• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Chassis replacement

Share this page

5

57_BN4

Guest
Guest
Offline
So, I'm torn... To renovate my existing chassis will cost about NZ$10k and to replace it will be a similar amount. After further inspection of the areas around the engine/shock mounts it does seem that the original chassis isn't doing as well as I was hoping.

The KAS chassis looks very well made, has anyone fitted one?

KAS%20chassis.jpg


KAS%20prices.PNG


Mine on the other hand has various cracks, sledgehammer dents and bodgery welding to contend with
welding%20poo.JPG


hammerworks.JPG



engine%20mount%20crack2.JPG


engine%20mount%20crack.JPG


rear%20axle%20bend.JPG


So, it seems to be a no-brainer but I am rather attached to the idea of fixing up the original one for the sake of originality, even though the finished result will be 'inferior'. Thoughts please!

Andy.
 
So, it seems to be a no-brainer but I am rather attached to the idea of fixing up the original one for the sake of originality.

:savewave: ANDY
For the sake of safety put this one in the bin!!!.--Keoke
 
My frame was worse that this with a butcher job of a repair by a PO. I went with a new frame. The price you have is about right. I bought a Jule, which does not look original but I don't plan on selling the car. I choose the stronger frame. The amount people drive these cars now, it may not matter which frame you choose.

You don't want that original frame breaking in a corner. Your choice might be best made as to how close you are to the manufactuer of the new frame.

Jerry
BJ8
 
Jerry,this frame is loaded with fatigue failures in the metal
This is different from a botched repair or a rusted out
section that can be cut out and replaced.
This type of failure is characteristic of severe grain boundary separations in the metal that may not be stopped by simply welding them up.--Keoke
 
Andy

Don't worry too much about originality. The truth is that unless we are talking about special cars such as Works Team cars, 100Ss and factory 100Ms etc, then a new frame wont be an issue, in fact in my opinion, it will increase the value of the car for most potential buyers.
 
Hey Andy,
You might contact David Nock at - www.britishcarspecialists.com He is a major Kilmartin distributor in the states and I am sure can give you some recommendations. Realize you will buy it down under as Oz is far closer to you than David is but sure he will be glad to give you advice, etc. I have used Kilmartin sheet metal parts and pieces and always found them to be of the highest quality.

Another thought is to contact AH Spares in the UK. They offer complete frames,etc but again think it will be tough for anyone to beat the feight advantage you have in NZ dealing with Kilmartin in Oz.

REgards,
Mike
 
Does anyone know who builds the AH Spares chassis?
We appear to have Jule Enterprises https://www.jule-enterprises.com/index.html in Rockwood, Ontario, Canada and Kilmartin Automotive Sheetmetal https://www.kas-kilmartin.com.au/ in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia manufacturing replacement chassis.
And - Andy - replace it while you have the opportunity. No point in rebuilding a car or a house if the chassis/basement is iffy. Be a shame to do all the work, and deliberately limit the lifespan of the vehicle and the amount of driving by basing it on a weakened chassis.
Doug
 
Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. Yea, guess I just need to get over the feeling that I am tearing her heart out. Maybe I'll turn the old chassis into a BBQ or something.

There aren't very many welds holding the bulkheads to the frame so it should be a relatively quick DIY job to cut them off and carefully weld to the new chassis just 2mm away from where they actually should have gone so the door gaps... OK, I'll get a professional to do it :laugh:

Cheers,
Andy.
 
it should be a relatively quick DIY job to cut them off and carefully weld to the new chassis just 2mm away from where they actually should have gone so the door gaps..

. OK, I'll get a professional to do it

:winner1:

ANDY!!!

--------------------------Keoke- :driving:
 
Andy, FWIW... having driven a Jule frame car, I'd have to go with that. The Jule frame is stronger than original and when it comes to a frame stronger is definately better.

Cheers,
Steve
 
SideShifter Tri-Carb said:
What is the Labor cost to replace a frame? If I came across another one, that would be good info to know.
Click to expand...

From my little experience so far, if you had a bare chassis with 'the usual' rusty/cracked frame and reasonably sound bulkheads then the cost of the new frame plus the cost to fit the existing bulkheads onto it will be similar or possibly even less than the cost of renovating the original one.

I have been quoted 350-400 hours @$55/h to renovate my entire original chassis which is about $20k. The new frame is about $10k and removes something like 3/4 of the work to renovate the original one.

Andy.
 
I'll know for sure in a few months.

There is probably less than a days work to cut off the bulkheads from the original frame and clean up the welds as there appears to be only about 20 welds holding each one on. Depending on how much work there is to align things on the new chassis, I'd guess 2-3 days to have them stuck back down in the right place after checking panel alignment etc.

Andy.
 
We have now built up a number of different Healey models with the Kilmartin chassis frame, including Hundreds, six cylinder roadsters and convertibles. We always order it with their optional centre stiffening plate sandwiched into the main rails for added stiffness and it's totally undetectable.
As these cars become more and more valuable into the future (when done correctly) we feel it's extremely important to do an accurate restoration job while you're at it.
The Kilmartin chassis is quite readily available and from the initial email order to delivery in our shop averages about 10 weeks, and that's to Southern Ontario, Canada. If a car is far enough deteriorated that it need a chassis, you can bet it needs a lot more inner metal such as floors, toe boards, hinge pillars, shut pillars, etc. We always determine what other inner metal will need replacement and order it all at the same time. It gets neatly packed into the same crate for the same shipping costs.
It's imperative that the transfer of the bulkheads, etc. be done very carefully and the original body panels must be fitted and proved out at the same time.
Our expert metal man has worked on doing this for many years and has a wealth of patterns, templates and drawings to ensure the job goes smoothly.
For a very rough car, expect to pay about $10,000 of chassis, all other inner metal and surface shipping. The expert fitting up and welding of inner structure will be about that much again. Outer panels are usually repaired and rebuilt at the same time adding often another $5000 to $8000, and that usually included extensive aluminum shroud welding and reshaping, and the lower 10" all around the car done to perfection.
Hope this gives some idea of what quality work will cost.
 
Back
Top