Project Frankensquare

[n8in8or]

Another nice thing about hot dipped galvanized is that it's UV stable after being coated. E-coat is not UV stable, so it needs to be top-coated anywhere it's going to be exposed to UV rays.

 

[ak diesel driver]

I've read of guys living close to the shops that do it getting it done anywhere from $3-800

 

[SnowDrift]

That doesn't sound like too bad of a price, really

 

[jrsavoie]

I've read of guys living close to the shops that do it getting it done anywhere from $3-800

Hot dipped frame?

That doesn't sound bad at all.

Couldn't do as good a job painting it for that price.

Not to mention saving your lungs

 

[Husker6.5]

Not to mention saving your lungs.

That's why you use an air compressor to power the spray gun, @jrsavoie, not blow through it!

 

[jrsavoie]

That's why you use an air compressor to power the spray gun, @jrsavoie, not blow through it!

Why didn't someone tell me that 46 years ago?

 

[n8in8or]

Today I took the day off of work so I could work on the truck. I got a lot done.

First, and most important, thing I got done was making the bushing sleeves for the upper shackle hangers and installing them in the frame rails.



After that I made the frame boxing plates and welded those to the rails.



That’s something that’s been on my mind for a couple weeks, so it felt good to get that done finally. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out overall.

After that I boxed the frame over the engine crossmember.

 

[n8in8or]

Last thing I got done on the frame was finally making the gussets for the rear spring mounts and getting them welded in place.



I know the gussets pointing down in the rear is a little unconventional, but I had to do that so they didn’t intrude into the dump hinge space later.

Tomorrow should be a fun day - after cleaning up my mess around the frame, I’m going to pull it outside and turn it around so it can be backed into the barn. I’m backing it in because I’m going to start working on mounting the dump hoist.

 

[MrMarty51]

A work of art.

 

[n8in8or]

A work of art.

I don’t know about that, but I appreciate the compliment. Thank you.

 

[Husker6.5]

Sweet looking welds, Nate!

 

[n8in8or]

Sweet looking welds, Nate!

Thank you. Most of it turned out how I wanted, but a couple spots I wish were a little better. Good enough for who it’s for though!

 

[n8in8or]

I forgot to mention two things yesterday:

I’m going to box/reinforce the very front of the frame once I work on the steering, I’m not certain on my plan at the moment, so I’ll figure it out at that time.

Once I have the dump hinges in place, I’ll look at adding some more gussets in the up position to the rear spring mounts.

 

[MrMarty51]

Thinking in My head of a way to ventilate the frame so that if there would be humidity/moisture gather within, that moisture could easily evaporate out to the atmosphere.
Thinking maybe several of those crank case filters that were placed inside the air filter housing of the GM vehicles, held in place with a clip to the outside of the air cleaner and a coupler a hose shoved over that went to the valve cover, might be a good answer. Incorporate a nipple to the frame, a hose attach to that then with a filter on the end of each hose would keep out bugs and debris and allow the frame to breathe during warm and cool spells.
Just a thought is all.
The hose could extend upwards to an out of the way place where water and dirt would be less likely to get splashed and cover the filter end.

 

[jrsavoie]

Thinking in My head of a way to ventilate the frame so that if there would be humidity/moisture gather within, that moisture could easily evaporate out to the atmosphere.
Thinking maybe several of those crank case filters that were placed inside the air filter housing of the GM vehicles, held in place with a clip to the outside of the air cleaner and a coupler a hose shoved over that went to the valve cover, might be a good answer. Incorporate a nipple to the frame, a hose attach to that then with a filter on the end of each hose would keep out bugs and debris and allow the frame to breathe during warm and cool spells.
Just a thought is all.
The hose could extend upwards to an out of the way place where water and dirt would be less likely to get splashed and cover the filter end.

Incorporating a nipple always sounds like a good idea.

Foam fill with 2 pound density foam?

I did that with a couple outdoor pipe frames maybe 26 years ago and both are still holding up very well

 

[n8in8or]

The frame won’t be completely sealed - there are large holes under the motor mount brackets and there will also be openings at the rear of the rails. So there will be airflow, but I get what you’re saying and why you have concerns. I will be spraying the inside of the rails with cavity wax using a nozzle that will apply the wax in all directions - this should give me plenty of protection from rust inside the rails.

 

[n8in8or]

Today doesn’t have a lot of progress to show for it, but what I did get done today was necessary to keep the project moving forward.

After I cleaned the barn up, I pulled the chassis out so I could turn it around. Since it was the first time it had seen the light of day in this configuration I just had to take some pictures.



Once it was back in the barn I dug the dump hoist out and start measuring and planning how I want to install it. The hoist is off an old grain truck that had a 12’ bed. It should have more than enough capacity for what I’ll be doing.



I finally landed on a plan that should give me just over 63 degrees of dump angle. I’ll make the mounts tomorrow so I can get the hoist installed in the frame.

 

[dbrannon79]

looks like a masterpiece. curious on how much heavier the frame is with all the boxing

with foam, I would be afraid of it retaining moisture when the frame isn't sealed off.

 

[jrsavoie]

looks like a masterpiece. curious on how much heavier the frame is with all the boxing

with foam, I would be afraid of it retaining moisture when the frame isn't sealed off.

2 lb density closed cell is moisture resistant.
I have it on my foundation walls.

Pink board and blue board will soak up water like a sponge

 

[n8in8or]

looks like a masterpiece. curious on how much heavier the frame is with all the boxing

with foam, I would be afraid of it retaining moisture when the frame isn't sealed off.

1/4” plate is about 10 pounds per square foot. A lot of the rails are 8” tall, but then they taper at the front. So maybe roughly 12 feet at 7”? (this doesn’t count the rectangular tubing at the rear) That works out to 14 square feet. So 140 pounds maybe? I know it’s heavy….I lifted the rear with the Turd Ferguson and it was all it wanted to do - now I have the snowplow on the tractor so that’s using up capacity, but still, it’s definitely heavy.