How to properly patch a frame
- Thread starter JC Daniel
- Start date
1A Rock
Promoted Users
Either way get a step drill bit and keep drilling until you get full thickness, then go from there. IMO
C frame.
1A Rock
Promoted Users
You can hear all manner of crap, fix it and move on. If you go about it and fix it right, who is gonna know it's fixed?
If it's only the size of a penny, I would fill it rather than make a patch for it. Or cut out a larger section. Trying to make a tiny patch is a waste of time. Thicker metal like on a frame you would just weld the perimeter until you fill the hole. If you have any copper laying around (pipe works, flatten it) Use that to back up on side. Grind when finished and it will be like it was never there.
Or if you patch it, cut out a larger section. If you can cut it out round/circular that is the easiest type of patch to weld. You could cut it square/rectangular as well. Either way will be fine. Use some magnets to hold the two pieces together and butt weld it in.
If it is an old Chevy PU frame, those "C" channel ones were formed from light plate or sheet made with steel loaded with sulfur and phosphorous in the 1950's and 60's. Lots of other steel products had similar melt chemistry issues in the cheaper commodity steel specifications.
A hole in the center of the web is under little stress in operation. The maximum tension is on bottom flange and the compression stresses at the top. If you can avoid short-arc MIG welding, it is a bit better for fracture toughness in cold climates--3/32" diameter E7018 is what I use. I'd start welding 1/2 circles on each side of the frame hole around the hole about 3/8 or 1/2" back from the holes edge on thicker remaining metal Start at the bottom, weld one 1/2 circle to the top then do the other on the outside--then do the same on the inside, and keep alternating your weld deposits. Your welding heat flow will be more in balance and less likely to twist anything from shrinkage. Let them cool enough when needed to have decent puddle control. Your last fill in at the center on each side is your temper pass. Don't grind your welds away--leave them--that's your cheap insurance policy on repairing junk steel typically loaded with tramp elements and subject to alternating loading and torsion in cold weather--like a vehicle's frame.
The part about lessening an old vehicle's' value with a plain jane low carbon steel frame by welding on it can be true if you weld on the frame's location section in tension loading and don't think about what is stated above. For what you describe--little or no value loss.
Last edited:
Whitesnake
Newbie
2 hole saws close in size that fit inside each other work well. You drill a patch with about the same OD as the ID of the hole you drill in your frame. Pop it in use magnets, tack it, whatever you gotta do then burn it in.
This spot is on my 1970 c 10 I am trying to sell, a guy looked at it and said it scared him. He said the value is gone as far as he is concerned, that is why I come here to you guys. So how bad will this spot hurt the sell? I really appreciate all your help and guidance in this.
Treeslayer
Mike
meh, we do this in the heavy truck world all the time. repair, replace, lengthen, shorten. i see no difference, its just smaller.
Personally I would fix the hole, make sure you weld hot enough to get full penetration, grind the welds, brush some epoxy on there, a little undercoating after that and be done with it. If anyone asks anything, tell them the truth. There was a penny sized hole there. I fixed it and it's good to go. Size of the hole we are talking about is not much bigger than filling an unwanted hole on a frame. Nobody thinks twice about that. No need to overthink this stuff.
Last edited:
Whitesnake
Newbie
Him saying the value is gone is insulting. Sounds like he’s just using it to try and get a steal of a deal. A hole that small is nothing to worry about. And if welded up properly and ground smooth it would disappear and nobody would know the difference. My 2 cents anyway.