My frame is pitted in the front where the bumper brackets attach and about 8 - 10 inches back from there. I don't see any real reason to find another one because the pits are not al the way through and their is still good metal left. What can I do about the pits. Can I braze them to fill them in or is there something else short of trying to replace that section? We are talking about a 49 F1 if that makes any diifrence.

 

Tyler ???

are you worried about structural integrity or just cosmetics...

if i'ts structural then you can weld in patch plates inside the frame rails to add some strength... or even outside if you want and dress them up...

if it's strictly cosmetic you can just fill them in with bondo or fiberfill and finish them off from there. I've also seen some chrome or stainless frame horn covers that mount in the area between the bumper and the front cowl....I think mid-50 sells them... but you could bend your own with a little effort......just another option

if you're going to powder coat.... forget the bondo and go with brazing in some brass rod... the heat from the oven will pop the bondo out

I had the same problems in places and it wasn't worth the time to braze in the metal and I just painted the frame...instead of p.c. also paint is easier to repair after mods/fixes than p.c. also

you can see the results on my page
John Niolon's 1953 F-100 Ford Truck Page


later
John

 

I don't see a strength problem with the pitting. As you said, there is good material left.

If you want to address a cosmetic issue (and I wouldn't), you could clean the area well (sandblast), fill them with body filler and then paint.

I would just use a rust converter paint (POR 15, ZeroRust, Rustoleum, etc) and be done with it.

But then, I'm an engineer. What do I know?

 

If I wave will you blow the train's horn the next time you come through our town?

 

Thanks guys. It is a concern of both structural and cosmetic to be honest. I didn't want to get done and then find out the frame was weakened by the pitting and it would bug me to no end to know that I just left it without doing anything. I will probably go the brazing route as I do plan on powder coating the frame.

Thanks again
Tyler

 

IMO, 8-10 inches in front and the bumper attachment area shouldn't have much effect on the suspension mounting point where the crossmember is. Lifting up on the bumper with a jack might be of concern, but I wouldn't fuss too much. Brazing before PC'ing the frame seems to be the ticket. Mine has some minor pitting in the rear, and after sandblasting, it'll get a quick bondo fill, and a quick sand over to even it up, then primered and painted.

As soon as I get a rotiserrie built, or John borrows me his, lol.

 

If structural is the issue...they have already told you the fixes, especially for powder coating.

If it were just for looks and the pitting was not horrible.....

Media blast, spray two coats of epoxy primer, then use several coats of slicksand (sprayable body filler or sorts), block it, spray a couple more coats if needed, block again, and then top coat.




Mine will be lucky to ever get a topcoated over the Eastwood's rust encapsulator that the PO put on it. I doubt I ever media blast it and do it right.

 

Tyler...

if it's truly structural.... fix it ! you'll lie awake at night wishing you did... it wouldn't be a big fabrication job to bend up some 'inserts' for the inside of the frame rails... the corners of the rail are radius'd so it's not a 90° bend ... three pieces might be easier... my rails have been bobbed off the the tilt front end but you can see from the pic below that the rails are straight from just ahead of the crossmember to the ends... 1/8" material would be gracious plenty.

[IMG] http://www.clubfte.com/users/jniolon...railclose2.JPG [/IMG]

I skimmed over it before but if you plan on powder coating... make sure you have ALL the mods done to the frame before coating...p.c. isn't very forgiving and hard to patch and make it look right... it's really slick if you have a custom frame or perfect frame rails... but anything you do after the p.c. will break the finish and make it open to rust/more damage...

I considered it hard... but my frame is no beauty ('sept for the front 1/3rd) and it's not going over mirrors anyway...so I opted for bondo, spot putty and paint... and that ain't necessarily cheaper either... a good p.c. will cost you around $400 in these parts (and you hope you get a good one) Paint is that much or more if you go with urethane or equal

later
John

 

Thanks for the help John and everyone else. The pc is not a sure thing. I have a friend whose dad does pc and he quoted me around $400 but his business is pretty slow and may be on the way out and the frame certainly is not ready yet. So the pc idea may go out the door depending on what happens there.

After reading all the responses, I think I will try the brazing first whether I paint or pc. It just seems like the most logical answer to me.

Thanks again
Tyler