fab frame horns

Much to my dismay, I've discovered the frame horns on my '59 CJ5 are pretty gnarled up. The RF had been crudely plated and when I cut away the patches, I found it's been bent and ripped. The LF looks like it might have a small bend or two. Since I'm beginning a Saginaw conversion, I thought I'd better do something now so the horns match. Anyone here have experience either splicing in replacements or making new horns from scratch? Anyone have a good set of horns laying around? This isn't going to be a restoration but I like my stuff to look nice and be functional.

Thanks.

 

Thanks, Sparky. I just took some quick measurements and it looks like I can weld in some 2x3 tubing, then weld the spring perches to the bottom and put on some bumper-mount tabs. It might change the front ride heights just a little by being flat as it looks like the original frame wasn't quite flat there. I'm going to enclose the horns anyway for the Saginaw conversion and will fab up my own bumpers. I'm kind of leaning in that direction. Besides, I was kinda' hopin' to be drivin' this thing by New Years. Maybe not...

 

I don't think zed likes me.

"zed has chosen not to receive private messages or may not be allowed to receive private messages. Therefore you may not send your message to him/her."

Maybe it was the "him/her" part. R)

 

i have a half of a frame in my garage, its a 1959 and the frame horns are perfect. PM me if you need them and ill cut them off at wherever you need and send em to you.

 

bkap--
my pm was messing up for some reason this morning. sorry, nothing personal, honest.

i can send you pictures of the transplant if you want.

mostly the important part is measuring, squaring and measuring. after that it's fishplating the welds good and solid. i actually had a certified welder in town make the welds.

i used the front horns of a '72 cj for two reasons:

1. there was one in a local salvage yard that had been rear ended badly and it was destined for the crusher so i could get the section from just in front of the engine mounts forward for $25 with them doing the cutting.

2. the front crossmember is right behind the bumper. this means that i could use the crossmember to keep both sides square and parallel to each other. made the whole thing much simpler to stay in alignment.

i decided to keep the intermediate front crossmember in the jeep in addition to the original 69 cj front xmember. 4 reasons there:

1. in case i ever get the $$ for a winch it makes it a sturdy spot to mount it.
2. the 72 already has a cast mount for the saginaw power steering box i was going to swap in (not the stamped steel mount).
3. it make for a really sturdy front end with the two xmembers one forward of the other.
4. the most important... to confuse cj officianados. the puzzled look is always worth it. sorta like pretending to throw a ball to an excited labrador retriever.

i hope to have the article finished soon. let me know if you want some thumbnails of the images.

 

*******, if you do, you might find a way to keep the front crossmember intact and connecting the two sides together. it will make alignment much easier for him.

 

Hi zed,

No problem. I've been ignored by all sorts of important people. R)

I would like to see what you've got for the article photos to this point. I still haven't ruled out just using box tubing and would like to see what you've done. I've repaired many race car frames over the years (after I bent them) so I'm pretty comfortable with the process.

 

That's interesting, Lynn. Thanks. That may help in my decision on which way to go. Some tiny, nagging, obsessive part of my brain is insisting I keep it "stock" looking while the struggling rational part says, "Do it in box tubing!" I plan to keep this vehicle for a while so I guess it's important for me to beat the decision to death... :smash:

BTW, I've never taken the time to document any of my projects but I do appreciate you folks who do. Maybe you'll inspire me on this one ... One can hope.

 

I know that all of you live and breathe what I'm going to do with my projects, so I thought I'd let you know I've decided to go ahead with the box tubing instead of splicing in stock horns. (Thanks brandon11130 for the offer. Sent you a PM.) That must be the case because I bought enough 2x3 yesterday to do it. I hadn't planned on putting on a winch yet so might add a front cross brace behind the bumper I plan on building.

I'll make an attempt to chronicle my progress, which I'll share when finished. I've done all sorts of computer- and software-related how-tos but nothing like this where I've had to stop, wash my hands, take a photo, jot down some notes, then resume getting dirty. We'll see how this works.

 

Before I got started cutting off the original, bent horns, I thought I'd better check the front shackle angles so I can put everything back where they belong. Since the frame horns the hangers are attached to are bent, I wanted to make sure I get the correct shackle angles. The measurements I get are between 3-4 degrees with the bottom further forward than the top. I know you don't want them straight up and down (90 degrees) but I'm not sure how critical a half degree is. What do you think? Should I stick with four degrees? I can't find any reference for the stock CJ angles.