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Because we had removed the original Transmission cross member and the new one was a fairly light bolt in I decided to add a H member to the center of the frame. Also took some time to work on the steering and finish up the welding.
Pieces for the H member
And the rest of them
Plates were added mid frame to bolt the battery to and to give a place to weld the H member to.
Finishing up the welding.
Nothing fancy was done to make the H member. Some rectangular tubing cut with a cutoff wheel and dressed on a disc sander for fit.
This was the original routing for the steering. After welding and painting I changed it so it runs between the header and block, much better.
Laying out the H member for welding.
Components like the brake booster, battery and exhaust determined the location.
We were able to TIG the h member together. Much less mess and a better looking weld.
Because the frame was looking so good a friend suggested I sand blast it. I was worried about the mess it would leave. He told me to blast on the concrete, sweep up the material and reuse it. That's what we did, everything was swept up and sifter then run though the blaster again. When done there was no signs of sandblasting anywhere. Weather was a problem as it was windy (this helped) and threatening to rain. The moisture made the sand tend to clump in the blaster.
Me praying it wouldn't rain halfway through the job. Must have worked.
The red media we were blasting with did a great job and swept up easily.
After blasting and before painting we needed to check the clearance of the panhard rod. It was very close to the driveshaft and we wanted to make any changes before painting.
It was close but as the suspension compresses the distance becomes greater so nothing needed to be done
Painting was going to take awhile so we got a early start the weekend after blasting. The frame received a coat of Eastwood epoxy topped with Eastwood 2K chassis satin. It worked very well and I am happy with the result.
We used the hoist so we could lift the fame and do the underside at the same time as the top.
Primer sprayed.
We sprayed those portions of the rear end that were worked on.
Made a hanging rack for the small parts.
Getting under the rear of the frame was tough, so out came the saw horses for a little more clearance.
Belle is really coming right along, almost makes me want to take mine apart and do something.
I know what you mean. Rick, the friend that is helping has been going through catalogs looking at a new P/S pump, control arms, wheels etc. I guess I'll be going to his house before long.
01-11-2015, 05:05 PM
