Can you straighten a frame with thbe body on?

[Terry, NJ]

Ok, I finally admitted I've got a problem! The chassis on my coupe is sagged. I tried wishing it away but it's still there. Finally I checked the bottom of the chassis with a straight edge and it's sagged at the rear engine mounts. Short of removing the body, whats the cure? Is there a cure? Thanks in advance!
Terry

[V4F]

never tried but i would think yes body off

[ScottNW/Ohio]

I've never tried either, but I would say it is possible - it would just take a lot longer and try your patience.
You'll have to unbolt the body either way, and you'll have to likely re-shim it after you get the frame straightened.
You'll have to find a way to tie the frame down to jack the low points.
you could block the body up off the frame (4x4's) to give you more room to work.
It might be worth the extra work to pull the body, just to be sure you don't have some hidden (cracks) damage

[John Stone]

When I first got my pickup in the early 60's the frame sagged a lot. My old Pappy and I chained the front and back to a railroad track and proceeded to use a hydraulic jack to take the sag out. Was it perfectly straight? No but it did help. If you use this method, make sure there are no trains coming. Dad worked for the railroad and where we lived at the time was on a branch line with only one train a day.

[springerpete]

Yes. It was done on my roadster with the car on a frame machine at an auto body place. The hood did not fit correctly. After trying several things to make the hood better ( that did not work ) I mentioned it to a body man and he suggested the frame machine process. Took the sag right out. Body stayed on the car. I am not aware if any body mounts were adjusted during the process as I was not there.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

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Well Yes & NO, --but how do you know, as the lower chord is not straight.

Terry, personally I would not worry about it "as-is". Bending it back into submission is just another band-aide as it really doesn't restore it so in reality just wait until you have a moment to pull it down and do it correctly. At that time you can rebuck all the rivets tight and check for squareness too.

I am "fixing" to go through the same thing on a slighter older car of mine. Several years ago my son and a buddy of his got into 'some trouble' and the frame got bent/twisted in the process. I estimate we have driven the car another 5,000+ miles on some long pretty lengthy tours since that happened however I too want to fix it correctly so I am working on a replacement frame right now. As soon as the replacement frame is ready to use (straightened, rivets rebucked, and painted), we are going to set up that frame and the Model-T side-by-side and swap the engine, running gear, sheetmetal, body, and everything from one frame to the other. I am budgeting about a day with 4 guys doing the work. I'll let you know how it goes in a few weeks....


This is what happened to "tweak" the frame:









...a few days later after an all-night thrash with 5 men, it was driving again


...and then up to the top of Mount Rushmore


...and all the way up the Blue Ridge Parkway without any problems.



My point is a sagging frame is not the end of the world on a "driver" and can be compensated for until the opportunity is there to make a correct repair.

[700rpm]

Brent is right in that it is a matter of degrees. I had a body and frame shop straighten the sagging frame on my 30 PU. It cost me about $100. But nothing was done on tightening the rivets. It's an older restoration and it needs serious cosmetic attention. But for the amount of driving I'll do in it in my remaining years or until I pull it apart to do the cosmetics, it's fine for tours and putting around town. I keep looking for a good 30-31 frame, and if I find one, I'll do as Brent did and just swap things across.

[Dave Mc]

Qualified Frame Repairmen rarely need to remove the Body, it might be a little easier with the Body off,but is seldom necessary.usually when a car takes a hard hit from the front,the Frame flexes/Bends under the Cowl.it is often best to remove the Frontend Sheetmetal,which the repairman often doe's to allow better access.

[stainless steve]

just right up my alley No you dont have to remove the body to straighten sag or sway BUT it does need to be unbolted if you straighten with body bolted your also bending the body so your hood and doors will most likely not fit and body will hlod wrong chassis diamision in place OK with that said thats if the body was bolted to a bent frame ..if your doors and such dont fit know you can straighten with it bolted in place but you take the risk of popping paint and over pushing the body.heavy collision and frame straightening is what I did for 30 years

[Terry, NJ]

Brent, That is too nice a T to be laying in that heap in the road! There must be story there! I can only imagine a lot of soul searching trying to figure out what happened and at least six months of work. God! I hope nothing like that ever happens to me! I couldn't cope. It is to your credit that you fixed it at all, let alone in five days.
Terry

[Bob C]

Terry where did you read five days? "a few days later after an all-night thrash with 5 men, it was driving again"

Bob

[Terry, NJ]

What rivets are involved in a vertical sag? I've got a hood alignment problem. I wondered if it might be the wooden body blocks, but a straight edge blew all those dreams out of the water. I laid it flat on the front of the frame and it rocked vertically about 1/2" with the fulcrum right under the rear engine mounts. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the rivets in the frame secure the running boards and the corners corners for squareness.
Terry

Originally Posted by 700rpm

Brent is right in that it is a matter of degrees. I had a body and frame shop straighten the sagging frame on my 30 PU. It cost me about $100. But nothing was done on tightening the rivets. It's an older restoration and it needs serious cosmetic attention. But for the amount of driving I'll do in it in my remaining years or until I pull it apart to do the cosmetics, it's fine for tours and putting around town. I keep looking for a good 30-31 frame, and if I find one, I'll do as Brent did and just swap things across.

[Terry, NJ]

I flunked reading comprehension in school! Mea culpa!

Originally Posted by Bob C

Terry where did you read five days? "a few days later after an all-night thrash with 5 men, it was driving again"

Bob

[Larry Seemann]

Yes, you can straighten the frame with the body on. The attached article explains it. I have done quite a few. as you jack up the frame at the rear motor mounts just watch as the hood and cowl gap comes together.
www.icehouse.net/overland/framestraight.jpg

[85930tudor]

I hope no one was hurt in the T wreck, frames can be fixed but not young peoples frames.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Brent, What caused the "T" to flip over & was anyone injured? Bill W.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by BILL WILLIAMSON

Brent, What caused the "T" to flip over & was anyone injured? Bill W.

I heard the driver had to swerve to miss Buster.

[springerpete]

Checked with the guy that did the frame work for me and found that they did back off on the body mounting bolts to give some slop to work with.