Gearhead Jim

The C7 is widely expected to use an aluminum frame, which should be more corrosion resistant than the steel frame on the base/GS cars.

But what about repairs?
Welding aluminum properly may be beyond the capabilities of most shops.
IIRC, aluminum is also said to be more prone to cracking than steel if it is bent and then re-bent back to original shape, like frame straightening.

There may also be issues with galvanic corrosion when steel contacts the aluminum (bolts, etc) but hopefully that problem is solved when the car is built, by proper design and materials.

Our 2006 was damaged when an old (older than me!) bozo pulled out in front of me and I t-boned him. The crosspiece at the very front of the frame had to be replaced, the damaged one was cut off and a new one welded on. Many months later, the shop also told me the frame rails had bent slightly several feet behind that point, they were straightened.

The 2006 repairs were done properly and it took a very careful inspection up on a rack to know the car had been damaged. What happens to the aluminum frame Z06 in a similar situation?

Screamin Z

Same thing. Weld in new aluminum pieces and put it on the rack to straighten it out.

Dont ask me how I know.

Vito.A

I saw a slide show online where a guy cut his Z06 in half to repair the frame as well as strengthen it.
Aluminum is getting more common in automotive construction so many shops have a separate setup for their MIG welders to weld aluminum.

PatriotZ

If you take a close look at the frame on the Z's... Towards the front.... sections are bolted together....up to the cabin area....thus....if not too terrible... and one gets crunched....the body shop can just replace the bent part with a new one.....saw this at a body shop.....and the body guy told me that they can replace three sections this way......pretty cool IMO.....and glad it wasn;t my Z....

HOXXOH

I'm not fond of MIG welding aluminum structural components. It's way too easy to pile on the wire without proper penetration, especially when done by someone who only does it on an occasional basis. Even TIG welding aluminum is not an easily learned skill. I'd want to see test samples before I'd let someone weld my aluminum frame. These guys are not required to be certified like many other welders.

Mark2009

I was thinking the same thing when this thread first popped up...

I'd rather not have a professional body shop guy doing structural welding, and

I'd rather not have a professional welder doing my body work.

With all due respect to both.

JoesC5

The aluminum space frame is not made up of a bunch of bolted together pieces. The only "bolt on" piece up front is the magnesium engine cradle.

Gearhead Jim

By now, there must have been a fair number of Z06's with frame damage. Does anyone know what is happening to them?
Repaired or junked?

If repaired, how are they really being done in the real world, and how are they holding up?

JoesC5

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=...8&fr=yfp-t-701

At one time, several years back, they(i-car, com) had the complete instructions on line in a pdf. Now they just show the overview, but they have a complete detailed instruction manual on repairing the Z06.

If I remember correctly, GM published it.

EDIT: I found the link http://www.c6registry.com/Technical/index.htm

Then scroll down towards the bottom of the page and click on "C6 Z06 Body repair manual". It's a PDF of the repair manual.

Also go to http://www.z06vette.com/forums/f64/f...equest-118744/ and click on PDF links in post #1.

PatriotZ

Maybe I didn't see what I thought I saw....and the body guy was bolting whatever it was.....

JoesC5

Of course there are items that are bolted to the space frame like the upper suspension, the steering rack, the doors, the rear crossmember, the engine cradle, etc. but that is also true of the steel frame. The aluminum frame does have threaded inserts for those items, but the frame itself is one big piece of aluminum made from various parts that are either welded or riveted together.

haljensen

The Z06 frame is not a "Space Frame" regardless of what some people are saying. this is a space frame;

haljensen

The Z06 (and the C6) frames are perimeter frames with 2 hydroformed main frame rails connected by various crossmembers such as the bumper beams, the front engine/suspension crossmember, the cabin floor and drivetrain tunnel, and the rear suspension/drive train crossmember.

HOXXOH

A birdcage Maserati comes to mind as an example of space frames.

MTPZ06

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure GM started calling it a "space frame" first.

haljensen

First example I know of was a cable TV show. GM Adspeak or poor terminology by a talking head? GM Advertizing needs a Fact Checker or an Editor.

A Space Frame doesn't have main frame rails.

A Monocoque doesn't have main frame rails.

A Unit body dosn't have main frame rails.

Early Corvettes had a true body on frame, the body was separate from the frame and was bolted to the frame and removable (body off re-builds).

Current Corvettes have version of body on frame but the body is attached in multiple places by various means (bolts, screws, welds,
rivets, glue, etc) and is not removable as a unit.

Probably GM Adspeak since the body on frame connotation is usually limited to trucks.

JoesC5

That is a truss frame.

Gearhead Jim

An excellent post and links, thanks!

My take is that the average shade tree body shop should not be repairing aluminum frames, but a shop with proper tools and training could do a good job.

Of course, not needing repairs is always better!

HOXXOH

In automotive language it's a space frame. Truss frames are limited to things like the front half of back motor dragsters, while the back half (rear of firewall) is a space frame. A truss frame doesn't eliminate torsional flexing. If you combine several trusses in a manner to eliminate the flex while having an open center, you have created a space frame.

Light aircraft and most early planes are space frames. One of the early space frames on a production car was the MB 300SL. The gullwing doors were a result of the height requirement of the door sill.

JoesC5

My point was that a space frame is not just a truss frame made up of round tubing, with full triangulation as the frame he showed. Square and rectangular tubing is still tubing, and having the main rails made of rectangular tubing(as the C5/C6 does, or a NASCAR cup car) still is considered a space frame. Even the Pontiac Fiero had a space frame as did the Ford GT and even the Fisker Karma.