1969 427 restoration from Sweden

SmokinBBC said:
I hope those are last winter's pictures! I'd hate to think you already have that much snow!

Nice work!
Click to expand...

Thanks! Yes, January 2011. We have had two terrible winters now. I was forced to remove snow from the roofs of my house and garage. I measured the snow on my garage roof and it was 4,7 feet high at it´s most:huh::huh:

A few photos from the disassembly. This car was one of the nicest cars I have ever come across to work on! There were not one single bolt that was stuck. It all went very smooth.
However I found several bolts that were not correctly tightened and a few that were broken in two. several of them in the driveline:crap: I´m very glad that nothing happened during the two summers I used it...

18774ebd7bbb63a81.jpg

18774ebd7bbca0708.jpg

18774ebd7bbde8f46.jpg
 
I found this date on the frame. If the date means that the frame was assembled August 5:th 1968 it means the frame is 2 days younger than me! quite a coincidence.

18774ec037df19971.jpg
 
Wanted to share some photos of the frame after blasting. It was in a perfect shape. Not one rust hole to be found. It looked like it could have been manufactured yesterday.

But the welds, what did they do in 1968???? I was quite shocked by the poor quality. However, they did something correct back then since the frame still was in good shape after more than 40 years.

18774ec037de75a4a.jpg

18774ec037ddd3212.jpg

18774ec037dd3eb00.jpg

18774ec037dc9fda2.jpg
 
Last edited:
I decided to manufacture a jig for the frame to keep it fixed during the welding.
I had a few beams that I thought would be strong enough. I aligned the beams to be completely horizontal in all directions and then they were welded together keeping track of the alignment the whole time. It turned out pretty ok (within 2mm).

The Jerry cans and the welding machine is not a good combination I think:lol:
18774ec037d846f92.jpg
 
The frame was positioned 500mm above the jig. This gave good acess to all areas of the frame.
Aligned the frame to be level with the jig to give a fixed surface to measure everything from, before, during and after.
Welded the frame to the jig using 50x50mm beams (2"x2").
This work took me a few evenings to finish but I think it was well worth it.

(Jerry cans now removed...)

18774ec037daaa97f.jpg
 
Some photos of the frame welding. I started by grinding all starts and stops of the old welds to smooth them out as well as remowing all sections of bad quality welds. Most of them looks to be of bad quality but evidently the frame is ok.
I measured the frame thoroughly according to the C3 frame drawings, taking notes on all measurements before I started welding. By this I had good reference measurements to compare with after the frame was finished.

Shifted the weld sequence from underside of the frame to the upside the whole time and also welding on many different locations to avoid warping and heat build up. This took several evenings to complete for me.

18774ec42ae0bac59.jpg

18774ec42ae15f1a4.jpg

18774ec42ae1f20ea.jpg
 
The rear kick up reinforcement beam was boxed. I have not seen this done before but it felt like a good idea.
I was really surprised by the soft steel in the frame. It was also quite difficult to avoid alot of weld spray. Tried to change the weld parameters as well as protective gas flow. No success:skeptic: Perhaps a different gas would have been better but my guess is that the steel used for theese frames are full of contaminations.

18774ec42ae47fca9.jpg

18774ec42ae527a43.jpg
 
Pretty welds. Did you make a template of those boxing plates for the kick up diagonals? They would be very handy for others. Love what you have done!!
 
Twin_Turbo said:
Pretty welds. Did you make a template of those boxing plates for the kick up diagonals? They would be very handy for others. Love what you have done!!
Click to expand...

Hello, Thank´s for the positive input!
Unfortunately I have no templates left. I usually make templates by cutting a special type of card board that is very thin but stiff. It is the type of card board used for food packing and cigarette boxes. I just throw the templates when I´m done.
That specific section was not difficult to do. Just make sure the lower hole is positioned so that the trailing arm bolt can be removed.

Best regards, Daniel
 
Next it was time to box the front end of the frame where the stabilizer bar attaches. This looks to be a rather weak point. Had to position the cooler correctly so that the right side sheet metal could be formed around the lower hose connection.

18774ec42ae2954c3.jpg
 
Last edited:
This is the right side beeing adjusted before welding. I used 3mm (0,12") sheet metal for this.
Machined a tube first and then cut a piece out of it to get the correct radius for the hose connection. The small section of tube was then welded to the sheet metal and then it was all welded to the frame. I have also filled the upper wedge after the photo was taken.

18774ec42ae33d333.jpg
 
Finished. I could perhaps have stretched the plate a little bit more forward but not much. I want enough space around the connection tube so that the radiator can be adjusted some during final assembly.

18774ec42ae3d8a72.jpg
 
This is the best "how to" I have ever seen for frame improvement. Very nice job. I really like boxing the gussets in the rear kick ups. Great idea.
 
It´s great if you guys find my modifications to be of any use for you. Thank´s for all the kind words!!
I will try to get some time free to add more pictures of my frame but you know...
Today I have spent 6 hours on my knees scraping interior insulation and old glue form the interior compartments. I´m a bit tired now :zzz::zzz:
 
Front reinforcement continues. It never seems to be finished...

Left and right side "triangulation" or whatever it is called. 4mm steel plates tack welded in place. Important to grind all edges 45° from each side to get proper weld penetration.

18774ec83790c2ebb.jpg

18774ec8379195bfa.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top