Oldrodder43 asked this on another thread, and I want to answer, but not hijack the other thread, so I'll answer it here. He asked:

By the way Don, I been meaning to ask you, on Dan's new frame, how did he get the square tube bent like that? Any progress pics on his RPU? oldrodder43


There is a company in Pennsylvania called Autoweld and they do mandrel bending of most any size box tubing. Mostly they do backhalf subrails for things like drag cars and prostreeters, I think. Dan has used them before when they bent up a frame for his one S10 pickup, and he went to them this time because the rails in the bed of his revised truck are going to be totally exposed and he wanted them to be smooth.

He sent them detailed drawings, but they interpreted them differently than what he drew, so they came back longer and higher than he wanted. He says it was his fault as he measured one way and they use a different method. No problem, he is just going to section them on both planes and reweld them to what dimensions he needs.

While he was at it he ordered a brand new 9 inch rear end and Moser 31 spline axles. He also got a four link suspension setup and Posies quarter eliptic spring package. This gives him a clean slate to start with. As it turns out he simply changed his mind on what he wanted the car to end up looking like and felt the best way was to save what he liked and toss out what he didn't like. Pretty much the only parts he saved were the cab, engine/tranny, and the front axle with brakes. He even sold the wheels and tires to his Brother and is going to go with blackwalls this time.

Don and I have vowed to spend lots of time helping him get his car on the road when we get back from Daytona. We both owe him so much for the time and money he has thrown at our cars. The only problem is Dan likes to work alone and will probably only need us to help lift stuff as the car gets heavier. We're shooting for Billetproof at Don Garlits place in March to have his '29 running. Hope we can do it.

Don