Pic request: Underside of K-frame

[Bones]

I was wondering if anyone could post up a picture of a good quality k-member underside.  I found a small block K online that I'm thinking about buying.  It looks perfect (no dents) but it looks like it has a weld seam on the under side of it.  I was looking at another one that a guy had for sale and it had the same kind of seam weld on the bottom.  On both of them it's right in the middle of the bottom side.  Is this normal or a repair of a crack?

[green67cuda]

normal.

[70 Dustpan]

Yep theres a weld there for the two 1/2s of the bottom plates.

[Bones]

Awesome guys, thanks for the replies.  I have to say that rocks long time.  It looks like I'll be buying a K this week.  The first piece to the puzzle. 

[67devildart]

Anyone got pictures of a notched K-frame??  I know that some people have.....  Especially for oil pan clearance.

[Jim_Lusk]

Not only is that normal, the welds are normally poor.

[Bakaruda]

The guy's that Mopar had welding in the 60"s and 70"s were not exactly master welder's. I have worked in a plant that does alot of welding and I am not suprised buy what I see on our cars.

[Bones]

Not only is that normal, the welds are normally poor.

That's why I had to ask.  When I looked at the pictures, it looked like an attempt at an amateur repair job.     As much as I love old Mopars, I am always amazed at how poorly some of the assembly was back in the day.  The seam sealer on the seams in my trunk looks like it was applied by an epileptic monkey on crack with a fire hose.

[mopfried]

A sound weld dosent have to look pretty. A pretty weld may not be sound!

[bbscamp]

here's the notch as cut.  then with a 'cup' added to strengthen it.   72 K frame

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[mrspeeddemon]

The guy's that Mopar had welding in the 60"s and 70"s were not exactly master welder's. I have worked in a plant that does alot of welding and I am not suprised buy what I see on our cars.

They had guys welding- I thought they gave blind chimps welding rods and bananas and letthem go crazy- Some of the elds on mine weren't even connecteing the two peices- they just went off wandering!

[azz7772]

The guy's that Mopar had welding in the 60"s and 70"s were not exactly master welder's. I have worked in a plant that does alot of welding and I am not suprised buy what I see on our cars.

They had guys welding- I thought they gave blind chimps welding rods and bananas and letthem go crazy- Some of the elds on mine weren't even connecteing the two peices- they just went off wandering!

i read somewhere that there was a time when the workers were having a fight with the higher ups over wages ect. and they purposly did a sloppy job on the fit and finnish.

[d0nut]

I'm qulified for the Monkey position!

Seriously though.. you have to consider the working conditions for some of the cars in the 60's/70's. We had AO Smith here in Milw (Now Tower Auto). They made a lot of frames for GM and Ford and the working conditions were horrible. I know a guy that worked there for a few months in the early 70's. He was in a pit just big enough to stand in an welding overhead 12 hrs a day. He was qualified for the job because he fit the hole.. His welding experience before then was the fact that he could spell it. He told me that most of the guys that worked there were not welders and he'd be afraid to sit in a car that had a frame done on his shift!

We also had the AMC plants here and those guys have some great quality stories........

Not only is that normal, the welds are normally poor.

That's why I had to ask.  When I looked at the pictures, it looked like an attempt at an amateur repair job.     As much as I love old Mopars, I am always amazed at how poorly some of the assembly was back in the day.  The seam sealer on the seams in my trunk looks like it was applied by an epileptic monkey on crack with a fire hose.