Well Bigwin56 saved me with the radiator support frame crossmember, and I have been disassembling the 55 and discovered that the frame has been pretty much chopped up from the engine mount crossmember forward. Once I get everything cleaned up I will have to find me the frame pieces to repair this disaster and then perhaps box it in to give it strength, if nothing else put some pieces on each side of the joint. I have also discovered that the left front fender and the lower front valance are going to need some attention. Ironic how all this comes from a leaking radiator that I had to replace.

 

If it is from the radiator crossmember forward that is damaged, that part is not really structural so it shouldn't require boxing or even a doubler unless you don't trust the weld. If you are concerned, increase the length and strength of the weld by slicing the frame at an angle or in a step cut rather than straight up and down. If you feel a doubler is necessary cut a diamond shape and add it inside the frame. Don't overdo the metal thickness either, the original frame is 9-10 ga ~ 1/8" thick. Butt welding together two pieces the same thickness is a lot easier to do successfully than joining two dissimilar thicknesses.

 

I agree 100% with your suggestion on the stepping of the splice, I just want to make absolutely sure that when I do get the pieces I need to make this repair and get my new crossmember mounted that everything stays squared up since as we all know all of the sheet metal hinges on these items being correct, or I will be fighting fender and front end line up issues with the cab forever.
So now I am hoping that once I speak to Bigwin56 he will have the frame pieces I need to make this a top knotch job, and then I can get the 1/8" thick metal to make some scabs to tighten up my welds on the splice. At the time I was writing up the last post I was just wondering if boxing in the frame in this area would be more beneficial, or just wasted effort gaining nothing. So for now I guess I will wait until I have the metal to do the job as I see correctly, and then decide if the frame needs to be in fact boxed. Currently they had a 5.0 (302) mounted in the truck, but from what I have seen so far I am going to be double checking that installation also. I already know that I hate the way they installed the power booster for the brakes, and the way the battery box was installed. For now though I am going to concentrate on the Radiator/Frame issue and do some driving and take care of the other details as I get to them, wife is really getting pissed that we have had this truck for a couple of months and she has still not driven it.

 

Do only short welds, not more than 1" long no closer than 6" apart. Allow them all to air cool until not more than slightly warm to the touch. After complete cooling, do 1" welds in between the previous ones and again allow to cool completely. continue this skip welding/cooling technique until you have a continuous bead. do NOT rush it or force cool the welds. Boxing plates will do no good forward of the engine mount crossmember and just increases the risk of warpage. Unless you are putting in IFS and/or going drag racing with an engine >500HP your frame will see little benefit from boxing anywhere. You aren't going offroading or building a monster truck. Don't overbuild or overengineer the truck, all you'll really be doing is adding more front end weight.
The front sheet metal all hangs off the radiator support which sits on rubber pads on the crossmember, so it is pretty much independent of the frame itself except to keep it from hitting the street.

You think your wife is mad now, wait until your project has been building for a couple years!

 

Talked with Bigwin56 about this also, and like you he said to keep it simple. Good news is that he has the pieces I need to do it right. I will be in a hell of a lot of hot water if I am at ths for more than a couple of months. But I see years of fixing as time permit to make thsi the truck it deserves to be. I'll just sneak in the fixes so the wife stays pleased. I will difinitly do as suggested with the short welds. Would it also not be benefical to do the welds opposite each side as I am stitching it to keep from pulling too far one way or the other?

 

