I have my motor put on the back burner for a while until I can afford to get my head done. I have a ton of other work to do, so there’s no standing around wondering what I can do.
I started welding in boxing plates on my frame the other day. I have to grind a lot of rivets and pound them out, to remove all the X members. I have reference marks on both frame rails front and back if I have to re-square everything back up to re-install my
X members when I’m done.
I’m still have a lot of difficulty getting down on the floor and then getting back on my feet, so test hefted my frame off the jack stands, and thought it might be doable to flip it on edge. Then I rethought that idea, and took down my front clip that has been hanging from a chain fall so I could use that instead. It took the afternoon to take apart my clip, and this morning I’ll move all the parts behind my shop and stash them in my truck box.
Back to my frame; The main x member has rivets top and bottom and through the sides of the C-channel. I found the easiest way to remove the rivet heads, was using a sawzall on the heads and finishing up with a die grinder, then pounding them out with a bolt held by vise grips. The flare in the bottom of the C channel by the rear end location seems to be made by heating with a torch and pounding the bottom of the channel down some. It’s pretty wavy, and each side is slightly different. I’m not sure what the reasoning was behind that, but there it is.I fitted my boxing plates as best I could, then tacked them in place.
I’m not the worst welder on the planet, but looking at the first side I did, you wouldn’t know it. Even from a distance it looks pretty bad. I’m going to grind my slag flat, cut it loose and start again. To me, it’s unacceptable and there wasn't even an argument with myself about who was right, and who was wrong.
I’ll post some progress photos when I have something exciting to share.
