The 'E' Type Forum

Afternoon all, who is the best place to get new engine frames from? My Series 1car has had a serious dent at some point and have had them repaired very badly so the originals need to go in the bin.
Alasdair

There is a very small crack forming at the weld at the back, very hard to see. Not happy at all with this.

E-Type Fabs makes the best frames and they actually fit without mods, available from Hutsons. Frames are also available from SNGB and Martin Robey but IIRC they are made by the latter.

I spoke with Uryk this afternoon so am picking a set up in a couple of weeks from him as down his way on business.
Alasdair

At least the damage was externally visible giving rise to an easy choice to replace them. I did ours when the engine was out back in 2017 given they represent such a key safety aspect on the car in the event of a head-on collision and can slowly deteriorate from the inside out over time.

I got a new set of frames from E Typefabs some time ago and they fitted perfectly.
Back then, they (he?) was offering an upgraded set in thicker metal, which I had.
Before installing, I sprayed Waxoyl into the cavities to try to prevent any internal corrosion which you can’t detect from the outside.
Cheers,

Richard

Just putting it out there, I have a complete set off a 66 US car. Now I know lots of you , me as well, will suggest that its best to replace these at restoration. However, to be honest I really did think about this as they seemed so good. Certainly far to good to be scrapped. I did go ahead and buy a new set and so have these available.

Engine frames can corrode from the inside, and show no external evidence of rust until you go gently poking about with a screwdriver or other pointed object, at which point holes can appear. Or, as in my case, the very solid looking engine frames ended up with numerous holes after simply pressure washing them in situ.

Also, it's generally acknowledged that the factory did nothing to coat the inside of the frames. And it's a rather involved project to replace frames if you find later you bet wrong on replace/not replace.

All things to consider before keeping original frames or installing used replacements.