Rick Hoover Posted November 6, 2000 Share Posted November 6, 2000 Hal,<BR> I would say you are at the limit of <BR>using the frame as is with it being off 1/8". You may with that, still have a problem trying to get a good body panel fit. Have you checked the frame for being 'racked' using diagonal measuring or X-measures? If not, I would do that also. If you need any specs, let me know and I'll shoot them down to you. Are you sure you have not seen any cracking. See what you come up with checking for racking and go from there, as my first thoughts were to suggest you seek out a good frame shop. What may seem minor in frame twists can really haunt you later building and driving the car.<BR>Rick<BR> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL) Posted November 7, 2000 Share Posted November 7, 2000 After removing the body from the frame of my model A, I discovered a 3/8" sag in the left frame rail. I tried straightening the frame by chaining it to an "I" Beam and placing a hydraulic ram under the lowest spot. It is much better. It is completely straight behind the center crossmember. Between the front crossmember and the center crossmember, however, there was still an 1/8-3/16" sag. I tried to straighten just this section by chaining it at the front crossmember and at the center crossmember. The frame tries to twist when I do this. I got it to less than 1/8". Is this acceptable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL) Posted November 7, 2000 Share Posted November 7, 2000 Rick<P>I did some more work on it last night. Someone told me to try to get 1/16" high at the motor mount without the engine in it so that it would have room to flex back to straight under the weight of the engine. I was finally able to achieve this, but man was it scary. I reinstalled the motor mounts and flywheel housing to give it some support while jacking up on it. This seemed to work well.<P>I had not thought about measuring diagonally, but you can rest assured I will do that tonight. I've yet to find any cracks, and the rivets are all tight, but I intend to give it a good final going over after I finish cleaning it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL) Posted November 8, 2000 Share Posted November 8, 2000 Good news, Rick. Diagonal measurements confirm there's no racking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Hoover Posted November 8, 2000 Author Share Posted November 8, 2000 Paint it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL) Posted November 12, 2000 Share Posted November 12, 2000 Painted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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