Apparently Bubba

Deadguy · Post by **Deadguy** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 8:25 am

Cut the boxed inside front panels of my M38A1 frame out. The rest is in great shape, but I'm finally getting around to welding in those replacement frame pieces. Does anyone know what thickness and gauge of steel I need?

BullRun · Post by **BullRun** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 9:03 pm

Unless there is evidence that the reinforcement to the frame was removed it sounds like a CJ 5 frame as they lack the boxed in reinforcements.

That might explain the holes not lining up when the USMC lifting cross member is installed.

The chassis wall thickness is about 12 to 14 gauge steel so that thickness would be tough to cut out.

Deadguy · Post by **Deadguy** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 9:25 pm

you can see where the frame was cut. The edges are rugged and rough right where it should be boxed. There is also the mounting plate for a machine gun in the back.

BullRun · Post by **BullRun** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 9:55 pm

In that case, that is a winner for a strange thing to do to a frame!

Deadguy · Post by **Deadguy** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:14 pm

Yeah, I have no idea why they would do it,but it came from a donor M38A1 in California. Still wondering why some of the holes didn't match for the USMC bumper tho

Deadguy · Post by **Deadguy** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 3:08 pm

Oh, and 2/3rds of the front of the frame are boxed in, just not the last third. Weird

Deadguy · Post by **Deadguy** » Mon Apr 07, 2014 10:30 am

so, I am guessing 1/8th inch steel? Does anyone know what gauge?

jimm · Post by **jimm** » Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:21 pm

Deadguy wrote:so, I am guessing 1/8th inch steel? Does anyone know what gauge?

I can't tell you what thickness it should be, but if you do a search on "sheet metal thickness gage chart" you'll find that, for mild steel, there is no gauge that corresponds to 1/8". The common even-numbered gauges in that range are 10 and 12, at 0.1345 and 0.1046 inches thick, respectively. There is a gauge 11 at 0.1196 but it is not one that is normally stocked by metal suppliers.

That said, bear in mind that "gauge" refers to sheet metal, which is different than plate. Plate is commonly sold by fractional inch thickness and you shouldn't have any trouble finding some in 1/8" thickness. That is what I used to reconstruct the frame horns for the front bumper mounting on my M38.