What's wrong with this picture Part 2, but much more serious this time.

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ProjectBazza said:
In my initial "What's wrong with this picture" post I was feeling kinda cocky, and I'll admit I had consumed a couple adult beverages while posting that one.

This post is semi-related to that one, but now things are more serious.

Recall I'm working on a RHD, 1971 Valiant VG from Oz, and I removed the front suspension, k-member, and steering, as the owner had (past tense) a complete rebuild kit in the trunk. Yesterday I got (almost) everything ready for re-installation, and this morning I decided to clean-up the area around the frame-mounted steering box (the subject of my initial post), as this was the area that suffered the most from that God-awful upside-down engine mounted oil filter (one of my first posts on this site).

Well, let's just say it's a damn good thing I've done all of this work, as here's what I discovered when I started cleaning/degreasing around the steering box:

Initial "WTF?" shot:
View attachment 1716130652

And then another with the steering box removed and things cleaned-up a bit:
View attachment 1716130653

I haven't broken out the grinding wheels/discs yet to see the full extent of the crack(s), but it's bad enough that I can physically move the two frame sections side-to-side with just my bare hands if I push/pull really hard at the bottom. (There's a similar crack on the outer part of the frame, but the pictures I took are too dark and blurry.)

Bazza always said the front end was "loose", and that's the reason he bought the front-end kit from Oz. But to be perfectly honest, the bushings and tie rods that I worked with were bad, but not "that bad". Looks like I just found the proverbial "smoking gun" here.

What really sucks (insert my whine here) is we recently moved here, and I don't have 240V power in the outbuilding (yet) to run my wire feed.

Not sure how I'm going to handle this just yet (rent/buy a 115V welder, hire this out, run 240 power...), but thought I would just pass along this little Oddity from Oz to y'all while I start opening-up more adult beverages and contemplating what to do next.

Heading towards Comfortably Numb,

Jim
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This happens a lot and it used to mean the death of the car.
Very few people are prepared to fix them even today.
There are two ways most guys handle it - one is with a sleeve over the top which doesn't really make the problem go away. (Chassis Rail Repair Sleeve (Right Hand) : suit VE/VF/VG/VH/VJ/VK/CL/CM)
I did this repair more than 15 years ago and it is still holding up well.
The better way, in my opinion, is to cut out the bad bit and replace it.
Bruce at Blue Star Garage sells a repair section that has all the internal gussets to replace the bad/rusty section (Rust Repair | bluestargarage).
His instructions are super-detailed and he include 95 photos of the process. Send me your email address and I'll send you the photos if that helps.
I have bought a few of these pieces for my cars but I haven't done the repair yet.
 

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NudeHemidude said:
The better way, in my opinion, is to cut out the bad bit and replace it.
Bruce at Blue Star Garage sells a repair section that has all the internal gussets to replace the bad/rusty section (Rust Repair | bluestargarage).
His instructions are super-detailed and he include 95 photos of the process. Send me your email address and I'll send you the photos if that helps.
I have bought a few of these pieces for my cars but I haven't done the repair yet.
Click to expand...

VERY nice, thank you!

Yes, please send me whatever you feel would be helpful/relevant. I just started a "conversation" here with you, and have included my personal email. If you don't see it, please let me know and I will re-try.

Thank you!

Jim

(Edit: Apparently you've reached your Inbox limit here, and thus I can't start a conversation with you. I'd rather not post my email publicly, so not sure where to go with this next.)
 
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This is the repair piece showing the internal gussets that make this a structural piece.
I sand blasted its guts and sprayed weld-through primer to stop it rusting before I fit it.
It would be 3mm think steel. The bolt you can see is where the rear k-frame bolts in. Pretend that you are looking at the front of the car in this shot.
The crush-tube you can see towards the top of the shot is where one of the steering box bolts goes through.
The problem is that water gets in there (I'm not sure exactly how...) and the factory didn't put a drain hole in until 1977.
So it rusts from the inside out and it is struggling with the loads from the steering box in the first place.
A car with a cracked/rusty chassis rail tends to change lanes when you hit a rough patch of road. or just generally try to kill you whenever it isn't parked.
Makes driving very exciting!

IMG_1509.JPG
 
1WildRT said:
Haven't seen an update to this & was wondering if there's been any progress?
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I was hoping to get an update on the car sometime after the Labor Day weekend, but I guess a family issue came-up at the shop, so as of yesterday: nothing. The only progress (that I'm aware of) is what I've been able to do w/o the car: paint the control arms, button-up and detail the front and top of the engine, that sort of thing.

But in way it's ok, as it's allowed me to do some work around the house that got put on hold once I took this on.

But winter is coming (yeah, I said it!), and I still have a lot of work to do on the car, so I'm torn between leaving well enough alone, and/or calling them up and risk coming-off as a pest. I hate to be "that guy", but....

(Edit/update: One thing I forgot to mention is that Bazza, the vehicle owner, was released from the hospital on Wednesday! He still has a long recovery ahead of him, but this is a HUGE step for him, and everyone around him is hoping and praying for him!)
 
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Good to hear Bazza has escaped the doctors torture chamber....
I totally get the needing time for other projects... The more you are able to do, the more folks find a need for you to do something... Plus I, like you, tend to find stuff to stay busy.... Never been the sit around all day type...
 
ProjectBazza said:
Quick update:

A damn mouse did this!
View attachment 1716130805

View attachment 1716130806

As I was working on this I saw all of this "stuff" packed inside there (pics above), and when I opened it up some more I found the entire frame rail, from BEFORE the front k-member bolt on back, was packed with these tiny little seeds about the size of a sesame seed. I would estimate I got about a pound of them out, so far, but there's still more in there that I wasn't able to get out yet due to wetness and what-not. Have to let things dry out and keep working at it, I guess.

Thankfully there seems to be some sort of internal bulkhead just to the right of the upper steering box hole, as I can't seem to punch anything through there. And blowing air "up" from one of the holes further down the frame doesn't produce any results.
View attachment 1716130815

I'll put some batteries in my inspection camera and have a look-see tomorrow evening sometime, but considering how many of these I ingested and inhaled this afternoon, I'm just hoping these are US-based seeds, from a US-based mouse, and not some weird biohazard seeds from a secret lab in Oz or NZ with a genetic mutation virus that's going to eat my brain from the inside out!

:lol:
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Rodentia and Metal-Mites, the worst!!! No, hope somebody from Monsanto doesn't "test" Your seeds, then tell You they are Their patented genetically engineered seeds, & You need to pay license to possess them or surrender Your vehicle.....
 
1WildRT said:
Good to hear Bazza has escaped the doctors torture chamber....
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Yup! This is the second time he's been released, and we're all hoping that this time it "sticks", and he's able to stay home and recuperate in a comfortable and familiar environment.

Picture of him "holding court" at the Mopars in the Park event in Farmington, MN about 6-7 years ago (he's in the light blue shirt). Truly one of the most likeable guys you'll ever meet.
P6030345edit.jpg
 
RH drive cars always turn heads, I have a buddy in San Diego that drives a Aussie Dart, he's one of those guys who enjoys messing with people's minds & a RH drive Dart is just the perfect tool to do that with...
 
ProjectBazza said:
Same guy you hooked me up with? The importer dude? Nice guy, must have chatted with him for 30 minutes or so during our first conversation.
Click to expand...
No, they are friends but Jeff is in Garden Grove... Steve is actually in Vista just north of SD..
 
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