Cracked VW unibody frame

Seriously, throw it away. Dump it. It is not safe.

Huw

What year? Where? How"big"? How many miles?How much rust? My Dad used to say "You can weld up anything except a broken heart or the crack of dawn". Will

It just appeared? The car must have been wrecked at some point, or it has serious rust problems.

You need to tow it to a good body shop that specializes in frame restoration for a review if you want to drive the car.

I agree. You are playing with fire on this kind of repair if it is not done completely and professionally. And that could get to be expensive, depending upon condition and damage.

I welded up a Fiat 128 like this once, and it ran fine for a while, and later came apart like a $3 watch.

Probably not worth the effort.

Hi Will! Thanks for your response. I especially liked your Dad's quote, attitude and spirit. The car is a 1988, with a crack in the right front side portion of the frame. It has been welded. The car has about 68,000 miles but no appreciable rust.

Most responses suggest that it may not be worth it (to fix it correctly) or, in the least, very expensive. Other net information recommends a long metal brace across the weld that closely conforms with the frame itself. Only "stitching" or spot welding is recommended to preserve the factory annealing. Fortunately, I live in a rural area where I have access to mechanics and welders. Some of my best friends....

Anyway, I believe your Dad is right. It is fixable but the work needs to be done right to avoid the "metal coffin" effect.

George

My $.02 -> if you're not worried about it looking stock, then get some bar stock or channel or angle and make pieces about 6" longer than the crack and weld it overtop of the existing frame, making sure nothing will hit. Can probably be done for $20 in parts and a case of beer for your buddy if you know a good welder.

Then I'd go over the rest of the car looking for more cracks...

Ray

Then check your life insurance is adequate while never more carrying your loved ones if any.

Huw

what exactly is cracked anyways?

As there is no "frame" to speak of, I dont' know what you mean is cracked.

I had an '88 Jetta, so somewhat familiar w/ the car you are talking about.

JW

This is from chassis flex, and if you weld it up it will crack right next to the repair. In order to improve this is to re-inforce the underside of the car.

Fix it and sell it, or drive it into the ground.

DieInterim

Why? If that's the only crack and the car's not a rustbucket, I don't see the problem. But, that's a call only the OP and a GOOD welder can make.

I know HOW to weld, but I didn't (and won't) do any structural welding on my race car. I feed a real welder buddy instead. It's a dirt track car, so it sees a LOT of beating and banging - we've pretty much redone the whole rear end and added a lot of extra bars for stiffness and safety. Heck, even my factory shop manual for my truck discusses repairing frames. It can be done - it could be an isolated crack, it could be a complete rustbucket... but you can't weld to rust, so his welder friend will be able to tell him....

Ray

It is a 1988 cabriolet that flexed more than it should when new and as a result its chassis [an unibody] is now suffering from metal fatigue. It had the rigidity of a wet sandwich and I am surprised it has lasted this long. It would certainly not pass any UK safety checks in its present state and would be pulled from the road and would be uninsurable without costly proffessional reinforcement along a substantial area of underbody on both sides. Before being put back on the road it would have to be certified as being roadworthy again and they would check the integrity of the whole body. I would be surprised if the whole floorpan, chassis chanels and sill area was not compromised.

Huw

I said: "Then I'd go over the rest of the car looking for more cracks..." Maybe that should have said "But first, check the rest of the car for structural integrity."

I assumed by the OP's assertion of "but no appreciable rust" that the rest of the chassis appears in good shape.

I know what you're talking about - a friend of mine had a 65 Mercury Comet convertible back in the mid 90's. If you jacked it up to change the oil, you couldn't open the doors - and if you opened the door and then jacked it up, the door jamb area flexed about a 1/2". The car was relatively rust free, just very flexible frame-wise. (I think it would be a unibody as well.)

Ray