Do you mean do one on the outside of the rail then the next on the inside? Or do you mean do one on the driver's side rail then the next on the passenger side rail? The first would be horrendously more difficult than necessary unless you are especially adept at welding in tight spaces and upside down and grinding in those same areas. If you do the short weld and fully cool method there should not be any significant distortion. Correct any small distortion as you go, i.e. Tack one end of the seam; tack the other end of the seam (if the ends are less than 6" apart let the first weld cool completely before doing the second); examine the joint in the center for any movement/misalignment, use a dolly pushed hard behind the low side, while tapping on the high side until realigned at the center; tack the center and let cool; Align the center of the space between one end weld and center weld, tack between welds, cool. Align the center of the space between the center weld and the other end weld, tack and cool. Repeat as necessary until seam is fully welded.
Use a 36 or 40 grit red fiber sanding wheel on an angle grinder to grind off the weld bead nearly flush with the frame surface, Check the seam/frame for distortion with a metal straight edge (the 12" ruler out of a combination square held on edge) across the seam horizontally, vertically and diagonally. If the seam is lower than the frame surface it will need to be stretched to raise it up. Press a smooth flat heavy dolly behind the seam (on the low side of the seam) and tap evenly directly on top the seam. Tap and move slightly and tap again with overlapping taps. Hammer should barely mark the surface with a very faint mark no more than 1/4" in diameter, each mark should overlap the adjacent one by 1/2 it's diameter. Make one pass over the full seam, then recheck your progress. When you are satisfied that the surface is all at the same level (except for possibly a slight bump from the remaining weld bead) switch the fiber disk to a 60 or 80 grit and sand the entire surface smooth and flat. apply a swipe coat of surfacer putty or 2- 3 coats of a high build primer and block sand smooth with 100 grit paper. Finish with your favorite primer and top coat(s).

One question I don't think I asked you is what kind of welder are you welding with? Hopefully a TIG or a MIG with shielding gas that can take 0.024" wire? If so go online or to your favorite ESAB welding supplier and order (most dealers don't stock it) a spool of EASAB Spoolarc Easy Grind welding wire in 0.024 diameter. Don't accept any substitutes! Make sure it says EASY GRIND on the spool. It is THE BEST mig wire for body work.

 

Thanks teardropty for the words, and yes I have been having a ball with all of the help I have gotten so far. One of te biggest lessons I am learning with this great build, is that patience is more than a neccessary thing to have, but with all of the delays I am having I have learned so much more about how to tackle the problem, and mapping out the future issues I have to handle. The people on here have made owning this truck a great adventure. The main thing is that with the help I am getting in parts and knowledge I am getting this truck in the shape it deserves, and I am keeping it true to being a FORD. It may not have the original engine and tranny, but at least they came out of another Ford vehicle, but that will be another thread post when I tackle getting that issue resolved. My one regret is that the people who had this truck before me must not have ever came across this site, because some of the things that were done to this thing are just plain wrong.

bigwin56f100 has been the biggest friend I have come across, and he has been a great wealth of knowledge, and the others have been very great at getting me measurements so that when I do finally get everything ready to get the radiator support frame crossmenber installed it will be done right, and should give this truck a chance at lasting another 50+ years looking great out on the road, but more importantly it will be a truck that can be driven daily and looking good to boot.

Last I just wish there was an easier way to get pictures posted on here, I haven't had time to even figure out how to do that yet, but I am documenting every step as I do it.

I want to thank everyone who has taken time to help out with this problem of mine, and please keep it coming.

 

You may need to hit the 25 post magic key first, but you can create a gallery (with sub galleries if you so desire) on here where you can store your pictures and then link to them or put them in your posts. Your pictures, if they are large files may need to be reduced in size first to fit under the max file size. There was and still may be a sticky at the top of this forum explaining the method to put pictures in your gallery. If you need help with reducing your file size just make another topic. If you are familiar with photo editing software I use 800 pixel as the max dimension, 75 dpi, jpg compression of 50%, saving the photo as a meaningful name in a special directory on my computer and upload to my gallery from there. You can see a member's galleries by left clicking on their uuser name in any of their posts and choosing "view gallery" from the flyout.

 

In regards to the welding, yes I was speaking of doing each weld from one side to the other of the same rail. That way I minimize the warpage from the heating of the metal. I do like the idea of making those checks as I am tacking it back in, and the wire is another great idea, hadn't thought of that one, thanks. I will be TIG welding it in, have a small Miller that handles that work just fine. Mainly I was only trying to make life easier by cutting down on too much tapping and prying of metal back in alignment. I have already taken the front end and fenders off of the truck to make doing this repair as easy and accessable as able. I figure the cleanup and painting will be the easiest step once I am sure everything is right. Then comes the fun of putting everything back together along with a few repairs in the wiring area and the mounting of some items in the engine bay. Hopefully if everything goes well we will be driving up to Pigion Forge for the show in May. Not showing, just going to seek out some items to go on Lil Red.