I understand. I just figure since I have this thing down to the bare frame I'd like to do anything I may possibly need in the future, of course within reason. My reason is that if I want to drag it in the future it will handle it, probably no faster than 10 sec, I can't afford faster.
I just wanted to take all the flex out of mine. I figure that the new bushings, springs and shocks, along with boxed rear control arms would do a lot of that, but I simply don't want the car to feel mushy in any way when I take it around corners. I also cracked the frame in my car once, so I wanted to eliminate that as a potential point of failure.
What gauge of steel for the repair? Did you do anything special to make sure that the repair didn't sit higher than the rest of the frame?
OK, ok I've heard you all loud and clear on the coating choices. However, my latest question, that I've asked twice now is in regards to the gauge of steel t use for repairing the rusted body mount hole and how to prep it so it doesn't sit too high on the frame, I'd like it to be flush, in the factory location not some kind of slapped on piece of metal. I can do that without asking.
I would look at how thick the frame is currently and use something similar. I would think it is about 1/8" thick which would be 11 ga. 10 gauge is .134" and 11 gauge is .119 thick. All that being said, don't take my word for this as I just don't know, but it seems like it is about that thick. Do you have a caliper or anything to measure the frame thickness?
I boxed the uppers too,whether it helps or not I don't know, but it can't hurt I guess. I also welded washers around the bolt holes for some reinforcement.
For what most people want the standard chassis is fine, but I have helped a couple friends box their frames (both were Chevelles)...wasn't too hard, you could sure see a difference in the bare frame, how much it helped once back together I couldn't tell you as both were modified heavily for handling etc so no direct comparison to mine, but no flex to speak of. All the fuel and brake lines now need to be custom made since the stock style go into the recessed open area and also make sure to have some drain points. Just some thoughts.
The thickness of the steel should be the same as what you are replacing. If you look closely at DL's picture you will see he cut a piece of the frame out and "dropped" the repair piece in so it was flush with the top of the frame. He left a little space between the frame and his piece and BUTT welded it together. Then drilled the correct size hole in the right place when it was finished. I used another trick to repair a friends frame. His needed the frame fixed for one of the trunk body mounts. I bought a very large washer, with the correct size hole for the bushing, and dropped it in the same as DL. Even ground down the bottom side so you can't tell I was even there, it worked perfect. .........and if you want to make the frame/body a little bit stiffer you can use the Olds W31/W30 trick. On the side frame rails they did not use the rubber spacers, but bolted every body mount to the car. It means you have to buy 2 extra "bolted" body mounts but makes it more solid. The car we did all this to was a 70 Chevelle 396 Coupe. I basically cut the bracing out of an El Camino frame and boxed it in like a convert frame, plus bolted every mount location. The car ended up being really tight. With the boxed frame you could actually hear the difference when you shut the doors before the body was bolted to the frame. Duane PS. We ordered the brake and fuel lines for a convertible and they fit like a glove.
I did this on my convertible as well, and it made a difference for sure. Verts are a bit of a wet noodle anyway..
http://www.ss396.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=chevellecamino&Product_Code=RFR-21159 DL
