Frame Repair- To Heat or Not To Heat?

SITREP-

I have a bent frame horn. Lucky for I have two people willing to help because I do not have the skills to do it on my own:

My neighbor (FJ40 owner who repairs/welds up commercial heavy equipment for a living) has the tools and said he can heat the frame and do some welding to get it back to specs while adding additional support.

My cousin (owns two GPW's) said he could bend the frame back into shape using just pressure but it would take 2-3 weeks to complete. (I'm sure there is more to his methods, but thats what I took from our conversation).

I'm not clear which direction to go. I've heard both sides of the "Heat or Not To Heat" debate. But with the CJ5 frame not being high tension steel . . . . I've heard its okay. I've heard the people who say to never use heat, but usually they are referring to newer vehicles built with high tension steel.

Things that make you go hmm . . .

 

Here you are sir! Thanks for moving my thread.

http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag129/dean3po/1967 Jeep CJ5/IMG_2708_zps70ecd6d7.jpg
http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag129/dean3po/1967 Jeep CJ5/IMG_2718_zps8e76e484.jpg
http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag129/dean3po/1967 Jeep CJ5/IMG_2716_zps603372f9.jpg
http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag129/dean3po/1967 Jeep CJ5/IMG_2717_zpsd5e924d0.jpg

 

Look up "flame straightening."
Red heat and focused shrinking will be necessary to reduce those wrinkles. Works well.
Take about an hour. But as Howard says, odds are that the rest of the frame is tweaked too.

 

And once you get it back to square, I'd box both of the frame horns for reinforcement.

 

If you have the choice, use your white car and not the Jeep, it will be safer...:tea: Lot of funny guys on this forum.
To be serious, you will find good help on this forum and this is a standard repair for a Jeep.
Better to avoid crab driving, it will cost some money to have it perfect but one day will come, I waited years to enjoy really my CJ5.

 

I own an automotive frame/body shop. We have a frame machine and with the correct pressure, etc. we usually do not use heat. Normally you use pressure, pound on it with a hammer, then release the pressure and do the whole process again until it's straight. Very rarely do we use heat.

 

Good information to know. Thanks!

 

I assume you looked at his pics. Can cold hammering reduce the stretched metal in those wrinkles, eliminate the wrinkles, and restore the full strength of a straight flange?

 

I have a simple mind, it got bent without heat, you should be able to straighten it without heat. I also have a couple of welders, I would box it after it was fixed. Of course the next problem is where do you stop the boxing? You can imagine how project creap starts.

 

I would agree with that process in a perfect World whereby if one could apply the exact opposite force to the member as once occurred while also having unlimited access to the affected areas that allowed the use of portable hydraulic powered cylinders to move the metal back into shape..............Hammering as well as cold bending or re-forming metal a second time "Work hardens" metal as it tries to re-organize molecules not only on the surface but also below it , that can in some cases set up a weaker member than it once was before.

Heat .........and when I say that I mean a dull Orange color on both sides only effects the metal by relaxing it to allow it to move back into shape easier without any fear of scattering molecules...........

This is a Jeep Frame.........built with some of the least expensive & least sophisticated materials available...............use a combination of methods, get it the best you can while still being straight alignment wise...........then box the frame and drive it!

 

Do you separate/disconnect the front suspension before straightening the frame?

 

That would all depend on who is doing it , the method used and if a fixture was also being used...........something like that may require that its secured to a Dead Weight or fixture of sorts to get it to move without causing any further damage to an opposite member, but then again I'm not there to see exactly how one may attempt to make that approach.

 

I think that could be worked out without heat. I would go to the junk yard and find a car jack that will work in that tight space and try to work it out like that

 

I fighting that notion as we speak. I want to do one thing, but since I'm doing that I could also do XYZ. Now I understand how true these words are and how you could go from a simple fix to full blow restoration.

As we speak, this his how my mind worked:

I need a new radiator- So I buy a radiator, then a thermostat, then gaskets, then new hoses, etc . . . maybe I should remove the intake manifold and valve covers. . .

I need to fix my frame horns- So I remove my front clip, then I strip the frame horns, and begin thinking suspension upgrades, boxing the the entire frame; then maybe steel traded lines . . .

I needed to grind my existing roll bar to remove and unneeded portion. But since I'm doing that, why don't a strip the entire roll bar and weld up and new section that protects the wind shield. . .

Its funny how one thing spirals into three, then four, then five. . .

 

So you understand how it starts. I had a solid frame and decent body when I started on the 3B 20 something years ago. rebuild parts as needed, fix gas tanks. starter, alternator, wiring, steering, axles, transfer case, whatever. 3 weeks of replacing body parts, welding in new pieces. It's still my favorite vehicle. I didn't list all of the work done.

 

Something else you may want to consider along the path of fixing your left front Frame Horn.....Do you think in the future you may want to upgrade the steering from the Original Ross version to a later Saginaw Power steering version?............That answer may change how you box that Frame Horn for the later upgrade to Power.........don't want to see you do it twice. Having said that I think you have heard just about all of the options............pick a method and "Get it Done" , drive it.

 

Can you explain what methods would differ from Ross to Saginaw as it relates to the frame horns. I actually do want to convert it to power steering but I haven't crossed that bridge yet or done any research. This is were my inexperience comes in. Just PM me if you can.

 

Better yet...........take a look at all of the Saginaw conversions........a Picture in this case is better than words.

http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/show...wer-steering-(pics)-please-add-yours!!/page18