Vic.

[snipescastle2]

Vic,
It was great seeing you and Kathy this morning! Thanks for the kind words!
I made it home just fine, I'm not sure exactly what's going on with my driveline, but I'll put it up on stands and remove the driveshaft to see what's up.
When the show was over, they did the awards, the first award they gave was the business Agent's Pick, went to a '41 Buick.
I got one of the "Top 20" awards out of 77 cars/trucks that were there. I was
Hoping to get something, but did much better than than expected!

That frame will be a piece of cake for you to shorten.well, have a great Evening!
Ben

[Xeen]

I'm glad Bob was able to come through with a frame, I can't wait to see some Vic magic.

[swamp rat]

Well finding the donor sure didn't take long! Please document this frame shortening/grafting well, let the good times roll!

[Low Elco]

Glad you have a plan! Let me know if you need a hand hossin' the chunks around!

[Vic1947]

The short frame is down to the bare essentials and I moved the long frame inside today and started stripping the components I won't be using. You can see the main difference in the side to side photos. The center x-member is much further back in the long frame. I'll reinforce the rails with square tubing ahead of the cut marks before unleashing the cutoff wheel.

Hopefully won't take long to get rid of the extra parts. I doused a bunch of fastener threads with penetrating oil and will let them soak overnight. Drilling rivets will slow me down some, but there's not a huge number of them. Stay tuned.

[Jason7121]

I used a cutting wheel and made a x on top of each rivet and then hit them a air hammer and chisel bit. That may help things go smoother for you. I know rivets can be a bear.

[Vic1947]

Originally Posted by Jason7121

I used a cutting wheel and made a x on top of each rivet and then hit them a air hammer and chisel bit. That may help things go smoother for you. I know rivets can be a bear.

Thanks, Jason, I'll give that a try.

[Low Elco]

just bought a hoss of a air chisel for this very purpose, worked good. Yours if you want it, or it was 60 at northern.

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Jason7121

I used a cutting wheel and made a x on top of each rivet and then hit them a air hammer and chisel bit. That may help things go smoother for you. I know rivets can be a bear.

I did this too until I borrowed a killer air hammer from my friend Crash_Ok. It will cut the rivet heads right off with the chisel blade. I would then just punch out the rivets after the head was cut off.
Good luck! You need good ear protection too

[snipescastle2]

I also used an air chisel, I had the remove the crossmember that supported a manual transmission from the '67 chassis I am running, even after I knocked the heads off them Rivits, I still had to drill out the remainder,perhaps it was due to the weight of the transmission bearing down on them after all those years, swage-ing them in their holes..... any way's I'm sure Vic will prevail!!!!
Have a good one!
Ben

[Low Elco]

Originally Posted by mcbassin

I did this too until I borrowed a killer air hammer from my friend Crash_Ok. It will cut the rivet heads right off with the chisel blade. I would then just punch out the rivets after the head was cut off.
Good luck! You need good ear protection too

This. Winnah!

[Vic1947]

Turns out the donor frame is not without its own warts. I don't think it's real serious but will need to be tweaked before it can be joined to my short frame. The problem (which you never seem to see until you've looked at it a zillion times) is that the passenger side rail is rolled outward about 1/4" at the yellow arrow in the photo. However, I believe I can draw it together enough to keep it from affecting the alignment of the joints. The results of the laser tool and the centerline measurements aren't perfect, but much better than CRLS. I was hoping to send the finished frame to Sedalia for powder coating this Friday but that ain't gonna happen now. Too much other stuff going on, so it will probably slip another week.

[Vic1947]

The passenger side frame rail is under tension as we speak. I installed one of my heavy duty clamps on the top of the rail and hooked the come-along to it. Far side has a 2x3 steel tubing reinforcement with a chain looped around it for the other end of the puller. First attempt ended in a Mexican standoff. Not enough grunt to move the rail more than just a little bit. Probably didn't help that I just got back from Pizza Ranch stuffed with all-you-can-eat pizza and fried chicken. Anyway, I rummaged thru my junk bucket and retrieved a snatch block so I could double the force of the pull. As you may be able to see from the photos, the rail moved a lot more. I'm going to let it set for an hour or so and see how much it springs back. I pulled it past where it needs to be, so hopefully it will be on spec when it relaxes. If not, I'll pull some more and apply some heat as well. Just didn't want the heat at this point if this does the trick.

[knomadd]

Nice work Vic. Looks like you've got it under control. I was wondering if a few hammer blows would release some of the stress in the frame rail, without having to add heat. Sort of like relaxing sheet metal. I suspect it would take more than a tap to make the same effect as relaxing sheet metal, but it might be worth a shot before applying heat.

[jeh]

Hope it stays in place for you Vic, it would be nice if you didn't have to heat it

[sduckworth13]

Nice work Vic! That's pretty cool your able to do that at home.

[Elliot949]

Looks straight from here Vic... Nice work lining it up...

[snipescastle2]

Vic,
I could always bring you a heavy duty come along from work, just let me know! I have port a powers there also that I can check out,extension Rams, cylinders,etc....lemme know.
Ben

Posted via Mobile Device

[Vic1947]

Thanks, everyone. After I released the tension, the rail stayed in place pretty well. I moved back about 14" and got another bite and made one more pull. Measurements look really good, so the next step is to tack weld some reinforcements to the donor frame and make some cuts. Stay tuned.

[sduckworth13]

way to go Vic
Posted via Mobile Device

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by Vic1947

Thanks, everyone. After I released the tension, the rail stayed in place pretty well. I moved back about 14" and got another bite and made one more pull. Measurements look really good, so the next step is to tack weld some reinforcements to the donor frame and make some cuts. Stay tuned.

[swamp rat]

excellent!

[Vic1947]

As my dear departed Mom used to say, "In for a penny, in for a pound." As you can see, I've passed the point of no return. The X and Z bracing on the front section is very rigid. I almost wish I'd done the same to the short bed section as it flexes very slightly. I assumed the mid x-member would stiffen it enough, but it's less solid than I expected. I think I'll be okay, though, if I get it squared up good and clamped six ways to Sunday. This is where it would be wonderful to have access to a steel flat table. Back to grinding off tabs and chiseling out rivets.

[jeh]

No turning back now!!!
Looks like you have it under control Vic