model A frame boxing ?

[sweetk30]

friend of mine is building a street driver quality rod for him self . he is boxing the original frame with 1/8" plate and making it him self . he asked my if he should weld the whole plate in or just stitches spaced out .

he is filling all the unused holes and making a smooth frame . he is doing captured nuts and or spacer / anti-crush tubes were he needs stuff to bolt together .

its just a mild 250hp 350 sbc/700r4/8.8 ford rear with 3.55 gears . nothing crazy . stock style rear suspension basically and a 4 link front with sway bar and trac bar .

 

[Bent77]

A frames are not super. But most I’ve seen are stitched and spaced. @Capt Ron and @ktmoutfront have probably seen a few

 

[ktmoutfront]

A stitch/spaces welded is some times done to save time also. Stitch/full weld is better in my opinion. Paint the inside of the frame with the new Steel spray coating. It can be welded through, so it does not screw up the welds. Spaced welds will allow a lot of moisture in while driving. Rust.

If he is welding all of the holes and smoothing it, he wants the look. The full welds will also look better when finished.

 

[Capt Ron]

I've done 4 early Ford frames, 1 T and 3A's. 250hp and less I would probably still use a stock frame but really that is limiting yourself when it comes to power upgrades in the future. The last one I built would still twist quite a bit with a ZZ3 and it was fully boxed and had trusses at the motor mounts,trans crossmembers and rear trailing arms.
If he is sure that 250 hp is a ceiling for him, a good condition ie: no heavy rust pitting stock frame will work.
I have built many street rods and I am NOT a fan of four link front suspensions. Split wishbones style or hairpin style radius rods in my opinion work a lot better and I feel look way better. And yes I know a lot of people use 4 link fronts.

 

[Capt Ron]

Oh yea, fenders or no fenders?

 

[sweetk30]

no fenders . both ends . or running boards .

4 door sedan body .

yes he is just a put put cruise guy so the 350 he got from me at around 250hp max will be it .

he got a smoking deal on the almost new 4 link front kit cause the guy didnt like the looks and wanted a mustang 2 front .

 

[ktmoutfront]

Where the 4 link attaches to the frame, he should run a crossmember between the rails.

 

[yellowK20]

For a 1000.00 Speedway Motors sells a weld it yourself model a chassis that’s already boxed

 

[sweetk30]

thanks buddy i will pass it along to him .

sure looks like a nice kit to start fresh from . https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-U-Weld-Ford-Model-A-Frame-Rail-Assembly-Kit,74070.html

 

[sweetk30]

my buddys is getting a lot closer to full roller . he got part of the front end up in . the rear end was last weekend here we welded on the spring mounts to the 8.8 ford explorer rear i got him with 3.55 gears for $50.00 cash

the rear is 30x9.50x15 for now to just roll it . he plans to do the old school skinny tall wide whites on narrow rims .

week or 2 we will be test firing the 350 sbc he got from me . and he is doing a 700r4 i tossed in the deal i didnt need .

 

[Capt Ron]

 

[sweetk30]

He boxed it him self .

It was here this past weekend for some welding with my BIG MIG lincoln 216 .

Had to get it up but keep the weight on suspension so we use the 2 post lift and 2 tables . . Rosie & Brenda .

Roller is done . Next stage is body mods and fixing .

 

[sweetk30]

I tried to get him to do a 4x4 conversion . . .