I have two cars, one '74, which has a great tub (GT), but crappy frame,
etc., and a '75 with a great bottom (GB) and a rusty tub. I thought about
doing the obvious, and consolidating the two, parting out the rusty tub guy,
and putting the GTon the GB.
Well, in looking at GB, (I do enjoy looking at great bottoms) , I
discovered that the DPO had the frame refurbed alright, as advertised, but
the welder replaced the lower cruciform of the GB with a big flat triangular
steel plate; a plate thick enough that one might envision it being used for
repairing a hole in the Queen Mary or the frame of a Mack truck. Obviously,
the DPO's welder decided that the stamped 16-guage steel lower cruciforms
available from the Big Three for 40 bucks weren't adequate. Another frame I
found suffers from the same problem.
So, a question for the listers:
Does the use of a welded frame part that doesn't even remotely resemble the
original frame component, detract from the value of the car, either from a
show car or resale perspective (these two are related, obviously) ?
Acknowledged that the non-conforming steel plate certainly adds to safety
and frame longevity for daily driver use.
Thanks
Jerry
|