When I last posted about actual work on the car, I had stripped the body off the frame and was tearing down the chassis. All of that was pretty straightforward. I did spend a long time measuring and recording those dimensions. I made a few interesting "discoveries" along the way.
The frame is 1/4" wider at the front than at the rear. The driver side frame rail is the offending culprit. It took a lot of careful measuring and head scratching to figure that out, but everything seems to be square to the passenger side rail. Correcting this would be a major pain and I can work around it so it will stay that way. It's not affecting any of the critical parts.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps2kznrhdn.jpg
I located the Classic Roadsters frame number under some paint on the driver side rail. It's CR 654. I don't know if that's the 654th car CR built or the 654th Sebring. It would be interesting to know the year the frame was built at CR.
I already knew that the rear of the car had taken a small hit at some time because part of one of the rear bumper mounts was broken off. Both remaining angle iron mounts were slightly bent. These will be straightened and rewelded. Actually, the weld on the broken mount did not appear to be burnt in good. At any rate, the frame seems to have survived otherwise intact and square.
The front bumper mounts are offset to driver side and this was done when the frame built. I had wondered why the front fenders were not centered over the tires and this explains it. The aluminum tubes that support the bumper also serve to locate the front body section. There is vertical, but no horizontal adjustment. I will be looking to correct that.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...psiowfqyav.jpg
In this shot you can see the horns still attached to the front crossmember. The actual bracket that was riveted to the horn was welded to the frame! Who does stuff like this???!!!
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...psuqy8be0q.jpg
I also tacked on a temporary frame under the existing frame rails. This was done because I thought I would be cutting the front crossmember out and wanted a base line to measure from. I don't have a proper frame jig, so I this was the best I could do. I strapped and leveled the frame to my 4 post car lift. I hated to tie my lift up this way, but it's nice to be able to get the chassis up in the air at a comfortable working height. My oversize gut and bad knees don't like crawling around on the floor anymore!