Building a frame..

I am resto-modding a '57 3B that belongs to my wife. (No she is not mail order bride R) ) The frame was cracked almost all of the way through at the rear spring mount on the drivers side. It had already been repaired several times by PO's. One had wleded a piece of thick 4x4 angle around the frame and then welded the spring mount to it. I have a set of wrangler springs laying around that I want to use, so I added it all up and decided that building a new frame was the way to go. I did quite a bit of research and chose a design that lends itself to the home do it yourselfer types. (simple=better)
I am using 2x4x.120" steel tubing. 1.5" round for the shackle bushing mounts. A full roll cage will compliment the frame and add stiffness.

Here are some pics of what I have done so far.

 

some more

I have the intermediate crossmember in. The front and rear are held by temporary members to keep it aligned.

 

That looks great, a friend of mine built one of the same style and materials for his CJ3a several years ago and it has held up really well. I think that you will be impressed with the stiffness, compared to the original C channel frame.

 

8)

 

Damn, you're an ambitious feller, aren't ya?

 

HA, HA -- not as ambitious as you might think. I just couldn't see putting a ton of work into the rest of the Jeep if it had a bad frame. I have about 5.5 hours and $150 into the frame at this point. I think the hard part is over. The thing I like most about this idea is that I can mount the motor and trans assy where I want it-- down low to keep a good COG.

I would have spent way more time cleaning and fixing the old frame. So maybe I am just lazy guy.R)

 

No jig- I just used levels and large squares to keep everything straight as possible.

 

good work

 

Well, you've sure got some nice-looking welds there. I used to be a machinist, and have dabbled with welding, but I'm waaayyy too old and fat to tackle something like that nowadays. Don't have the shop or the tools either. I'll just be happy to get my frame blasted and painted. But it doesn't have any rot, damage or repairs either.

 

man your shed looks almost as messy as mine,did you drink that whole bucket of beer building the frame? it looks good ,you got me thinkin now!!,jared

 

Looks good! I think that and a new tub are the next major steps for my jeep, although I can't decide if I should go cj6 or keep it 5.R)

Kevo

 

Looking good 8)

This is something that I've definately thought about doing some day. Seems like it wouldn't be too hard at all.

 

Nice Job...