Frame rails

[kb426]

Does anyone sell some rectangle tubing for a replacement for a 32 or newer Ford frame that would already have the tubing narrowed to resemble the taper of the original rails? I mean from the side view. And yes, with my shop full of equipment, I don't have a good verticle bandsaw to do this with.

[GPster]

I'd think you could do it with a 4 1/2" side grinder and some cut-off discs. It's easier to guide the tool to the work than it would be to guide 8' of rectangular tubing to a 5/8" wide saw blade. I'd have trouble trying to remember what eye I was using to guide the blade to the "cut" mark. GPster

[enjenjo]

I don't know of any preshaped tubing, you can buy reproduction rails. The problem with 32 and later rails, they are curved over the full length, both horizontally, and vertically. So just bending the tube one way won't do it.

[donsrods]

What exactly are you trying to do? Build your own frame from scratch?


Don

[kb426]

[What exactly are you trying to do? Build your own frame from scratch? ]
Yes, I want some high tech features with a conventional look from the firewall forward. I want to be able to do skid pad numbers along side of vettes and 350z's. The frame I have isn't very good so I planned on selling it and starting over. This project was where I wanted to use a Cougar independent rear.

[donsrods]

Couple of ways to get there:

1)  Start strictly from scratch, with some 2 x 4 rec tubing and take a thin pie cut all along the lower edge, tapering the tubing from the 4 inch dimension to something like 2.5 to 3 inches at the front edge. Then pull the bottom piece up to meet the now-tapered siderails, and welding it to that new shape.  If you are only going to see the portion from the firewall up, you could leave the portion from there back straight tubing. You might have to use 2 x 5 tubing, because the '32 frame was sort of thick.

Like enjenjo said, the '32 frame is not like earlier frames, as it is actually curved horizontally and vertically. There was an article in one of the mid-80's or '90's Street Rodder magazines, where a guy built a '27 roadster on homebuilt '32 rails, and they turned out great. It showed how he did it on his garage floor using plywood for a form.

2)  Start with repro prebent siderails. I saw a set at Daytona last year, and at $ 695.00 for the pair they were a steal. I think Honest Charlies Speed shop was selling them. They had all the correct curves and reveals built in, and you only had to add front rear and center crossmembers.

I'm getting lazier as I get older, so the prebent ones would be my choice, but if you have the energy, have at it. But I think if a person factors in the raw steel to start and the hours you would take to duplicate these, they become very reasonable.

JMO,


Don

[kb426]

You're probably right. My thought was to start with the 2x5. I thought it might be easier to use the tubing rather than find the rails, box and adapt to the rest of my contraption.

[GPster]

Someone, it may be "Just A Hobby" makes frame rails from plate. The plates are cut to the proper contours and welded together in a jig. If you were just looking for the style from the firewall foreward you could do it this way and if the body were channeled you could build the rest as needed. I always thought if someone made side rails out of fiberglass to give the sembalence of highboy then a good chassis could be built and hidden by them. It would be particularly good for something like an "A" body because they are made to be on a frame that is flat on the top and a "Duece" frame isn't. GPster

[Topsterguy]

Well, I bought a set of the rails Hot Rods n Horsepower puts out and they're great. Thay've got all the contours, they're stamped one piece, they've got the notch in the back for rear end clearance, and they're not 4 piece like TCI.( I wouldn't use TCI again if they were given to me! I don't care who TCI )thinks they are!) Seems to me maybe you're looking at going to an awful lot of trouble for nothing?  :?

[Bib_Overalls]

32 rails are 6" tall from the cowel line to the rear kickup.

Model A rails are 5" at their tallest point.

I will be making a chassis from 2" x 5" rectangular tubing for my Model T two door sedan.  To cut the tapers I am planning to tack 1" x 1" anlge iron in place to guide the cut off disc.

[C9]

Plasma cutter?

If you had the angle iron guides clamped and ready to go so the welder could just knock em out without too much trouble the cost wouldn't be too bad.

Dunno know how much help the pic is, but there it is anyway....

[papastoyss]

Repro 1 pc 32 frame rails are made by American Stamping in Olive Branch Miss. They are $659 pr. fob. ph # 662 895 5300

[rumrumm]

I would not even consider making '32 rails. You will have so much time in them that it will not be worth it, IMO. And one of the marks of a '32 frame is the side reveal which would be really tough to  duplicate. Check out American Stamping's rails--excellent  buy for the money. You will be way ahead if you do.

[C9]

The frame rails floating in the air in the above pic are American Stamping.

I found them to be very accurate as far as matching mirror image-wise.

Once the spreaders were on, measurements were pretty much the same as the 32 blueprints from Wescott's.

American Stamping is a good place to deal with.

Don't know if they still do it, but buying four sets at a time gains a nice discount.

It helps save shipping costs if you can ship them to a commercial address rather than a residential address.

[Rex Schimmer]

If you are looking to make your frame stiff, in torsion, which is what is needed to make your car handle well then you need to both box the rails and have some real good crossmembers. The X members that Henry put in the later 30s were excellent at stiffening the frame in torsion. The problem was that ever time some "hot rodder" would stick a different engine in the first thing we would do was cut out the center of the X because it was in the way of the new transmission and that is the most important part of the X member. The "X" members that most of the present fram builder offer do not do anything for increasing torsional stiffness, they just are there to hold the floor up.

Rex