Part 7- Repairing the frame

[RJacobsen]

In this section I will go over some of the repairs and/or changes that I am making to the frame. The previous owner added bracing that I will remove or change and cut away pieces (including the entire rear portion of the frame) that I need to replace.


If you look close at the next picture, you will notice that the front body mounting tab is gone as well as the jack bar mount. I have no idea why this was done but figured this was a good place to start the repairs.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Frontbumperbracket.JPG

This shot shows the newly fabricated parts welded on. With the body in place I am able to line up these items. I will finish any welding that I can't get to later, after the body is removed.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Frontbumperbracket1.JPG

to be continued.....

[Naumoff]

Any new progress Rod?

[RJacobsen]

Tony, I'm afraid it's been hard to find time to work on the car lately. I've had alot of out of town work. But the best excuse I have for not working on the car was the arival of my first grandson on 3-4-2006, this is one thing thats way more fun than a Cobra.

[Naumoff]

Handsome boy Rod! Congrates!
Car can wait a little.:cool:

[RJacobsen]

Thanks Tony. Yah, I'm having too much fun with the little guy but I'll get back at the car soon.

[nolastyankee]

Rod,
With the Spence car home from the paint shop I have been wondering lately about my "kindred spirit" rescue Cobra...Any progress lately? Hope to see you at the homecoming in the spring, we'll be there!

[RJacobsen]

Brian, Thanks for thinking about me. I'm still here. I haven't done anything with the car lately that I thought was "post worthy", with the exception of a foot well widening project that I haven't quite finished. I will be working on the rear frame section repair very soon and be posting pictures of both projects. I'm glad that yours is coming along. It looks great. Thanks

[RJacobsen]

I finally found some time to work on the car so moving now to the back of the frame. The following photos show the removable aluminum frame section that was made for the car.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Removablerearsection.jpg

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Aluminumframesection1.jpg

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Aluminumframesection2.jpg

This piece had no provision for mounting the rear jack bars, was crudely made and offered little or no protection to the fuel tank.
I started the repair by first getting some exact measurements from another car (thanks again Phil G.)
The first thing to fabricate was the rear cross member with all of the suspension attachment brackets.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/RearFrameMember.jpg

[RJacobsen]

With that done it was time to weld it onto the frame. To align it properly with the rest of the frame I used my laser level (not just a carpentry tool anymore) and some homemade measuring targets.
In the next photo you will see four rulers magnetically attached to the four corners of the main frame rails. By adjusting the laser level until I got the same reading on all four rulers I established a parallel plane to the main frame that I could measure from to position the rear cross member.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Aligningtheframe1.jpg

The laser level,

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Aligningtheframe2.jpg

With the rear cross member at the correct height and proper distance from the back of the main frame I could then cut the side frame pieces and tack them into place.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Rearframetackedinplace.jpg

[RJacobsen]

The next thing to do was to make sure that the rear cross member was centered. To do that I fabricated two centerline targets that I attached magnetically to the front and rear of the main frame rails.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Aligningtheframe5.jpg

Then by turning the laser on its side I was able to line up the two targets and establish a visible centerline for the entire frame.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Aligningtheframe3.jpg

With everything aligned I then finished the welding.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Rearframeweldedinplace.jpg
And finally the brackets to mount the jack bars and a small tab that I will drill and tap later for the trunk latch.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Rearbumperbrackets.jpg

To be continued.....

[RJacobsen]

In case you're wondering, this is how the body goe's up and down

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Liftingthebody.jpg

[bstandley1]

Rod,

Thanks for the update!. I was wondering how your project was coming along. Kudos for the photos, especially the mechanized body lifter. Please continue your periodic updates .... it's inspiring.

Bob

[pgermond]

Nice progress Rod! And thanks for the last picture - you obviously anticipated the question after looking over the other photos :)

[RJacobsen]

Thanks Bob- I,ve been following along with the issues on your car, I hope all is well now. Are you headed for Reno again this year?

[Slither]

Nice work!! We appreciate the update.

[bstandley1]

Rod,

I'm reluctantly going to pass on Reno this year. The combination of the earlier date increasing the prospects of rain on both ends of the journey and the fact that I have less than two hundred miles on the new motor tell me that I should shoot for 2008. Are you planning on going?

Bob

[RJacobsen]

Bob, I do plan to go (its an easy 2 hour drive from here) but the car will probably not make it until 2008 :( .

[souzape]

Rod- I assume Phil G is also going to the WSCB. Look me up there too. Grey 289 with Cal plates PAT 058. Phil S

[Russ Dickey]

Good gosh - and I thought just building a kit from a deluxe pallet would be challenging.

Nice work Rod!

[YerDugliness]

Good gosh - and I thought just building a kit from a deluxe pallet would be challenging.

Nice work Rod!

My sentiments exactly--but I do want some of my sweat equity in the finished product, so that's what I plan on doing when the time is right.

I'm not much for fabrication, but for those who manage to do so, my hat's off to you!! Suffice it to say I'm in awe of how you've done all this, Rod!

Doug

[Naumoff]

Nice work Rod.
Looks like you have done this before. :cool:

[RJacobsen]

Thanks for all the kind words Guys, The feedback helps to keep me motivated on the project. With the footboxes rebuilt and the frame now almost complete, I can kind of see a light at the end of the tunnel. Still a lot to do though, so I will keep the posts coming.

[casaleenie]

I replaced a couple of light bulbs last week.... WITHOUT EVEN USING TOOLS!!!!!

[RJacobsen]

The next item on the list is the transmission support. A somewhat simple item to fabricate but clearing out the spot for it on the frame was an all morning job. The previous owner had added a lot of extra bracing in this area and it all needed to come out. This older picture is the best one I could find but it doesn’t show all of it.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/tunnelflange2.jpg

With that out of the way I finally had a clean slate to work with.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Trannysupport1.jpg

I fabricated a cross member.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Trannycrossmember.jpg

Then made 2 brackets and welded them to the frame.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/TransCrossmemberbracket.jpg

[RJacobsen]

And this is how it all looks bolted in.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Trannycrossmember2.jpg

This is some of the stuff that I removed from the frame.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/Leftovers.jpg

Another thing on my list has to do with seats and seatbelts. The seats in my car were mounted partially to steel that is part of the frame (the outer bolts) and partially to the fiberglass floor (the inner bolts).
Also the inner seatbelts were attached to some of the bracing that I removed earlier.
This next picture shows the 2 x 4 tubing that I cut to use for the seatbelt mount.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/innerseatbeltframemount.jpg

And this picture shows a piece welded in right and left for the inner rear seat bolts to mount to.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/gallery/files/1/5/0/5/seatinnermountingpoint.jpg

To be continued…

[Silk]

Rod,

Glad to see you back on the Cobra project - looks like you've got most of the hard stuff completed.

Just curious - with all the doodads the previous owner added, did he ever race the car? A lot of that stuff doesn't look too well thought out. Your reengineering, on the other hand, looks great. Keep those pics coming!

[Slither]

Excellent progress :D !!

[RJacobsen]

Gary, The story i've been told is that he raced the car more than he drove on the streets.