Need help with first build

[T2T]

I believe the first thing you should do is buy a good welder, 220 volt mig welder. There are some nice 110 volt welders out there and you might be tempted to get one only because you may save a few bucks.........Spring for the better 220 welder, you will be much happier. Next step is spend a lot of time with your new friend, the welder. There's lots of good info on the web on welding but I would pick up a good book on the subject, bring it in the garage and start welding.
You've got a good start, good luck.

 

[Al B. Bach]

Now we have another problem, I have only had it for 4 days and a cop in this stupid little town has already sent me a letter to get rid of it. The jerk mailed the letter the day I got the car home!! They have given me 10 days to move it out but I am going to try to get a little more time because the city ordenance say's the car has to be inoperable for 30 day's before it has to be moved. We'll have to see what happens. We are going to try to get my brothers truck together and out of my dad's shop so we can put the car there. Unfortunately if that doesn't happen then I'm affraid I'll have to sell it.

I promised pictures. It was bitterly cold so we didn't get the body off like we wanted but maybe these will help anyway.

Starting up front:

 

[Al B. Bach]

In the first shot you can see where the back of the body has collapsed. Those boxes on either side are the tail lights.

 

[Al B. Bach]

And out back we have:

 

[Al B. Bach]

Last few shots. I thought you might be interested in a shot of me and my brothers bikes. We also mocked up the seat in it and I couldn't help try it out. I sure hope we can get something sorted out because this thing is going to be a blast!!

 

[Tripper]

Hummmmmm!

Ok... many of u guys may not know what u're lookin' @ here...

A Rat Rod Ninja!!! ; - >

BoB

 

[dyce51]

I dunno if its the angle or what but I think the axle mounts are a lil thin in this pic...

 

[dyce51]

overall not a bad buy at all...lots of great parts and a title. with a lil work you can have a bad rat rod!!

 

[Bonehead]

Okay, I gotta be honest here. I would tear it down and start over. What you have is a bunch of great parts. But that broken frame tells you what kind of work has been done so far. And some of those welds that were not ground off make you wonder what the ones that were ground off looked like.
Or you could start patching it one weld at a time, from now on.
Bad news on the local code. Sorry, but I am really looking out for you.

 

[donsrods]

After looking at the pictures I was ready to type exactly what Bonehead said. Gotta be honest, that thing is really put together very badly. For a frame to crack like that is very unusual, and speaks volumes about the rest of the car. You simply do not have any kind of foundation on which to build anything that will ever make it onto the roads.

I would salvage the engine, tranny, rearend, front end, body, and scrap the rest. Even the rear end needs all those brackets cut off and started anew. They are way too thin and the welds are horrible.

It's always tough to be honest with someone like we are being here, but you are just going to keep tossing money into a car that will never be any good as it is. Store the parts out of sight and the cops won't be able to see them, then use some of the parts (and the title) to build a new frame and the rest of the stuff.

Please do not spend any more money on that car.

Don

 

[Mr.Gussett]

With those pics you can see alot!
I'm with Bonehead on this one.The welds look rather scary to me.
Too thin of material too for what it's intended for and poor design.You are supporting a lot of weight with the spring perches and applying alot of torque to things that will have to have good welds.To be honest you need to take off the body,pull the engine and axles and scrap that frame.Start with a fresh 2x4 tube frame that you can build, that will be much stronger and most important,SAFE!Take your time and do it right! It's your LIFE and others that is at stake here!This will be a great learning experience for you! Learn to weld or have someone else weld your frame and have fun!
I'm not harping on you,just trying to save you alot of grief and maybe your life!It's the guy who tried to build it to start with that needs a good scolding!
Tim

 

[Al B. Bach]

I understand what you guys are saying. Unfortunately if I can't find someone to help I feel I may never get a rat rod on the road. I had thought maybe we could correct a few welds. Where the frame cracked for some reason he didn't use square tubeing. It's just angle iron.

If I could afford it I would get another frame for it but unfortunately that's not going to happen for awhile.

 

[bob w]

Hey man, don't give up. You can buy 2" by 4" rect. tubing for a couple hundred bucks. Cut it with a hacksaw if you have to. Truck it to a welding shop and have them tack it together. The basic frame shape is pretty simple and lots of help on this site is available. Then just start making brackets and crossmembers. Mark where they go and truck the whole works back to the welding shop and have them tack the stuff in place. Go at the pace you can afford and you'll be surprised what you will accomplish in a year. Just keep in mind this ain't rocket science. I'm sure there's guys on this site that will give you step by step advice, for free!

