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Elite Veteran
Posts: 750
  
Location: kansas city, mo. | if you have a 1958 2 door hardtop with a rotten frame, could you use a 1959 2 door sedan with a good frame to fix the 58 2door ht? or do you have to use a 57 or 58 2 door hardtop frame exclusively? thanks, mike in k.c. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 455
Location: seattle, Wa. | Ive never tried it nor heard of anyone trying it, but that doesnt mean much. My guess is the frames (whether 2 dr post, 2HT or sedan) are all the same during the same year. It gets a little murkier when you mix year-of-manufacture. Perhps the frame charts in the Parts Manuals would help. |
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Location: Parts Unknown |
The change in the rear body of the 59's from the 57-8 design made for modifications in the frame in the back. I am speaking more to the big body Chrysler / DeSoto cars than the others, but I suspect that the shorter wheelbase cars might have received a similar "adjustment".
When I built the frames mentioned in other posts for my convertible projects - 58 Belvedere, 58 DeSoto - I used 2 door HT frames as a base. Somewhere in the dark corners of my feeble brain are the lost files of research on which frames were interchangeable with what, but the information I used and retained was that a convertible frame was a regular 2HT frame with the added "X" member located "just so" with some universal locator holes. One is the same as the other before the added "X". I cannot remember what differences there were between 4 doors / sedans and the 2HT and convertibles, but there was enough that using an exact same frame was worth the effort of hunting down... of course, back then, finding parts car status 2HT's wasn't much trouble.
I think the answer to your question is a double "no". "No" on 58 to 59, and "no" on crossing body styles. |
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Location: Rusting In New York, hello... | I'd measure and eyeball the two, the differences have to be pretty minor. One of the places I am in and out of there is a '59 Plymouth sedan they dumped on it's top to pull the trans out of some 30-odd years or more back. The frame didn't rot out in it as a result and I am really tempted to cut the back half off it at the least to have around for patching something else down the road. I was going to throw it in with the '57 I sold, but they're a little different - I too can't remember how, you might look through old posts to see if the info is on here.
If you're doing a rear rail swap the differences may be so minor as to be easily compensated for if needed. Especially if you're not 100% concerned with originality - this kind of repair might have been done as a 'keep it running' back in the day. On the other hand, those rails are just a C-channel from the axle hump back, it might be possible to fabricate that part and not cut up another car.
My guess is the sedan frame may not have the holes to locate an x-member and may not be as heavy through the middle of the car because the sedan body is a little more solid than a hardtop. The hardtop is more prone to flex and this had to be compensated for - making that frame a natural to use in a convertible with still more added bracing. I know my '57 you could see the main rails are quite heavy, and what I saw on the '59 vert was the same way.
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Veteran
Posts: 209
Location: Denton , Texas | Mike, I don't want you to think I am a smart ass But I hope you are good with a Meg welder especially on frame work ,you must reinforce you welds just butting two pcs. together will not survive ,Penetration is very important .  
Edited by 57Furykay 2005-01-15 9:57 PM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 750
Location: kansas city, mo. | i am a machinist/welder so the frame work would not pose a problem to me. just got to know if a 59 2door sedan frame will work under a 57/58 2door hardtop. if it will, then i'll keep this 59 savoy car. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 8947
Location: WHEELING,WV.>>>HOME OF WWVA | 58 dodge will interchange with 57 dodge-exc. conv.---along with 57-58 des. firesweep sub.---57-58 ply. sub. and a few bracket mods.-------------------later
Edited by 60 dart 2005-01-15 10:19 PM
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 5006
| are there any differences from 57 to 58 with frame or torsion/control arms? Dodge
Edited by mikes2nd 2017-03-20 2:45 PM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1141
Location: Blackpool, United Kingdom. | mikes2nd - 2017-03-20 7:32 PM
are there any differences from 57 to 58 with frame or torsion/control arms? Dodge
58 Dodge springs are longer and the frame if I can remember has nuts in for the upper bumper brackets? |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 9692
Location: So. Cal | '58 Chrysler and Desoto rear springs are also longer than their '57 counterparts, so the frame to mount them is also different. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 943
| I would check a Hollander's Interchange manual for 58-59 interchange question. I have one but unfortunately it does not go back far enough. |
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Expert 5K+
Posts: 5006
| I think the 57 dodge frame is the same as the 58, and I know there was some changes with the torsion bar covers but are the torsion bars themselves different?
Control arm part numbers the same? |
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frame question
