Frame head replacement

Tony,

I've neither been there nor done that.

But I've had pretty good luck drilling big holes by using high quality "hole saws". But get a good one. Some of the best are made by Milwaukee.

Otherwise, Milwaukee makes a big critter called a "Hole Hawg". These use special bits that are just the ticket for drilling clean large holes in sheet metal or plate.

Vernon

Hey guys,

You can also try Greenlee hole cutters as long as you can access both sides. Just drill a small hole for the shaft and put the cutters on each and then screw the unit together. Makes a nice clean hole with no deformation around the hole.

Fweem.

Dave '71 std beetle '58 ragtop

.............I don't understand what it is exactly that you're having done. The bulkhead where the master cylinder is mounted is not part of the framehead. The main tunnel runs through the bulkhead and to the front for several inches where the framehead fits over and is welded to the main tunnel. Usually, if the framehead is bent or rusted, the main tunnel is left intact along with the bulkhead and the replacement framehead is welded to the overlapped main tunnel and the bottom plate part of the framehead is welded to the bottom of the bulkhead and to the bottom plate of the main tunnel. If you are replacing part of the main tunnel and part of the main tunnel's bottom plate and the front bulkhead in addition to the framehead, I would suggest that you instead look into just replacing the entire pan/chassis with a good one. That way, there'll be no concerns about strength and trueness with a chassis that's been pieced together in a repair/restoration shop that might not get things exactly right compared to what came from the factory.

Tim, thanks

I didn't make myself very clear.

The framehead which we have bought has the round bit or Napoleons columm as its called here, which the body sits on, as part of the piece. The replacement is designed to slip over the cleaned up tunnel, but trued up laterally, vertically and for overall chassis length, and then to be welded up.

I understand the warnings in your message, but this is what the budget allows, and the guy who is doing it is more than capable.

So I want to save some money and drill the holes myself. Its not the drilling thats the issue - its where to drill!

Thanks for your reply

Tony

Is it this piece, by any chance?

.............That's what I was calling the front bulkhead and yes, it might be possible to turn it around for a RHD bug but I'm not sure about that. The framehead is the part that is on the front of the pan and which supports the beam/axle.

Hi

Thats part of it.

It is attached to the complete framehead.

This is it, but the picture is crap and tells you no more

Tony