Horrible News!

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kfrese

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Guys I rushed and bought a 73 dart sport years back. Put a ton of money into paint interior engine transmission etc. Got to the point of having engine installed. My install guy told me I have three cracks on my frame right near where the k member bolts up. Its so bad on passenger side if you move the tire you can see the crack shift! I will be honest. I am super disappointed. I know anything can be fixed. But what are some options? Spending a ton more dough for this is going to be hard! Please help
 
I've had that in three of the 4 k-frame bolts.

I've seen in a number of A-bodies. And So Cal non rusted cars too. My 68 Dart has some cracks. And when it happened in my Cuda in 1997, I looked at A-bodies in the junkyard and found a couple of them with similar cracks.

Welded the cracks. The one that was worse two in the rears we put a plates over it. Been 40K HARD miles since.

7784615-RtWeldGenl.JPG


7784615-RtSideWeld.JPG
 

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autoxcuda said:
I've had that in three of the 4 k-frame bolts.

I've seen in a number of A-bodies. And So Cal non rusted cars too. My 68 Dart has some cracks. And when it happened in my Cuda in 1997, I looked at A-bodies in the junkyard and found a couple of them with similar cracks.

Welded the cracks. The one that was worse two in the rears we put a plates over it. Been 40K HARD miles since.

7784615-RtWeldGenl.JPG


7784615-RtSideWeld.JPG
Click to expand...

Nice work! As usual.
 
autoxcuda said:
You should.

Clean the oil and dirt off the frame so you can see fine cracks.
Click to expand...

weld it up, grind it off smooth, weld a thin body thickness channel over the frame-encompassing all 4 bolts.(redrill bolt holes first!)--bob
 
Weld it or have someone else weld it for you.

Another option is to remove the cracked frame rail and weld one on from a donor car. I don't recommend this option as it will be pricey and a lot of work.
 
I have been told this is pretty common. Had to have a crack welded on mine. Friend of mine use to run a front end shop, and said he did several.
 
Fish plate it & weld it -done
Overlap the crack buy a few inches -there is a reason for the crack in the frame the metal has rusted from the inside out.
 
Did the cracks look like this?
And yes, I do realize this thread is 3 years old, but it is the most relevant to what I was searching for.
0507181529_HDR.jpg
0507181528a_HDR.jpg
 
Yes, its interesting there is no visible rust in or near the cracks.rust on the frame rails farther back. This section had grease and grime over the original paint.
I'm thinking I am going to drill small holes at the end of the cracks to keep them from running, then, grind them out a little so the weld has a place to go, and have my brother in law weld the cracks.
 
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