The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Frame Rust Repair

I guess that I am going to have to give up on my 51, 1 Ton project because I have found some serious frame rot. The inside face of the vertical section of the frame, where the cross member attaches just behind the cab, has an area of about 4 inches long to 3 inches high that is rotted away to about 1/2 it's original thickness. because of the cross member, an angle iron cannot be welded in and secured to the bottom rail.

has anyone had experience with this ? Is there some industry standard practice ? I had hoped to make this truck roadworthy some day.

Thanks for any advice,
Fred

Fred ,, as I see it , you have two options ;

Find another frame .

Fix the existing frame . De-rivet the cross member if its in the way , grind the rusted area right out , cut a piece of 1/8" plate to fit in the hole and mig weld it in . Apply paint . Bolt the crossmember back in with bolts that are a tight fit in the holes .

Fixing the frame isn't really all that difficult. Take out the crossmember and grind it, then make up plates (2) for both sides of the rotted area, that extend past the rot to good metal... Cut some oval holes in the plates and weld along the plates on the top and the bottom, and weld inside the oval areas you cut. Do not weld vertically along the ends of your patch plates (also called "Cheek" plates)as you will end up with stress fractures along those welds... Then, as above, put the crossmember back in with tight-fitting bolts, and I would even use grade eight bolts... They are cheap enough insurance!