65 Valiant build

Finally back on ol' Stinky.

I started the spring relocation process. I started by setting the car on jack stands in front of the rear spring front mounts and removing the rear of the rotisserie from the back of the car. I left the front of the car attached to the rotisserie. The back needed to be removed because it was bolted to the factory shackle mount location.

Next I test fit the hangers, marked the frame rails where the bushing tube goes through the frame rails and cut the holes for that tube with the plasma cutter.

I then welded them in and called it a night.

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The next day I started on the front hanger relocation. I started by making a cardboard pattern and using it along with reference lines through the factory spring hanger mounting holes, reference lines on the new spring pocket mounting holes, and a reference line on my pattern. I then used the pattern to mark out my cut lines on the left side frame rail in soap stone. After a buch more measuring to verify my cut marks a cut the rail with my diegrinder and a cut off wheel. I was very close on my cuts. It took minimal grinding to perfect the fit. I bolted it in and moved on to the right side rail. Thats where much confusion set in. My pattern is 1/4" to big.

I spent the next couple hours verify that the favtory front spring hanger mounts are infact square to each other, square to the front body reference holes, square to the rear shackle hanger mounts, and all of the rear body reference holes.

Now that I proved that I marked out the difference on my pattern. ( that is the black sharpie line on the pattern pictured below) cut my pattern to size, verified my reference marks for the right side, and cut the right side. One of the pictures below shows the difference in the frame rail arch. You can see the back edge is lined up as are the body reference holes. The difference is about a 1/4" as confirmed with my pattern and measurements. The right side fit just as good as the left. Very little grinding to perfect the fit. I bolted both sides in and repeated the above measurements. It is square. I then made reference lines on the hangers to trim the overhang on each. I don't like how it looks. I cut them to follow the frame rail. After another test fit on each side I removed them. Prepped them for weld through primer, painted one and ran out of primer.

Check out the pictures and let me hear your thoughts on the difference in the rails.

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Apparently i can only post 25 pictures at a time so I'll start these picures with the ones I ran out of room for in the last post.

After running out of weld through primer I decided to investigate the previous body work. It's......Nice? No..... Not nice?.... well... who ever.... lets just say I'm now sure Michelangelo himself was reincarnated and owned this car! Or at least slapped some bondo in it. LOL

And thats is how I spent my Black Friday. My Saturday mid day and my Sunday afternoon. 20211128_162132.jpg20211128_162139.jpg20211128_162147.jpg20211128_144736.jpg20211128_134031.jpg20211128_162119.jpg20211128_162129.jpg
 
Those are some nice pieces you're welding in!

Nice work. :)

The frame rail difference... it's common to just about every car built before the 90s. That's the main reason why old collision guys have a difficult time working on newer cars; back then, a damaged part was pulled/repaired till everything fit, because the specs weren't accurate across the board. Nowadays, if he doesn't follow the specs religiously, he'll find body tolerances way off as everything gets put back together.
The last place I worked, one of the collision techs was doing his '70 Cuda. New rear rails, shock crossmember, rear crossmember, etc. He followed the chassis manual as his only point of reference. No clamping or trial fitting of the entire rear clip, just measure to what the specs told him, and weld 'er in. He had some specs from Blackhawk, as well. I tried to tell him different, but I was "just a rust guy."... and he was an ICAR Gold Tech.
i had to step in and help him as he was trying to fit the sheetmetal. The panel gaps were all over the place. More than a few times, we had to cut and re-weld some rail flanges to get things where they needed to be. Same with a few sheetmetal panels.
He was pissed. Doubly so whenever I mentioned needing a "rust guy" to help him. I made sure to mention it as often as I could, in front of as many people as I could. I'm an asshole, that way. ;)
 
...And as the subframe structure was assembled upside down on the jig, any variances like the ones you've found didn't matter anyway...
 
The only thing different is the arch of that frame rail. Everything else is so close I was actually surprised.

According to the factory service manual for Jass's car when we replaced the left front rail. spec is + or - 1/4" in any direction!

Mine is way closer than that!
 
having straightened my 69.5 after a HARD wall impact, i was very surprised at how much sloppy tolerance was available, while its still tweaked its straight by book specs LOL
 
Way, way back when I was doing collision, Car-O-Liner sold a new pulling rack to the local Ford dealer. State of the Art system.
As the sales and tech guys were setting it up and demo'ing it, they thought it would be a good idea to show just how accurate it was by setting up a few new cars and measuring them. If I recall correctly, only the Escort/Lynxs were consistently within factory manual spec. The bigger the car, the worse it was.
The trucks were horrendous.
The few body guys watching were all sworn to secrecy by the dealer. We all lied. It was too good a story to not share.
This was around '85/'86, and Fords were known in collision circles to be the best of the domestics, as far as build quality. At least, body-wise.
Factory build quality has come a looonnnngggg way since then.
 
I found some time Saturday after preparing for the first big snowfall of the year to get back on Ol' Stinky.

The spring pockets are welded in and most of the welds have been ground smooth. I want thes pockets to look like they are supposed to be there so I decided to double pass the welds to provide enough material to grind and still have good strong welds..

Today I plan to finish grinding the welds on the rear hangers and maybe start cutting out the rear wheel houses for the mini tub process.

First I need to add a couple of lights in my basement wood shop. I haven't done much with that space since we moved here. I'm looking forward to having a dedicated indoor wood shop!20211204_181544.jpg20211204_181538.jpg20211204_124830.jpg20211204_181036.jpg20211204_124848.jpg20211204_124840.jpg20211204_124801.jpg20211204_181028.jpg20211204_124754.jpg20211204_181021.jpg20211204_124749.jpg20211204_181016.jpg
 
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69.5CUDA said:
nice n clean n smooth, you should do the same thing with those frame rail connectors
Click to expand...
That is, and always was the plan. I kinda hurried the install on the subframe connectors because I knew I was moving and wanted them in for the ride to the new place on the rotisserie in my ttailer. I also slapped on the primer because I knew it was going to sit for a long time before I would be able to get back on it. Turns out it was 3 months shy of 2 years.
 
indeed they are..i have a pair of them myself

as well as a full set of 4 "mini stock" car wheel stands that make even better jack stand benches
 
I
thrashingcows said:
Alright I think I need to look for a set of those...without the ramps. ;)
Click to expand...
These ramps are not permanently removed. They are designed to be remved and replaced. However I never use the ramps. I use them as jack stands. Usually under the tires on the front of my charger. I use them with jack stands on the front frame rails and a set on the rear axle. The front of this car is so long I like the piece of mind provided by having something under the tires too. I think this is the first time I have used them like this.
 
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