rear cross member

[demano]

hello, i am building a frame for my 28 tudor rat, i have my plan but am curious what width others have used for the rear cross member and still had room to slide it in the body with a 15" rear z and a 4" channel, this is my first frame and i am having a difficult time with frame widths, the tube is 4"x2" 3/16 wall, thanks for any advice, car has no fenders

 

[donsrods]

Well, these are just my opinions. The 2 x 4 is fine, but if you don't taper the front of the rails down to 3 inches it will look boxy. It takes more work, but really makes it look nicer.

As for frame widths, start out at about 24-25 inches wide at the front crossmember and then widen it to about 30 or so in the rear. Your best bet is to prop the body up where you want it to sit and then take some 2 x 4 lumber and build a dummy frame out of it to see how things look.

Here is a picture of my model a rpu frame, I think it is about 25 in front and maybe 32 in back.



Here is how I started laying my frame up out of lumber first.



Don

 

[2.3Turbo_T]

What he said!^^^^^^^^^

 

[donsrods]

Here is a picture I found on line how a guy built a frame out of wood first. He did a good job and I bet it saved a lot of work in the end.

Don

 

[demano]

thanks

thanks for the info i think the wood frame is a good idea and will start with that

 

[DougnDog]

Don said it best.......mock up is the best way not to have surprises in the end.
start at the ground and figure your dimensions from there.
need to know what tires sizes you're going to run.
where body sit's
where engine is to sit .....from ground....from firewall
front axle.....how far out
where the radiator going to be positioned.
one of the best looking rat rod 6 banngers I ever saw missed one thing in his planning....how the engine was positioned, he was stuck with 6" to 8" between the firewall and the back of the engine, it messed up the whole look of the build. otherwise it was beautiful. good luck and have fun

 

[1952B3b23]

That wood frame is a great idea. The next project i do i'd like to build my own chassis and will definitely start with a wood frame.

-Chris

 

[DougnDog]

One more thing you don't need a fancy jig to build your frame, just a table to get it level and a way to insure that the parts are square.
I used a wooden table with 1 1/4 sq tube leveled and went from there. the last picture shows all the tools I used to build my frame.

please post pic's as you go