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Frame rail surprise.

aussiewannabee69

aussiewannabee69

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Hi all. I Was in the first stage of cleaning up my engine bay, cutting and smoothing it out. First part was the battery tray, at some stage in its life it had been given a fibreglass patch. At least that won't rust.
So I cut that out and then thought about making the frame rails look nicer by boxing the top in. My plan was to drill all the spot welded plates on top of the frame rail and replace with one plate welded on and given a smooth appearance. I didn't worry about using my spot weld drill bit because those parts are going anyway. Once I got the tops off I found the frame rail to be rusting from the inside out.
First question, how hard are they to replace?
Any good threads to follow on replacement?
AMD are out of stock. I see Sherman have some on summit. Are they any good?
In the last image is that part of the shock tower?

20220121_055339.jpg 20220121_055405.jpg 20220122_061702.jpg 20220122_064052.jpg
 
Clean it up. You may find that its only a small section. My 64 had some rail rust in the same area. I cut it out and welded a patch in it. Been coming down on wheelies for years. No issue with it at all.
Doug
 
I remember talking to an old fellow many years ago at a car show...original owner of a 70 RR and still sporting all original pristine sheet metal even though he drove it year round for a many many years. He said the trick was to "oil" the car...he said he would dump a quart of oil in each quarter panel and then use an oil can and squirt oil into all the frame rails, rockers, doors etc.

After our conversation I started doing this myself and when I was driving my 70 2dr Sport Fury daily for a few years it never got any worse after oiling it up. I have continued this practice with all my old iron since then.
 
Here in the rust belt, companies have made $$$ doing just exactly that; Krown Rustproofing, Rust Check.
 
If you end up replacing the rail, I would use an original if possible. They are out there, you could try @moparmarks.
 
dvw said:
Clean it up. You may find that its only a small section. My 64 had some rail rust in the same area. I cut it out and welded a patch in it. Been coming down on wheelies for years. No issue with it at all.
Doug
Click to expand...
 
I would like to but it's rusted through 2 sides and not far off coming through the inside wall, so the front rail would be relying on a butt weld amd I don't think it would hold for long.
 
gdrill said:
More common than anyone want's to believe. There are concourse restored cars, besides thousands of drivers, out there with that hidden in there.
Click to expand...
I agree very much. If I didn't pull that top plate off I would have never spotted it. But now I've seen it I can't unsee it. I need to fix it or else I won't be able to enjoy it.
 
Have you found any OEM Frame rails for you car yet? I know a guy in Pennsylvania who has both sides from the Radiator core support to the Torsion bar cross-member. He has had them for years. Blasted them and spray them with a protective coat and have been stored indoors since.
 
Dodge33 said:
Joel, yes this is a good seller (Lee Robinson) as we have bought some
panels from him. A great guy.. a person you want on your side!
Click to expand...
Good to know. It's not for me, but for the OP in Australia. Maybe he won't ship overseas?
 
Thrashingcows said:
I remember talking to an old fellow many years ago at a car show...original owner of a 70 RR and still sporting all original pristine sheet metal even though he drove it year round for a many many years. He said the trick was to "oil" the car...he said he would dump a quart of oil in each quarter panel and then use an oil can and squirt oil into all the frame rails, rockers, doors etc.

After our conversation I started doing this myself and when I was driving my 70 2dr Sport Fury daily for a few years it never got any worse after oiling it up. I have continued this practice with all my old iron since then.
Click to expand...
First car to do that to was a 67 Dart that I had in the mid 70's. It was getting rusty and the oiling helped slow it down but since the car was a daily driver and sat outside, the oil didn't stay for long when it rained. Most of the rusty areas were accessed from behind but some areas that wasn't happening.
 
aussiewannabee69 said:
I would like to but it's rusted through 2 sides and not far off coming through the inside wall, so the front rail would be relying on a butt weld amd I don't think it would hold for long.
Click to expand...
Mines butt welded. 2 sides. It wheelies pretty good every pass. No problem.
Doug
 
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