Frame Table

[mr white]

I want to buy or build a frame table for my pre A project. Something just to bolt up to the front and rear torsions,nothing too elaborate,something that just gets it off the ground nice and level. Does anyone have dimensions or know of a kit for sale? Any and all input is appreciated.

[MMW]

In my mind there is a difference between a frame table & a stand to work on your car. Which are you thinking of building?

When I hear frame table I think of a very heavy, very accurate jig to mount your car to while performing repairs. This would have the strength to jack against to push/pull the chassis to the correct dimensions & hold it there.

A stand would basically just hold it off the ground for easier access & not have the strength for pulling/pushing/jacking.
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Mic
1959 356 coupe
Missing the original engine 72488
Update - third pc. found!
Now just need the case halves.
1965 fenderless beetle

[roy mawbey]

Mr White,

Justin Rio has produced a frame table using the torsion areas for checking his work of converting a coupe to a speedster project.
Best if you go to his forum and follow the instruction below to see how he made this table. You don't have to pay to join his forum to see and even ask questions on how he did this. The photographs he puts on describe the operations very well.

www.porsche356abcgt.com

click on ' forum ' when the website opens

click on ' 356 restoration projects' from the listings

click on ' Coupe 2 speedster project ' to open that thread.

Click on ' page 3' of the thread to see his build of the table.

He has made full access of the torsion bars access to install the frame and to secure. Its not a ' spit ' of course its a method of knowing all is level and correct with regard to one end of the chassis to the other.

If you are like me, you will then spend hours AND HOURS of your free time looking at all the work this guy does on this and his $75 scrapyard carrera A. It fascinating to watch all this work unfold in photographs of each stage.

Hope it helps you

Roy
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Roy
RHD356A super75 106954

[mr white]

Thank you for the input! Yes a frame table,not just a stand. What I am working with is straight,just rusty. A frame table will keep it off the ground and everything lined up in 3D so to speak. For me,I feel its the real only way to build a 356,especially a 1953. Thank you for Justin Rios link,I have not yet found his frame table,I look forward to reading up on it. I built a spit for my old type 2 VWs,however you must pay close attention to detail when installing panels.Things get too "shifty" however solid they seem. Best to have these cars mounted solid at the torsions at or near waste height locked in at 3D. Again,any ideas and input welcomed,we all benefit from learning!

[LHG]

[roy mawbey]

Brian,

I wish I had your ability to make direct links like that I must find out how to do that.

Thanks for doing that it makes it so much easier!

Cheers

Roy
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Roy
RHD356A super75 106954

[MMW]

Here is a photo of a frame table from Bruce Baker.
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Mic
1959 356 coupe
Missing the original engine 72488
Update - third pc. found!
Now just need the case halves.
1965 fenderless beetle

[Restomod]

WOW!! If you clamp er down on that and anything moves you did something bad wrong....

[Rustneversleeps]

Yeah, like you left on the train tracks.

[roy mawbey]

Mic,

Now that is a frame table with wheels

Very nice mujst have taken Bruce a while to build that even longer to get the torsion support positions correct.

I doubt you could buy one of those that easily

Roy
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Roy
RHD356A super75 106954

[mr white]

Wow!! That is a nice table! I am hoping someone knows of a blue print for sale with a complete list of all materials needed.Proper dimensions and all. Shipping something like that of course is going to be really expensive. Would be nice to buy a plan,take it to a local iron yard and buy all the materials and put it together.

[bbspdstr]

When a 356 is shown to have previous collision damage, even a Coupe, it is placed on the jig for checking and / or correcting. All open cars are built on that jig when longitudinals, rockers and floors are installed.

The jig was built by Dave Baker and me c. '78 from what anyone can use; the Factory shop manual's Body section and good used steel from a large scrap yard. We proofed it with a car that left just today after a second restoration, having been done the first time in the later '70s and was then unfortunately left in a damp garage while it's owner had "life get in the way" for 32 years and all went verstunkina. Mice, mildew, corrosion, etc. That car was a straight example from Switzerland, no rust (to speak of at that time).

The car pictured above now looks like this:
It had been hit in the nose and the t-bars in front were back and up, otherwise a typical SC Coupe that was literally left in an upper midwest barn, "ridden hard and put away wet." The owner who put it there decades ago thought it deserved better.

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Bruce Baker
www.356restoration.com

[MMW]

Bruce,

In the pic of the black car on the jig I can tell what/how the front/rear two outer uprights are attached but what/where/how does the center uprights go to? Do they just have a flate plate that the tube sits on for the correct height while you align the chassis for sliding the bars into the torsion tubes?

Can I assume the rear most uprights bolt where the motor hoop goes?
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Edit -- So upon further examination I realize the pic I posted again here is the same table as the one with the black coupe mounted. It just doesn't have all the uprights bolted on. I answered my own question. As a welder/fabricator these things interest me.

_________________
Mic
1959 356 coupe
Missing the original engine 72488
Update - third pc. found!
Now just need the case halves.
1965 fenderless beetle

[mr white]

That table is great!! Looks like things on my end are coming together on this. I contacted Steve Hogue,he just got back to me. He is going to sell me the plans for $150. He can machine the fixtures as well if need be. I will build this once I get the plan sheet and post the result. His tables fold up when not in use! Sounds fantastic!!!

[roy mawbey]

After looking at Steve Houge's work on 356 bodywork he really impresses me. I hope you keep us informed on how the table works out. Thats a nice looking SC now Bruce. Makes me wonder just how many cars drove like crabs if the welding of new parts was not checked on a table like this.

Roy
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Roy
RHD356A super75 106954

[bbspdstr]

I, too, would like to see Steve's design. The pictured table I use takes up space and lives outside when not in use, obviously.
Even as stout as it appears, care is used to true and level it when used for determining twist in a 356, as it also can twist a little if not leveled itself.
Yes, over the years and many 356s, the worst I've gotten to correct were those where the repairer started brazing in one area and just went around the inner perimeter, turning the tub into a potato chip.
Good intentions made many into parts cars, those 'donors' we no longer see!
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Bruce Baker
www.356restoration.com

[mr white]

Just a quick update,getting close to completion on Steves designed table,slightly modified only in using bigger hardware. I should have this beast in action with my 53 coupe mounted on it for combat in about two weeks! I will post pics.

[roy mawbey]

Well done, look forward to seeing your pics.

Roy
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Roy
RHD356A super75 106954

[James Davies]

Looking forward to seeing your '53 coupe mounted on it!

My goal this summer is to get my '53 coupe onto a rotisserie. I don't have much structural work to do on mine, but I do need to see if it is square and its dimensions are within spec.

[hugheseum]

this ones a beast
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1543236

you want fixtures that go into the torsion housings up front,this will tell you if its straight or not........i had my fixtures machined for install with or without bearings
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Have a great day!