 

[Al B. Bach]

Unfortunately I've only found one guy that would be willing to do anything with it but it's going to be awhile untill he can help. I have checked several welding shops in the area and so far the only ones that are willing to work on custom cars charge so much that there's no way I can afford it.

I'm sorry if I sound a little negative but if I had wanted to start from scratch that's what I would have done. I wanted to try to avoid the part that I couldn't do. Now I find that I have waisted almost all of my budget on a rusty, butcherd body and the drivetrain from a chevy van, and I'm a Ford fan!

I would try to build a frame myself but besides the money I don't have the shop to do heavy welding and fabracation. So I guess if I can get the space inside my dad's shop it will get stored there. Otherwise it will be either stripped and sold as parts or stored in the field behind my parents barn, at least until I can figure out how to get someone to help with the welding.

 

[donsrods]

Don't feel bad, there isn't a person on here who hasn't spent money on something only to learn it was a bad investment. I certainly can't toss any rocks in that department!! But that is how we learn in life, by our mistakes.

All is not lost..........supposedly you have a good engine and drivetrain. The rear axle can be cleaned up by cutting off the brackets and grinding them smooth. The front axle looks salvagable, and the body can be fixed. As for the welding, learn to do it yourself. I just sold a perfectly good Lincoln 220 volt arc welder on Ebay for $ 104.00, and they come up for sale all the time at that price range. I know some people poo poo arc welding ,but it is a process the average guy can do and get good penetration and therefore strength.

You are looking in the wrong places for help. Rod shops won't be where you want to go..........find someone who welds during the day and pay them some money to come by at night and make a few extra bucks. When I built my '27 about 20 years ago I didn't trust my own welding on the frame (and my Son Dan wasn't welding yet) so I found a guy who taught welding at a local school, and he arc welded it all up for $ 100 and did a smash up job.

Right now you are po'd at yourself and discouraged. Don't be, this is only a little bump in the road, and take it from a 62 year old, you are gonna have LOTS of bumps in the road ahead. They are inevitable, you just have to cut your losses sometimes and not look back, except to learn from them.

As the guys said, you have a lot of friends on here who are willing to give whatever info we can, and as you can tell, we won't lie to you just to make you feel good.

BTW, that angle iron thing about the frame speaks VOLUMES about the rest of the car. Oh, take that title down and get it put in your name right now. You need to know if it is good before you go too much further........titles are a big part of buying a car.

Don

 

[24dodge]

I just took a tig welding class at a local college , they had some projects there that belonged to the students , see if you might be able to go talk to the instructor at a school near you ,and see if they will allow you to work on your project there , you`ll learn the proper way to weld and knock out the frame at the same time , and the class I took was 12 weeks long and only cost me 120 dollars . oh , and believe me when I say they will have every machine there that you will need , it was great !

 

[RUSTY50F1]

Hi Carl; Sounds like your having the same problems I had as far as the welding goes. I bought a Mig on e-bay new for $202.00 To do my body work with. (never used one before) I got some old scrap metal and played with it till I got to the point I could weld something together without making holes. I got a stick welder at an auction for $40.00 To do all my frame work with. It just takes practice and patience, But if I can do it you can to. Don't give up, do small things to begin with until you get good enough to tackle the larger ones. Hang in there, don't give up. It will all fall into place if you take your time and don't try to do it all at one time. A ROD FRIEND.

 

[Al B. Bach]

I understand what you guys are talking about but unfortunately without a shop it's a little hard to practice let aloan actually build an entire new frame.

I talked to my uncle today and found out he has a 220 arc welder but he doesn't know how to use it. He also has 220 in his shop but it is not wired to use the welder. He say's I can go ahead and finnish up the wireing in the shop and use the welder. It will have to be done outside in front of the shop though because he has an old Galaxie that he is restoring but I don't think that should be a problem. I am going to talk to a guy I work with and see if he could come out and help me with it. The only problem is he isn't a car guy so it will be all up to me to make sure I have everything correct before he welds it.

 

[Al B. Bach]

Have any of you guys ever had any experience with this guys frames? I was thinking that for the price if I have to start over from scratch then this might be a good deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-...ryZ10076QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[dmw56]

Have any of you guys ever had any experience with this guys frames? I was thinking that for the price if I have to start over from scratch then this might be a good deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-...ryZ10076QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

No, but it cost me almost $300 in steel to build mine. So thats not a bad price I wonder what shipping will be?

Check these frames...www.spiritcars.com