It was 70 degrees during the week but back to winter this weekend with the high around 39, so I fired up the heater to knock the chill out (and warm to a toasty 45) and continue inching toward the finish line.
Earlier in the week I took the front bumper, brackets and filler panels back off and soaked the rusty bumper brackets into a vinegar solution. I also cut out the boxing plates that I was going to need to strengthen the frame for the transmission crossmember. The boxing plates had some mill scale on them so I soaked them in the solution as well. Unfortunately my pan was not large enough for the bumper brackets so I'll have to do one end at a time. Also, while the front bumper was off I went ahead and mounted the new lower radiator panel.
On Saturday I removed the boxing plates from the solution and wiped them clean with some lacquer thinner and painted the inside surface with weld-thru primer and put them in front of the heater so they would quickly dry.
The truck had an aftermarket tubular crossmember when I purchased it. It was just sitting between the frame rails (wasn't bolted in) but it looked like it might be usable. I had a 2x4 between the frame rails to prop up the aft end of the transmission while I welded in the motor mounts during the front suspension fab but that was just to get it close. I had shimmed the engine to be within a degree or so of where it needed to be but I needed to get the transmission final mounted prior to redoing the transmission tunnel so I could make sure it cleared.
I replaced the 2x4 with a floor jack to hold the transmission up to get better access to remove the paint on the frame in the area where I planned to weld. On the right side I had also mounted a drop down battery box on the outside of the frame so I had welded some 5/16 threaded square nuts on the inner frame surface so the battery box could blindly bolt to it. I sprayed some primer on those welded nuts while it was accessible. After the boxing plate paint was dry, I crawled up under the truck and tack welded the boxing plates into position, managing to set my sweatshirt on fire only one time (yea!).
With both sides boxed, I took a measurement and cut the crossmember to fit between the boxed frame, taking into consideration the addition of an angle welded on each end as an attach flange. I then mounted the shortened crossmember to the transmission, final adjusted the transmission angle with the floor jack to match the rear diff angle and located the attach angles that I cut to fit and tacked them to the ends of the crossmember. I then removed the crossmember and final welded the assembly.
Next, I reinstalled the crossmember noting that the attach flanges were even with the lower flange of the frame. This was not ideal and I was tired and it was getting late so I snapped a pic and decided to think about it a little more before continuing. After studying the pic a little more it was evident to me that I need to cut off the center portion of the bracket (the part that attaches to the transmission mount) and relocate it to the side of the mount instead of sitting on top of the mount. That will raise the entire mount relative to the frame and transmission, yielding more room for the exhaust and more mounting surface for the frame attachment..... so that will be the next portion of the build.
1949 Chevy Panel Truck A Project Journal I'm old but I make up for it by being immature.
