I don't understand
- Thread starter 63409
- Start date
I've seen several Janesville (and Kansas City plant) cars with the boxed frame. I've also seen a couple of Canadian cars that did NOT have boxed frames so I'm not really sure where the "Canadian Boxed Frame" story came from.
One more thing to add . . . I just walked in the door from a Friday night car show and there happened to be an Anniversary Gold '62 Impala (Janesville 7D car) and yep, another boxed frame!
Last edited:
You sometimes hear people refer to the boxed frames as "Canadian" frames.
I know the Canadian Pontiac we've got doesn't have a boxed frame. It was built at the same plant as the Canadian Chevrolets.
I think this was covered before but I can't remember what the consensus was. I'm not sure that they even used boxed frames at the Canadian plant.
I know the Canadian Pontiac we've got doesn't have a boxed frame. It was built at the same plant as the Canadian Chevrolets.
I think this was covered before but I can't remember what the consensus was. I'm not sure that they even used boxed frames at the Canadian plant.
One more thing to add . . . I just walked in the door from a Friday night car show and there happened to be an Anniversary Gold '62 Impala (7D car) and yep, another boxed frame
Whoops . . . sorry! It was an Anniversary Gold '62 from the Janesville plant. I noticed it on the cowl tag without opening the door.
The "Canadian frame" baloney probably came from the same dude that introduced us to the "409" wheels. BTW, my '62 Impala from Janesville (May build) also has the boxed frame. I believe there were three frame vendors that provided frames to GM.
Brian64SS
Well Known Member
Janesville is 75 miles from the former A O Smith plant in Milwaukee. Trains of flatcars used to leave Milwaukee stacked with frames from A O Smith. EVERY Janesville x-frame car I've owned, seen for sale, at car shows or in junkyards in the last 35 years in this state (dozens) have had the boxed frame. Common sense tells us there is NO way all those Janesville cars had their boxed frames made anywhere but by A O Smith in Milwaukee.
I've seen 3 St. Louis cars (my SS is one of them) and all three had the tack-welded, c-channel frame. One was a red '64 Impala 4-door sedan that was being parted out by a guy near here. The 3rd was that rusty white '64 wagon 409/340 we talked about here that was on e-bay a couple of months ago.
My Flint car has a boxed frame, but to me, it looks different from how I remember the Janesville frames. The Flint frame has what looks like a weld seem along the top I haven't seen on the Janesville frames.
I've seen 3 St. Louis cars (my SS is one of them) and all three had the tack-welded, c-channel frame. One was a red '64 Impala 4-door sedan that was being parted out by a guy near here. The 3rd was that rusty white '64 wagon 409/340 we talked about here that was on e-bay a couple of months ago.
My Flint car has a boxed frame, but to me, it looks different from how I remember the Janesville frames. The Flint frame has what looks like a weld seem along the top I haven't seen on the Janesville frames.
1961 Bubble Boy
Well Known Member
There must be a reason for the difference. Boxing the frame makes it stronger but I wonder if the boxed frames used thinner gauge metal so the net difference was nothing. I will measure my rust free open frame and if someone can measure a clean box frame maybe we can make some sense of it. Just to be clear we are talking about the rear frame rails that support the trunk?
Oh and on the frames, it probably was AO Smith and Dana at least, since they have made frames forever and there were differences due to process differences even in the 90's making truck frames.
Oh and on the frames, it probably was AO Smith and Dana at least, since they have made frames forever and there were differences due to process differences even in the 90's making truck frames.
ragtp66
Well Known Member
1958-1964 Chevrolet X-Frame Manufacturers
1.) A.O. Smith Co. - built reinforced frames for convertibles from 2 “C” channels welded together
2.) BUDD Corporation – built frames for sedans and hardtops from 2 “C” channels welded together
3.) Chevrolet – built frames for sedans and hardtops from an extruded steel tube. This has become known as the “seamless” frame….aka “California”, “Canadian”, or “Detroit” frame
1.) A.O. Smith Co. - built reinforced frames for convertibles from 2 “C” channels welded together
2.) BUDD Corporation – built frames for sedans and hardtops from 2 “C” channels welded together
3.) Chevrolet – built frames for sedans and hardtops from an extruded steel tube. This has become known as the “seamless” frame….aka “California”, “Canadian”, or “Detroit” frame
ragtp66
Well Known Member
Brian
While doing my research for my 58 I ran across that info it was in a Chevrolet Parts Book I don't own the book so I cannot tell you specifically which one I found it in. It was also discussed on another site which mentioning other sites sometimes is frowned upon so I didn't want to cause any waves by mentioning the name of the site. BTW Ironically my Dad had a 64 409/425 4spd attached is a copy of the original invoice.
While doing my research for my 58 I ran across that info it was in a Chevrolet Parts Book I don't own the book so I cannot tell you specifically which one I found it in. It was also discussed on another site which mentioning other sites sometimes is frowned upon so I didn't want to cause any waves by mentioning the name of the site. BTW Ironically my Dad had a 64 409/425 4spd attached is a copy of the original invoice.
1961 Bubble Boy
Well Known Member
Ragtp66 thanks for the info! It is pretty wild GM made a closed tube frame back then. It was all the engineering debate when we switched to a hydro formed frame on the 99 Silverado. It's funny how "new" ideas aren't really. Before the change we had Dana and AO Smith as suppliers and had "optional constructions" to accommodate each suppliers process differences.