LocostUSA.com

I'm working on repowering a 72 Honda N600 into a VFR800-N600 BEC, and I'm not sure yet, but I may have a unibody tweak..

I still have to take measurements, but it seems like one of the front corners is a bit high (or the other is low).. If the measurements bear it, I'm thinking it's off by about 1/2" (on 4 jack stands under the frame corners, there is a diagonal teeter-totter of almost 1/2" up and down).

The problem lies in where I am in the build- I grafted/narrowed front and rear Miata suspension into the car, so my factory unibody car now has a short front and rear section of frame rails (where they don't belong).. I'm wondering if the car body warped a bit when I did all that welding on either end.. Anyway, I'm about ready to add some reinforcing to the front section, and once I do, I'm thinking it would be even harder to put the frame on a rack and have it straightened- in short, likely easier to fix it now as opposed to later..

In the grand scheme what I'm really wondering is if it is tweaked by as much as a 1/2", is it enough to worry about? Truth be told when I narrowed the Miata bits I was very careful, but surely I was off here or there by a bit.. I'm cool with it to a degree (no pun intended ), but it does kind of bug me that my platform may be off.. then again, this is a locost deal, so if most cars on the road are a bit 'off,' then I'll learn to be ok with it!

Just wanted to see what you guys thought before I plunk down 100.00/hr to a guy who's never seen frame rails in a Honda

Although it's surely apples to oranges, I had a mid-fifties Ford truck frame body-off once, and you could lift one corner of the bare frame almost 4" without the other corners moving- blew me away the flex that chassis allowed..

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com

As a body guy,i would buy a few concrete anchor bolts,and bolt the car to your workshop,garage floor..when your done just cut them off.put the car on 4 jackstands,then chain it down in the center section of your car,using 4 chains.The center of car is known as the torquebox,then when you have it perfectly level ,using a floorjack under the lower area,or lowest point jack up that point,if the warpage is further forward more anchoring points are needed but concrete bolts are dirt cheap and this method is used worldwide everyday.The tollerance for a unibody is 3mm. its probably a little confusing with my description but after all your just taking a slight twist out of the shell.paying someone to do this basic thing can be costly,and a frame machine is just a level surface that is no different to a level floor.
Wayne-o

Are you sure the garage floor is level and all four stands were sitting on the same plane? It could give the illusion that the car isn't straight.

I had to use over 1" of shims on one corner to get the four legs of the build table in the same plane. 1/2" doesn't sound like much.

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-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

I was also wondering how much is too much, though in my case it is in regards to the locost frame. Although I'm keeping things as straight as I can, I'm sure there will be some warpage when it's all done. My thought was to put it on jackstands and pull the "high" corners down towards the floor with a couple of ratchet straps, though that may or may not be enough in a frame like this.

Final weld the frame then add the suspension brackets. If the brackets are equidistant from the ground plane, and positioned so that the car tracks straight, it is irrelevant whether the frame is twisted or not.

_________________
Warren
Isuzu Pickup/SR20DE, +401 COLD frame
Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=11601

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I like where you're going with this.. I had the same locost approach idea- put the car on 4 jackstands. level everything out, anchor (concrete bolts and chains) the 3 'high/level' corners solid, and use a two ton floorjack to raise the 'low' corner #4 until it's level with the others.. I'll have to make double-triple sure about my garage floor being side to side level (it has a slant down from rear to front- which I will correct for)..

I am a little confused on where to anchor to the floor/car.. I would have thought to simply take my 3 'high/level' corners and just run the chain/anchor straight to the floor- you're suggesting a differnt way?

I am by no means a body/frame guy, so I just gotta be careful not to ruin my somewhat rare rust-free clown car

ccrunner

_________________
Dean

1972 Honda N600 Restomod "ccrunner's N600 VFR800 repower"

1963 Volvo P1800 Restomod
http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=16309

1959 Berkeley SE492 Restomod...
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19397

"ccrunner's 1960 MGA coupe Restomod" found on MGExp.com