tripleduece25

I have a 66 conv. that I'm trying to replace the left frame rail. The problem is the after market rail isn't a perfect match, it doesn't rest against the crossmember that's in front of the fuel tank like the original rail did. (This will be a daily driver, not a show car) Should I weld the front and the rear and then try to bend this over to touch the crossmember or would it be OK to just weld in a piece that would fill in that gap? (gap is about 3/4" on one side of crossmember)

Grimm

Can you heat it and bend it.

moparmatt89

Well, what your dealing with is repro parts. Unfortunatly they just dont fit right. I had a lot of rot in my 69 stang and replaced the rear frame rails as well and also found that they dont fit exactly. I actually took some extra sheetmetal and welded it in the gap to add strength and make it look better. Believe it or not the only aftermarket sheetmetal part that fit perfect were my quarter panels. When i did the floor in my car nothing lined up and was shaped wrong, it looks horrible.
Matt

tripleduece25

MoparMatt and Grimm, Thanks for the feedback. I think I"m going to fill in with some sheetmetal, that seems like the easiest way to correct the problem. Are some parts just better than others? If so who is selling the best replacement parts? I don't mind the work of changing parts, but I want them to fit when I put them in. So far I have replaced both rocker panels, left front frame rail, working on left rear now, partial firewall on left, will do floor on left after I get the rear rail in. Then I move to the right rails. Replacing just about everything under the car. But, I love every minute of it, when the parts fit right! Thankz, Mike in Indiana

Soaring

I don't even want to know the alignment you will have after all that misalignment welding and adding extra metal parts will give you. Sounds like you need to start over with a different body with decent frame rails. Most likely your aftermarket frame rails are not the culprit but body damage from past wrecks, etc. That car needs to go to a frame shop.