What are some common solutions to the bad frame reality on many late '60s B-body Canadian Ponchos?
- keep looking for as parts car with a good frame?
- repair the frame (depending on severity and location of damage)?
- buy a new frame (assuming that someone, somewhere, is making replacements - perhaps for Chevys)?
What have you guys done?
2drpost said
Jul 27, 2009
bob, i put a southwest usa '70 frame under my bel air. frame had a couple 'minor' patches done to it. i found other areas were thin and a hole through the top rail near the rt rear control arm. my thoughts were if one or two areas are thin, what about the areas you can't see? the frame i found was absolutely rust free, still had the original factory coating on it.
don't know of anyone building new frames.
check my bel air site for the pictures.
-- Edited by 69 belair on Monday 27th of July 2009 07:55:49 PM
67HEAVEN said
Jul 27, 2009
I could swear I just replied to this thread......... Disappeared?
=================================================== Anyway, thanks for the reply, Dave.
Most Ontario B-bodies that appeal to me seem to have frame issues, even though the bodies often don't look too bad.
Hopefully, I won't have to bring a donor car in from the West just to get a good frame.
67Poncho said
Jul 27, 2009
From experience......... Not all western cars have good frames either! The last 5 I dragged home from Sask, Manitoba and Alberta and BC, only 1 Sask car seems to have a good one!!! Just depends on the owner....
Canadian Poncho said
Jul 28, 2009
Sounds like someone with some time, a truck and a good trailer could make a few bucks bringing some frames back from the south. Now's the time to do it with scrap prices so low.
timbuk said
Oct 19, 2009
yes the west may not be the place for frame hunting,my 65 impala has been patched up and several parts cars i have gotten have frame issues.This is also true with my 65 sd parts car and my 64 custom parts cars both have frame isssues. imbuk
rabbit64cs said
Oct 19, 2009
northern SK frames of cars that were parked in the 70's are usually nice and sound .. before they started salting the crap out of the roads and winter tires were not 'seasonal'
It doesn't make sense to bring one out east....or does it??
cdnpont said
Oct 19, 2009
If the frame is really soft all over, just buy a replacement. I spent a good bit of time repairing mine, but I knew a welder with a shop and a pro tig machine. So it was done well. But unless you can ultrasonically test the thickness, how do you really know what areas have enough meat to be safe. We hammer tested everything and did it by sound more or less to find the soft spots. Essentially the bottoms and outboard sides of my frame rails, and partially up the doglegs were soft. If I did it all again....
In my experience the best bet is a used frame from the US sunbelt, or northern Canada. I had a 69 Biscayne 2 dr post car that came from Arizona via Ontario and Nova Scotia. The body was good but I had to replace the rusty frame. The one I used came from a 68 Biscayne wagon out of Labrador, that was solid except that I had to weld in some reinforcements under the body cushions.
I have a spare frame now that came from a 69 Caprice 4 door ht. The car was a 350/300 HP small block from North Carolina, had HD suspension, disc brakes and a 12 bolt rear end. Although the car was in Newfoundland for 15 years when I bought it, the frame was rock solid, as were the floors, rockers and most of the body panels. The exceptions were the quarters, the hood and the roof (a seive, resulting from corrosion under the vinyl top).
What are some common solutions to the bad frame reality on many late '60s B-body Canadian Ponchos?
- keep looking for as parts car with a good frame?
- repair the frame (depending on severity and location of damage)?
- buy a new frame (assuming that someone, somewhere, is making replacements - perhaps for Chevys)?
What have you guys done?
i put a southwest usa '70 frame under my bel air.
frame had a couple 'minor' patches done to it. i found other areas were thin and a hole through the top rail near the rt rear control arm.
my thoughts were if one or two areas are thin, what about the areas you can't see?
the frame i found was absolutely rust free, still had the original factory coating on it.
don't know of anyone building new frames.
check my bel air site for the pictures.
-- Edited by 69 belair on Monday 27th of July 2009 07:55:49 PM
===================================================
Anyway, thanks for the reply, Dave.
Most Ontario B-bodies that appeal to me seem to have frame issues, even though the bodies often don't look too bad.
Hopefully, I won't have to bring a donor car in from the West just to get a good frame.
I spent a good bit of time repairing mine, but I knew a welder with a shop and a pro tig machine. So it was done well. But unless you can ultrasonically test the thickness, how do you really know what areas have enough meat to be safe. We hammer tested everything and did it by sound more or less to find the soft spots. Essentially the bottoms and outboard sides of my frame rails, and partially up the doglegs were soft. If I did it all again....
New Frames are available
I have a spare frame now that came from a 69 Caprice 4 door ht. The car was a 350/300 HP small block from North Carolina, had HD suspension, disc brakes and a 12 bolt rear end. Although the car was in Newfoundland for 15 years when I bought it, the frame was rock solid, as were the floors, rockers and most of the body panels. The exceptions were the quarters, the hood and the roof (a seive, resulting from corrosion under the vinyl top).