Hey guys it has been a long time since there’s been an update on the Fish…
About a year ago the fish was diagnosed with a rot problem in the front left frame rail. The rail was starting to collapse on itself… quite a depressing turn of events! Evidently this is a fairly common problem likely caused by battery acid getting into the rail.
At the time, my friend/mechanic Rory helped me understand my options… from which I chose to buy a frame rail cap from SafeTCap and have him surgically repair the car. Rory really knows his sh!t so I was very comfortable with that decision even though I knew he was not really looking forward to doing it. Who would!
It took some time to save up for the surgery and I decided to add a few other things to the list: frame connectors, hotchkiss leaf springs and 1.03” torsion bars, bilstein shocks, sound deadener and a new ACC carpet.
So… to the surgery…
The fish on the operating table… the K member is out at this point… Rory has the engine supported by the brace from above. Sad Fish!
The rot! That hole is where the rear K member bolt hole should have been…
That bolt hole was here… completely rotted out.
The rot is cut out & metal prepped for the cap…
Here Rory has plug welded and seam welded the cap on to what is left of the frame.
Welds cleaned up and primed… note the stop was put back in place.
Bad shot, but it’s done! 3 days of hard work on Rory’s part.
Oh by the way… the steering box mount on the K frame was cracking off… maybe from K member flex from that back mount flapping?
I’ll post shots of the sound deadening install a little later…
