Repair of partial frame rot

[Graham Hantz]

Both frame rails to the rear of the rear axle (the straight sections making up the last 2 ft.) are rusted through on the bottoms. The curved sections of frame over the axle and forward look sound.

I know this is a serious repair, but do you have any advice or could you refer me to a company that could help? I'm not looking for exact restoration or beefing the rear up, just a sound functional repair for a fairly limited budget.

Thank you from Pennsylvania, Graham Hantz

 

[BJM]

If its literally just the lower flange of the frame and the web (vertical part) and the top flange are fine then this should be a pretty straightforward repair for a welding shop. A certified welder in a body shop should be able to do it no problem. If more were bad then I be tempted to have a good chunk cut off a donor car and replace your rear frame rails entirely. All the loading bearing for the suspension is from roughly the axle centreline forward. The rear rails hold up the trunk area and bumper and are therefore less of a concern from a repair point of view.

 

[fc227]

I had my welded up. On the Olds the frame rail above the (pass side) exhaust tail pipe was rotting away. I friend at work took it over the weekend and repaired it He did a very nice job, because if you look at the repaired section you cannot tell unless you look close.