October 2010
When I got my frame back from being stripped and cleaned, I checked over the metal with a critical eye and looked for problem areas. On the under side of the frame, where the trailing arms attach, I found these small holes....
I figured I could weld a patch over the area and I'd be good to go....WRONG ! Fortunately, one of the 6-Pack guys was repairing his frame at the same time and revealed that these important sections of the frame have internal stiffeners to help support the rear suspension. His stiffeners were nothing but a pile of rust, and as I viewed his thread pics, I got a bad feeling in my gut. Well, I couldn't just hope this was not a problem for me, I had to look for myself, and a few minutes with a metal cutting tool showed this....
Yep, my internal stiffeners were also a pile of rust ! Fortunately, new replacement sections are available, so I called "The Roadster Factory" a.k.a "TRF" and ordered a new section for each side of the car.
Notice the stiffeners built in the channel...these also double as guides for the bolts that hold the rear suspension / rear trailing arms to the car...pretty important !
I'd like to tell you that I removed the old sections and welded in the new ones, but this is too critical an area for a novice welder like me to be messing with, so the pro's at Mitch's Welding in Maumee, Ohio, were called on to do the job.
Mitch's team did a super job ! Thanks guys, and thanks to 6-Pack member Mark P. who tipped me off about this problem !!
