PO hackjob

[Phantom440]

Hey all,
Here are some pictures from underneath my ‘72 Coronet. The floors rotted out under the rubber mat just under the pedals, and someone spliced in the rearmost portion of the front driver’s side frame rail from an orange car. The welds look terrible to me, so I’m asking... how screwed am I? Is this acceptable (ugly but strong), or do I need a new rail? Could this one be ground down and refitted?

 

[Mike67]

If the metal is good, clean up the welds and re-weld it unless its structurally unsafe and you dont care for patches.

 

[Phantom440]

If the metal is good, clean up the welds and re-weld it unless its structurally unsafe and you dont care for patches.

As far as patches- do you mean those safe-t-caps? I don't have any problem with patching it or putting a cap on it as long as it's solid underneath. I just don't want it to fail somehow. When this car is done I plan to drive the snot out of it for years. I just want to make sure I'm not in a deathtrap because of this frame rail. (I know old cars can be/are death traps, I just mean particularly because of this repair.)

 

[kiwigtx]

Same guy must have done this tow hitch...

Sage advice from a kid...

 

[JackR]

This is how the PO fixed right side quarter replacement in the 70’s I think. Coat hanger weld wire likely. Oh, and the missing brace connection. Media blast surprise.

 

[kiwigtx]

This is how the PO fixed right side quarter replacement in the 70’s I think. Coat hanger weld wire likely. Oh, and the missing brace connection. Media blast surprise. View attachment 1048174View attachment 1048173

That's some top-notch workmanship right there.

 

[SattyNoCar]

I'm gonna have to get some pics of the factory welds on my wagon..............

 

[Mike67]

I guess I used the wrong term,, the structural pieces I guess could better be described as splices, patches are for holes...
Check the metal integrity between the pan and the rail, you can use a hammer or drill small holes 1/8-1/4" to make sure its not paper thin. If its good but you are still worried about it you can box it in by welding a piece of plate that spans across the good factory metal to the replaced pieces.. I would definitely grind out the dobber welds to remove any air pockets or cracks and replace with a good root pass and a couple of rows of lap welds.
Once you have that fix patch your floor and weld it to the rails. Your not going to run it in Baja so it should be fine.as long as all the connections are to good metal.

 

[70chall440]

You are not "screwed", its just metal and can be cut, replaced, rewelded as much as you like. Sure, it might take some work but it is not the end of the world.

 

[dirrk]

BAD welds can always be rewelded......I do it all the time...LOL

 

[ckessel]

Like Dirty Harry said. Do you feel lucky? If not, dive in and do it correctly.