My mustang II front end is in on my 60 F100. I have it sitting pretty low and I will have to notch the frame to make room for the tie rods. I only need to notch it about 1 inch deep and 3 inches wide. Lowes has 1/8 " angle iron and I was wondering if that would be good quality and strength steel for boxing this area. Thanks

 

Should be. This is forward of the xmember, right?

Sam

 

Yes, it's forward of the crossmember. I have some 1/8 cold rolled steel that I used to box the frame. Would that be better or does it really matter which one I use cause it's forward of the crossmember?

 

Being forward of the crossmember, the only real weight on it, or stress, is from the radiator support and front end sheet metal. If you've got some 1/8 plate laying around, you can curl that to make a notch and be fine. My preference would be to find some scrap of 2" tubing the same thickness as your frame rail, cut it down the center and use that.

 

I would look for a steel supply house.

You want mild steel about an 1/8- 3/16 thick.

The stuff from lowes can be bright basic, and of unknown quality. Unless it does say mild steel.

 

That is great advice, and a very good point!

 

If you're ever in doubt you can always drill a hole in it to see if it's soft or hard steel. But the frame on my 55 is fairly soft.

 

I don't quite understand how you might use angle iron to box a frame? The steel at Lowes is mild steel, acceptable but very overpriced unless you must have a small piece on a Sunday afternoon.
Look in the classifieds for steel fabricators in your area, call them and ask if they have any 1/8" thick plate "drops" (leftover cutoffs from fabrication) they might sell you, if not ask if they know who might. Go there with a ruler and a shopping list of minimum size pieces you need. Expect that you will need to cut what you need from larger pieces, or if the shop isn't busy they might cut it to size for a small charge. To box your frame you will need a plate the same height as the inside of the open side of your frame in the area you want to box (I like to inset my boxing plate 1/8" from the edge of the frame, it makes welding much easier and cleaner) or at least 6" past the notch on both ends. You will also need a piece the width of the frame and boxing long enough to make a "U" shape to fit the notch with feet about 2" long. I would cut the notch in the frame and boxing plate with a bimetal hole saw then finish it straight down with a thin cutoff wheel in a 4 or 4 1/2" angle grinder to keep it a clean and accurate cut. The U shaped piece is welded in with the legs overlapping and welded to the frame. You can plug or edge weld the legs and frame together. DO NOT end the legs and the boxing plate at the same place, the boxing plate should extend at least 2-3" past the ends of the U piece.

 

Thank you all for your responses. My original plan was to make the notch with straight cuts, not rounded, and I was going to weld two pieces of angle iron together to fit and weld into that opening. That's how I was going to use the angle iron. Shape would look like this [. I do have some left over cold rolled 1/8 steel plate from boxing the frame that I could use instead I'f you think that's better. If I go with a rounded cut where can I buy a "bimetal" hole saw?

 

hole saws from lowes, homedepot..

Sam

 

As Sam says. The white ones with the closed back are the bimetal ones. Be sure to use a slow speed and plenty of lubricating oil when holesawing thru metal or you will just burn up the saw. A rounded notch will be much stronger and neater looking.