1969 Roadrunner Full Restoration

Ok...I’ve got updates....

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I made a template for the frame rail pictured below.

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As you can see, both the crossmember and the perpendicular frame rail intersection are cooked! The frame rail intersection was a fairly complex piece to model/sketch. I decided to use painters tape to outline the frame rail profile. I used the profile to establish length and width.

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Here's the 14 Gauge sheetmetal bent to the template measurements.

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Here are the flanges being bent and shaped according to my template.

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Fitment and fine tuning with the crossmember replace piece I fabricated last week.

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Plan view of newly fabricated frame rail and partial crossmember.

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The piece above should fit between the two taped lines....fingers crossed.

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Might be able wee beefier than OEM.

I'll post when I burn'm in!

Semper Fi
Sabre_3
 
Love seeing you hand fabricate parts where most would just buy the repro part and either install whole or cut and use what they needed from it. I spent a 9-10 yea hiatas from my real career doing autobody for a living but my real career was in precision sheet metal shops. I ran almost every machine in the shop - shears, punch presses, press brakes etc. along with programming, engineering, supervising etc. so I know what it takes to make nice parts. I hand fabricated floor pans for old `69 Barracuda including the stiffening ribs and plenty of other patch panels over the years.
 
I found that replacing the hole part was faster than peacing it. I also knew that it was all new. These cars take a lot longer than we figure in the beginning. Mine was on the 5 years outside without working on it every day. But never have regrated it now that I am going to car shows and winning trophy's and Plack's. You can say I did this and be proud of what you were able to do. Not taking it to a shop to do the work makes the car more personable to you and it is a part of your life. Keep us updated on the progress keep up the good work. Russ.
 
Sometimes it`s easier/better to repair a section other times replacing the whole piece - depends on the extent or the rust/damage. I spliced in homemade sections of the rear frame rails on my Barracuda because only the rear area was rusted and back in the early 90`s they didn`t reproduce them.
 
torredcuda said:
Love seeing you hand fabricate parts where most would just buy the repro part and either install whole or cut and use what they needed from it. I spent a 9-10 yea hiatas from my real career doing autobody for a living but my real career was in precision sheet metal shops. I ran almost every machine in the shop - shears, punch presses, press brakes etc. along with programming, engineering, supervising etc. so I know what it takes to make nice parts. I hand fabricated floor pans for old `69 Barracuda including the stiffening ribs and plenty of other patch panels over the years.
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That's AWESOME!!!!

Thank you for sharing. I watched a lot of YouTube videos....mostly Fitzee's fabrications. Love that guy! Has only the basic tools: hammers, assorted Grinders, Bench vice and scrap steel laying around. I watch his videos for hours, Take notes and go give it a try in my shop....so Far so good....

Getting ready to cut out the old rusty stuff and burn in the new stuff!


Semper Fi
Sabre_3
 
Russ69Runner said:
I found that replacing the hole part was faster than peacing it. I also knew that it was all new. These cars take a lot longer than we figure in the beginning. Mine was on the 5 years outside without working on it every day. But never have regrated it now that I am going to car shows and winning trophy's and Plack's. You can say I did this and be proud of what you were able to do. Not taking it to a shop to do the work makes the car more personable to you and it is a part of your life. Keep us updated on the progress keep up the good work. Russ.
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Absolutely sir!

Thank you so much for the encouragement!!!

We'll keep you close on this.

Semper Fi
Sabre_3
 
torredcuda said:
Sometimes it`s easier/better to repair a section other times replacing the whole piece - depends on the extent or the rust/damage. I spliced in homemade sections of the rear frame rails on my Barracuda because only the rear area was rusted and back in the early 90`s they didn`t reproduce them.
Click to expand...
Yup...probably should have replaced the entire crossmember. But, I wanted the experience of working with that 14 Gauge metal and hand fabricating the piece to my measurements and design. Plus I wanted the experience of messing it up and working through the problems....I’ve always been hard headed like that...there's always the easy way, which is nice to have in the back of my mind if I really mess up. I love the challenge though!

Semper Fi
Sabre_3
 
Ok...here's where's we're at:

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Using 1/8 × 1 to stabilize the rest of the frame.

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Tacked those puppies in and started removing spot welds.

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Used the newly fabricated partial frame rail as a guide, I made my cuts and removed the rotten crossmember.

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Here's a good illustration of what we're dealing with.

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I tacked in the partial crossmember replacement, stitch welded the "easily accessible" areas and then ground down the welds. I repeated the process for the "easily accessible areas" until I was satisfied there were no weld gaps and everything was smooth. I simply ran out of time and needed to finish up so I could go to work the next day.

Now, I need to completely weld in the remaining exterior gaps. Then weld in the partial crossmember interior for extra strength. Then fabricate the interior crossmember structure that were removed (See below).

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Fortunately, I have a good template made from the Passenger side crossmember.

I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Semper Fi
Sabre_3
 
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