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Hi everyone, I pulled my fuel tank today as it was leaking and I'm replacing it. I started looking around at the frame with it out and noticed the frame and fuel line are pretty rusty. There are flakes of rust coming off inside of the the frame. This is just a pic of where the fuel line goes in to the frame from the rear, but all the frame in the rear looks similar. I was planning on cleaning it up as best I can with wire wheels and brushes and hitting it with inhibitor. The fuel line looks like it's about shot, and it sounds like body has to come off to replace it unless I cut the new one and connect it (where have others cut it to replace it without removing body?). I'm not really in a place to do full frame off or chassis swap at this point. Any other thoughts/suggestions? Thanks!
There is some scale rust present in your picture but that doesnt automatically mean the frame is bad. I would get it up on a lift and do a more thorough exam.
I would be most concerned about the area where the rear frame kickups weld to the main frame welds just behind the seats. If you find soft places or holes there it can really compromise the integrity of the frame and car. If you own a convertible, a weak frame connection to the kickups transfers even more stresses to the body and birdcage structure which can result in all sorts of issues and safety concerns. If you are just finding heavy scale and just a few pinholes after probing around with a screwdriver then you may have some time before you need to get serious about frame repairs or replacement.
Your cleaning will provide more information for your evaluation of the rust. As the gentlemen stated above, rust doesn't automatically mean it is not serviceable and anything you can do now to retard the rust will prolong a catastrophic failure.
Nylons,
Dan ad Phil have good points. If you can get to it, I would like you suggest, get after that stuff with a wire wheel on a angle grinder and see what happens. You might find that you can knock off that scale which is probably a combination of road grim, rust and maybe undercoating. Be optimist, you may have decent metal under there. Regarding the fuel line, with a floor jack and some creative jacking and using jack stands you could loosen and remove body bolts to gain access to the line for removal and replacement. (Then again, you might find that the body bolt areas and bushings are deteriorated)
Thanks, you guys have me feeling a little better about the frame. I will do some more inspection and clean up everything I can. I don't have access to a lift currently but I can get it up on jack stands. It is a convertible, so hopefully the kick ups are not terrible! I will try and get to it this week. I will post some more pics of of other areas if they look suspect and and after cleanup to see what you think. I'm not looking forward to fuel line 😫
At this point I would be more concerned about what you don't see. IMO the body needs to come off and the frame blasted so it can be inspected/repaired.
The not so bad news is there is evidence of coating on the frame and it's not excessively scaly. If the kickups are not rotted severely drive on and let your beneficiaries worry about it.
I cleaned up what I could get at around the back end and it looks better than I expected. I hit them with rust inhibitor tonight and will paint them tomorrow. From underneath things look okay on the up kicks, but I too am worried about what i cannot see. I'm going to get to what I can in the meantime without full body off for now. I'm hoping to have a shop with lift in the next few years so I can really get in over my head lol. Now, I'm going to attempt fuel line in three pieces with compression fittings to join them. It looks awfully tight.
Goes to show rust pictures can be decieving. I've noticed hd cell phone cameras can actually make things look worse than they are. You should keep on cleaning it that way, maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised overall.
My worst areas were the kick up gussets forward of the rear tires by the #3 body mount. Seems that area is most prone to damage and also a structurally important one. Easy to check.
you are looking at the areas that are somewhat protected and are away from the more rust prone areas.. like in front of the rear wheels and up the kickups around the wheel well, and then the tranny crossmember.
they all rust, and they all rust form the inside out. what I see are rusty parts of areas that usually are last to rust out. the probability of extended rust at the places that are more highly probable are much greater.
Then you get into the birdcage rust which usually coincides with the frame rust. Been there done that.....
I will grab some pics of those areas. I have no doubt there are far more problems than I can see. Im just hoping to buy some time until I have the space to do things more thoroughly/correct.
Here are some more pics of frame, in front of back wheels, cross member and frame rails. Nothing feels soft and i don't see any holes. Some areas have undercoating still in place, it's definitely scaly in places though. Hopefully it will hold up for another summer or two.
2025 C2 of the Year ('64-'66) Finalist - Unmodified
2025 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C2 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C2 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2021 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
St. Jude Donor '25
When I replaced my trailing arms I used a wire in the drain hole areas by the kick ups and compressed air to clean out the dirt inside the frame on each side. I had no luck searching here for a thread detailing that process. Perhaps someone can post pictures of that?
When I replaced my trailing arms I used a wire in the drain hole areas by the kick ups and compressed air to clean out the dirt inside the frame on each side. I had no luck searching here for a thread detailing that process. Perhaps someone can post pictures of that?
Gary, I agree with you...With my 65 frame prior to the interior frame rail treatment, I reversed the vac to blower and made a nozzle to fit up into on of the mid rail oblong holes. I turned the Vac (Blower) on!!!! Took me a full day to clean the dirt, dust, leaf debris out of my garage. I only wish I would have videoed that event.....It came out of every manufactured hole in the chassis. LOL!
Frame rust
