I was installing my new $90 ebay exhaust today (not the tusdo one, one that doesn't hang low)... and I come to notice the frame behind the front wheels, the section that goes along the under side of the chassis... frame rail?... anyway about a 1 foot section on each side is completely gone, rusted off... completely as in no longer part of the frame anymore... should I be worried?... and what might my options be

 

nobody else has had this problem?...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by awalp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">nobody else has had this problem?...</TD></TR></TABLE>

alot of people up north have this problem and don't even know it..my old hatch was like that it was the worst id ever seen in person...common sense tells me that its bad,,i'm guessing you can have metal welded in

 

I recently did some work on a 240 hatch. The frame rails had rusted out. I bent up some 1/8" mild steel into channels that barely fit over the preexisting rails. I ground off the rusty portions of the stock rails, painted to prevent them from further corrosion, then welded the new channels over. We then foam filled the channels (it's a track car...) and painted the new rails.

Bend up some steel, grind the rusty part, and weld the new rail in to patch it. Don't run a solid bead when welded the rails to the chassis, the welds will crack. stitch weld them on, 1 inch long beads with a 1.5" gap between them will work. that's my suggestion

 

^ why does the solid bead crack?

 

The solid bead will crack due to the chassis flex. This is why when seam welding a chassis for autox, it's just spot welded.

 

i love school. i just learned this . unibody cars are never seam welded.. only spot welded.. would you ever stictch weld the frame? i would have thought you would just spot weld the piece of metal on to the rail?

 

I worded part of that a little weird. I meant when welding the seams of a unibody chassis for autox, etc.

What I do, is if I am patching a rail....I run a solid bead to attach the patch to the existing rail, then stitch/spot weld it where the rail attaches to the chassis, if that makes sense.

You want the frame rail to be a solid piece, but where the rail meets the underside of the car to be spot/stitched.

 

Strange...
I've seen a magazine once that had an article on spoon and their build up of an white EK (for circuit work).

They did long, continuous welds on all their seams, not spot-welded.
(fyi: they also did stuff like cut door seams down to half their height before welding)

?

 

interesting...

The cuts on the door joints were done to relieve some of the stress on the joint by reducing the area being welded...less panel pulling on the weld.

Most of the work I see is spot welded, and in school I was told to spot weld seams...but maybe it's just a very popular myth. (calling mythbusters...)

 

When do you mean spot welded? its justs a dot..not welded by a special welding tool that only weld in a little spot...(^^ i just started doing my homework for a futur project.)

 

yes you can do a spot weld with just a mig welder.. but there are machines you can buy (probably very expensive) that can do a true spot weld like the factory did. weve got one at my college. its pretty neat.to do one with the mig you got to punch holes in the new metal bla bla bla.. im sure i dont need to say how they do it.

 

 

sorry to hijack thread, how does that exhaust sound?? and what does it look like? pics would be great!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by janz3n &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yes you can do a spot weld with just a mig welder.. but there are machines you can buy (probably very expensive) that can do a true spot weld like the factory did. weve got one at my college. its pretty neat.to do one with the mig you got to punch holes in the new metal bla bla bla.. im sure i dont need to say how they do it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

same thing here we have probably the same spot welder... i dunno if they would let me borrow it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JT2MA71 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"></TD></TR></TABLE>

Did you raise the towers?

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothre...ge=17

 

That's just a pic from a quick google search to show the stitching.

I will probably throw up a thread when I finish my own car. I've been busy with the tubular bumper support and making torque boxes lately. Might get pics up....in a week or so?

 

I am about to do this same repair. any suggestions?
I was thinking of cutting a hole and installing square tubing in place (track car)
but Im nervious about the frame twisting

 

It's illegal, at least in Ohio, to weld a frame!!! It's dangerous for one thing, geez! I can't believe you people! If it's rusted out you should've gotten something clean, though I know it's hard to find them in the North

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BacardiBreezer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's illegal, at least in Ohio, to weld a frame!!! </TD></TR></TABLE>
weird, do it all the time at the shop i work at. not sure if you should use mild steel, im pretty sure the frame rail is high strength. but you really shouldnt do it yourself unless you know what your doing. personally i would just junk the car.