Car is a 67 Cutlass Supreme convertible. I was working on the engine compartment, stripping down the frame and painting it. I saw what looked like a couple small rust spots where the steering box is bolted to the frame. I took the steering box off, drilled out that spot and tried to fix it with my TIG welder. It bubbled and had some porosity. I drilled out that stuff and welded that spot, and when that other area got hot I got more porosity, and after repeating things a few more times I figured out I'm pulling in rust and oil from the inside and needed to dig deeper. I found some extra holes on the bottom where the sway bar bolts in and cut a hole to see what was really inside. What I thought was 2 small spots was the tip of the iceberg. I think I have cut out enough to be down to good metal close enough to the original 1/8" thickness. Later I'll be tweaking angle iron to match the way this part of the frame was pressed when it was made.

 

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Ya got some fuzz growing from somewhere there....



LOL!

But seriously though...nice work. It's amazing how rust can hide on ya.

 

Wow. That ain't too pretty at all.

Should be fine after welding up with good metal, though.

- Eric

 

Check elsewhere on the frame for rust!

 

svnt442 (Randy) - Thanks for the funny response! I got a good chuckle.
Run to Rund - Yep, will check for more frame rust, starting with the other side where the sway bar bolts to the frame. Fabricating the pieces to replace what I've cut out will take a lot of time as most of what I cut out was pressed with a lot of bends. I'll post more pics as I move along with that fabricating.

 

OK, got most of the repair done, and time to post some pictures. I took a lot and will post them 5 at a time. I wanted to share what I figured out as I went through this repair since I get plenty of info from other folk's posts. Here's some comments for all of the pictures:

1. I started by cutting out 1 part, then another, then another. That's the old rusty parts tack welded back together to show what I needed to replace.
2. After a bunch of cardboard templates that's what I created from 1.5" x 2" angle iron after a bunch of cutting and bending. The bottom of the frame is about 3" wide so 2 2" wide angle iron gave me a good starting point to lap weld instead of butt weld.
3. Sorry the tack weld pictures are fuzzy. I was pretty tired then.
4. The picture with 3 parts if from making one twice. The 1st one (middle) ended up being too small. A whole bunch of crazy bends!
5. How I figured out where to drill the hole for the 3rd bolt. I used washers to space the particleboard over the round steering box.
6. I got a piece of gas pipe from the hardware store for the tube that goes between the bolt holes.

 

Pics part 3

 

Pics part 4

 

Pics part 5

 

Pics part 6

 

Pics part 7

 

Pics part 8. The end!
The welds were done by TIG. That's the 1 welding machine I have.
Next to drill and tap holes for the stabilizer bar!
Then may get back to painting this dagom frame!

 

Nice work! I'm impressed.

You may want to weld in nuts for the sway bar bushings, as the original threaded holes occasionally strip out.

- Eric