Bubba "Fixed" my '63 front cross member ...

[Douglas C.]

Hi,

As you can see from the photo, Bubba did a number on my '63 frame front cross-member. Looks like he needed the frame clearance for a larger balancer. It appears he made extensive use of an acetylene torch/sledge hammer to soften the metal and "pound out" enough clearance. He must have liked '65 and later frames so much he thought he'd make one.

My choices seem:

1) Replace the front cross member - hard to find 63/64 in good condition?

or

2) Repair the one you see.

Could a new frame piece be fabricated and replaced undetectable, or could the repair be pounded back out from the backside interior with the lower frame plate removed. I plan to have a professional do the work, just looking at possible options for when that time comes in the restoration.

Any thoughts/suggestions on the possible repair or replacement would be greatly appreciated.

--Doug

[Mike M.]

Re: Bubba "Fixed" my '63 front cross member ...

i suspect ole bubba droped a mark IV in the midyear at one time . i'd simply cut the dameaged area out and replace with a fabricated piece. weld and grind and paint and it'd be undetectable. better yet, find a 63-4 rusted up frame and cut the almost always well preserved front drossmemeber piece from the rusty donor frame. good luck,mike

[Tracy C.]

Re: Bubba "Fixed" my '63 front cross member ...

Doug,

Agree with Mike. In fact, I dug through my bone pile out back and came up with this piece from a 63 frame. I'm quite certain the area you need can be obtained from it.

If you'll pay shipping, I'll box it up and sent it out to you. If interested, email your address to me at crisler@wheatstate.com.

tc

[Chuck S.]

Re: Bubba "Fixed" my '63 front cross member ...

Mike and Terry already gave you my answer; I completely agree. That Crisler fellow is a prince...with his donor piece, you'll be half way there.

You would never beat it out smoothly from the inside...you would end up with a crinkled, wrinkled, hammer-toned mess ready for a pound or two of Bondo.

[Bert L.]

Re: Bubba "Fixed" my '63 front cross member ...

Bravo Tracy! Does a body good to see that good old NCRS fraternal generosity being demonstrated once again

[Dick W.]

Re: Bubba "Fixed" my '63 front cross member ...

I fixed a similar frame several years ago. Bubba's other brother Bubba musta done yours. TC's offer is one way, or you can repair it as Dr McQuack suggested. I made my own repair piece. Takes longer to think about than to do it

[Douglas C.]

Re: Bubba "Fixed" my '63 front cross member ...

Tracy,

Thank you for your kind offer!

Sure looks like you have the piece I need to graft into place.
Looks like a good solution for this problem.

Email is coming!

Regards,

--Doug

[Joe L.]

Re: Bubba "Fixed" my '63 front cross member ...

Tracy,

Thank you for your kind offer!

Sure looks like you have the piece I need to graft into place.
Looks like a good solution for this problem.

Email is coming!

Regards,

--Doug

Doug-----


I would definitely recommend splicing in Tracy's piece from the donor frame. I think it will be way less hassle than trying to remove and weld-in a complete crossmember. If you did the complete crossmember, you're going to have to get it welded in just right or you'll have alignment problems.

I would remove as little as possible of the original crossmember in the "damaged" area. Then, cut the same piece out of the donor and weld it in.

[Terry F.]

Re: Bubba "Fixed" my '63 front cross member ...

I am new to the new board so I hope this gets to you.

When you first look at the damage, you might be tempted to cut a lot out. I suggest this approach to the repair. 1) Grind or cut open the welded area. 2) With a torch and some clamps, gently heat the area that is bent and try to return it to the original configuration. Use the donor piece as a guide. You may have to create a clamp or devise a surface to hammer on. NOTE: Don't hammer on the frame directly. Instead, heat the steel to a dull red and place a thick piece of steel over it and hammer on the steel. Otherwise, you will deform the steel. 3) Clean up the edges of the hole and inspect it closely for integrity. After you have it back to its original configuration I suspect you will have very little to weld back in. Reinforce the underside edges if needed. At a minimum, I would weld a tab or two to prevent the donor piece from falling in the hole. 5) Fit the donor piece as best you can. I use a die grinder and cutting wheels, etc. 6) Use a good wire feed welder (200 to 250 amp range), not a plug in the wall type. Let the welder do the final dressing of the donor. Welded correctly, it should look very close to new. Needs to have good penitration and strength. Lucky for you, that area survives well so there should be excellent steel in that area to weld to. Just a humble suggestion. A jun repair to do, too! Terry

[Chuck S.]

Re: Bubba "Fixed" my '63 front cross member ...

...Needs to have good penitration and strength...

Yeap. I bet if Mike #14 was going to write a welding procedure for this job, it would probably go something like this (with an economy of words, of course. ) .

I would dress the cut out hole as square and straight sided as I could, then I would fit up the donor piece by trial an error until it fit perfectly in the hole (gap thinner than a razor blade). I would bevel the edges of both pieces at 45 degrees, hold it in position with a welder's glove and tack it at the four corners. After confirming the alignment was perfect everywhere, I put another four tacks at the middle of each side.

Then I would start laying in a root pass at one corner 2"-3" at one time, then move to the diagonal position and lay in another 2"-3", then to the same side opposite corner for another 2-3 inches, etc until you have the entire root pass in. Then, repeat this process for another pass if one pass doesn't fill the beveled joint completely. A little undercut wouldn't matter; this patch may need a skim of Bondo after grinding off the excess weld anyway.

From Tracy's photo, it looks like this material is only about 0.100" thick. Depending on the duty of the welder, you would want to keep track of your welding time, and take it slow to let the welder, and the frame, cool. Adjust the wire speed and heat settings for the material thickness...maybe a tad cooler on the root pass subject to experience.

I don't know how many amps my welder is spec'd for, but it's a 240V model that has settings for welding up to 1/4" thick steel. It "plugs into the wall", but it would eat this job for lunch. A 120V model may be able to do it, but it would have to be slow to keep from frying the welder.

[Tracy C.]

Re: Bubba "Fixed" my '63 front cross member ...

Hi Doug,

You must of recieved the cross member piece OK because I recieved your check today. You wrote it for too much but thanks for the extra. I can go out a get myself a big ole cheeseburger with that. (like I need it )

Good luck with the repair,
tc