Rusty frame, worth saving???

bent metal
bent metal Senior Contributor
edited November -1 in HUDSON
This car's frame has a hole big enough to throw a cat through. But it's a coupe.:rolleyes:

Comments

  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    "This car's frame has a hole big enough to throw a cat through. But it's a coupe."



    Yeah, both sides to boot. Question: How does this car's rear section look? Since you're searching for opinions, mine is, if the back end is as bad or even almost as bad, take all the components off and put them on another frame. If it's just the front there behind the front fender, fix it. Should be easy for you;)



    The coupe is worth saving, regardless . . . just might have to be on another frame.
  • rambos_ride
    rambos_ride Senior Contributor
    Get the car for parts, then find a better tub to start with - only way I'd try to save this one is if it was a convert.
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    The back of the frame is really bad too. But if the front was fixed, she would be worth saving. I think so anyway.;) The owner of this car is a rat rod kinda' guy. He just wants to safely drive it. He's probably still going to need to have someone follow him and pick up the pieces that fall off now and then. But hopefully now it won't break in half when he goes over rail road tracks.:D
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    This is the top side, the floors were boarder line on needing replaced. But, the owner only wants the frame rail fixed for now. ...I think he's eager to drive it. :D
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    Looks good:)
  • Richard E.
    Richard E. Senior Contributor
    Ah, the metal magician strikes again! Is this car still going to be there on Thursday night? I think that I will be coming up for the meeting and I would like to see the "after." I saw the, "before."
  • mrsbojigger
    mrsbojigger Senior Contributor
    Minor detail! I had to replace about 80% of my whole frame and all of the cabin floor, trunk floor, driveshaft tunnel and firewall. Was it worth it? A resounding YES! IT CAN BE DONE but some pre-bracing is recommended!
    For me it was an impossible task but I kept telling myself it's like eating an elephant, you do it one bite at a time. I would just focus on one small part at a time rather than try all of it at once. Eventually it got finished. Only 2 trips to the ER for stitches and the burns healed on their own after a while. Ha!
    Peace,
    Chaz
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    I'm jealous. What do you guys do in your spare time, build bridges? LOL
  • MikeWA
    MikeWA Senior Contributor
    You opined that he just didn't want it to break in half when he went across the tracks- if the rear frame is bad, that's exactly what can happen! I've been interested in Hudsons since my callow youth, but my dad never had anything good to say about them. When I pinned him down, turns out he was on a job site (carpenter) and a fellow worker was coming into the parking area with a stepdown Hudson- hit a pothole, and the car crumpled, between the rear window and the trunk.



    Nice work on the front frame- now lets get crackin' on the rear! I'll supervise, since I certainly don't have the skill to do the metal work.
  • russmaas
    russmaas Senior Contributor
    Weird spot for fraqe rust on a hudson, especially since the floors arent that bad from the pics. looks like the front end was sitting on the ground w/o tires or something
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    russmaas wrote:
    Weird spot for fraqe rust on a hudson, especially since the floors arent that bad from the pics. looks like the front end was sitting on the ground w/o tires or something



    Funny, my brother had the same comment. His guess was that the frame had rusted out so bad that the floors couldn't hold water, it would just run out the side! lol I don't get it either, but the floors are really thin metal, not too many holes yet, just real thin.
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    Richard E. wrote:
    Ah, the metal magician strikes again! Is this car still going to be there on Thursday night? I think that I will be coming up for the meeting and I would like to see the "after." I saw the, "before."



    Yep, it'll be there and I just talked to the owner and he said he was going to try and make it too. Maybe we can talk him into joining the club?:)
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    mrsbojigger wrote:
    Minor detail! I had to replace about 80% of my whole frame and all of the cabin floor, trunk floor, driveshaft tunnel and firewall. Was it worth it? A resounding YES! IT CAN BE DONE but some pre-bracing is recommended!

    For me it was an impossible task but I kept telling myself it's like eating an elephant, you do it one bite at a time. I would just focus on one small part at a time rather than try all of it at once. Eventually it got finished. Only 2 trips to the ER for stitches and the burns healed on their own after a while. Ha!

    Peace,

    Chaz



    Great advise, I think if I had to replace 80% I would go ahead and do the whole the thing. This car needs to have a lot more replaced, everything surrounding the part that I put in, could not be welded to. So I had to go an inch or two into the surrounding pieces. Really should replace the "A" pillars and the floors too. But, where do you stop?

    Mrsbojigger, lets see some pictures of your project. Or are you finished with the metal work?
  • bent metal
    bent metal Senior Contributor
    edited November 2013
    Always a pleasure to see your work! Too bad we're on opposite shorelines... Then again, maybe not - If that were the case, I'd probably be signing my paycheck over to you way too often! :eek: :rolleyes: :D

    Thank you, it's always nice to get compliments on my work. I think I post only here because I feel like pretty much everyone here is a hands on type of person. Most everyone here has tried to do this kind of stuff and has an understanding of how much work it really is.:D Thanks! Also, I hear the truck is getting close to seeing the outside of the garage. I'm very excited about it. I consider her to be my best work to date.:D
  • Ol racer
    Ol racer Senior Contributor
    bent metal wrote:
    This car's frame has a hole big enough to throw a cat through. But it's a coupe.:rolleyes:



    Real nice frame Repair and glad you were able to save the Hudson. I have seen a lot of rust repairs being in the center of a 'rust Belt'(between Buffalo & Cleveland) but I am still not good at it.
  • Richie
    Richie Senior Contributor
    All I can say is "simply amazing". What a talent. Richie.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    bent metal wrote:
    Yep, it'll be there and I just talked to the owner and he said he was going to try and make it too. Maybe we can talk him into joining the club?:)



    Guy,

    I also told Randy to join the club.. see you guys on Thursday .. your work is simply AMAZING!! i wouldnt carpet over that stuff. i'd show it off !

    Lance
  • mrsbojigger
    mrsbojigger Senior Contributor
    Hello Bent,
    I have been showing pics of my progress here for a couple of years. The real challenge was building the rear quarter frames. Yuk!
    Check out some of my posts. Look under the subject, "sheet metal" and "morn all". Morn all was originally started by bluenash.
    Peace,
    Chaz

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