repairing frame rail rust

sctm1375 · 09-07-2005

in my 67 i have rust on both sides of the frame rails up where the bumper brackets attach. i have to cut this out and weld back some new stuff. anyone else ever have this problem? how did you deal with it? what gage metal did you use to patch it if so? is that something you can MIG weld? what did you use to cut it out? i'm new at all this heavy repair so any advice will be greatly appreciated.

the rust doesn't warrant replacing the whole rail so i guess i'm lucky, after what the car has been through and where its been.

dlinebar · 09-08-2005

If the end of the frame rail is that rusted then the rest of the rail is suspect as well. Take a phillips head screwdriver an give it some good hard tap all along the length of the rail....if it goes through you have a problem. Even though the rail might look good on the outside, the inside could be very weakened. I am in the middle of replacing my rails now, I am using MIG welding. As a matter of a fact I just welded the very area you are talking about. I have the resto pics on a web site take a look
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/d.linebar/stang/

Take a good honest look at the rest of the rail, it could be unsafe. Can you look down inside it with a flashlight?

Good luck.

Acooljt · 09-08-2005

It's VERY common for that area to rust, not sure why. While you're in there, you might wanna weld some stainless steel nuts in there instead of the old rusty things that Ford had.

Yes, it can be MIG welded.

I don't remember the gauge of the metal, look through some parts mag's and they might say. Otherwise, take a micrometer or dial caliper and measure the metal. If it's 1/24th of an inch, it's 24 gauge steel. If it's 1/16th of an inch, it's 16 gauge, see the connection?

It's good to check the strength of the rest of the frame rail, but it's not unusual for that place to be the only place to rust through, not one of Ford's better ideas(like I said, weld some stainless steel nuts in there so you never have to take it apart again).

sctm1375 · 09-09-2005

thanks for the advice. i did take a large socket wrench to the rail, smacking both sides up and down the entire length. luckily, everything is solid, except for that first ten inches or so. its completely gone.

so whats best to cut with? die grinder, air chisel?

Acooljt · 09-09-2005

Ack, I would go with a plasma cutter. Air chisel will chew it up too much and die grinder would take a long damn time.