express bed steel crossmembers

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birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

express bed steel crossmembers

Post by birdacre »

question? the steel cross members that the bed wood sits on. top tab has two holes, one small for screw into sill and one large for slotted bolt. why is the bottom hole on tab of cross member so large in diameter compared to the top hole??? how does this come together? anyone have a photos or diagram?
KimVanOrder
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Body Type: 82-A Platform
Model Year: 1928
Location: Hamilton, Mich.

Re: express bed steel crossmembers

Post by KimVanOrder »

Is it for a Socket on an extension?
KVO
Dec. '28 AA
birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

Re: express bed steel crossmembers

Post by birdacre »

i think you are right. this bolt will only lock in the top tab and the bottom will be recessed to sit on the bed sides. thank you for your ideas. kevin
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Neil Wilson
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Body Type: 82-A/89-A
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Re: express bed steel crossmembers

Post by Neil Wilson »

birdacre wrote:question? the steel cross members that the bed wood sits on. top tab has two holes, one small for screw into sill and one large for slotted bolt. why is the bottom hole on tab of cross member so large in diameter compared to the top hole??? how does this come together? anyone have a photos or diagram?
The bottom flanges of the express side panels have counter sunk holes for the flat head bolts used at each cross sill. The hole in the lower flanges of the cross sills are large enough to allow clearance for the counter sunk holes in the side sill lower flanges.
Regards, Neil Wilson
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birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

Re: express bed steel crossmembers

Post by birdacre »

thank you neal for this info. do you have a cross section anywhere in your collection. are you saying that the side panel flange has the same size hole as the tab on bottom of cross member? thanks in advance, kevin
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Neil Wilson
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Re: express bed steel crossmembers

Post by Neil Wilson »

birdacre wrote:thank you neal for this info. do you have a cross section anywhere in your collection. are you saying that the side panel flange has the same size hole as the tab on bottom of cross member? thanks in advance, kevin
Sorry, I don't have any pictures or cross section of what you are looking for. The holes in the bottom side panel flanges are for 5/16" flat head bolts. So that the flat head bolts are flush with the bottom of the flange, these bolt holes are recessed.

You are welcome to visit my place sometime with your camera to capture 89-A express information. Colorado is a great place to visit.
Regards, Neil Wilson
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birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

Re: express bed steel crossmembers

Post by birdacre »

thank you neil. question, the flat slot head of the bolt is up and the lock washer and nut are on bottom? i wonder why not just recess the nut and washer in the bottom of the sill via the big hole in cross member tab? it could then sit as a unit on the bed side flange. if there is a hole in bed side flange, i assume the 2 inch bottom face.... this provides no attachement to the bed side, just access to nut up inside the sill? do i make any sense? hope this helps, kevin
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Neil Wilson
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Re: express bed steel crossmembers

Post by Neil Wilson »

birdacre wrote:thank you neil. question, the flat slot head of the bolt is up and the lock washer and nut are on bottom? kevin
No, the bolt is inserted from the bottom of the side sill flange. So, the bolt head is on the bottom and is flush with the bottom of the flange. Thus, the express body fits flat onto the chassis frame. The bolt nut/washer is on the top side of the cross sill flange. The floor board is recessed to fit over the nut/washer.

The attached shows the sill assembly installed in the body. The cross sill bolts are about 2" too long and they will be cut flush with the nut on final assembly.
Attachments
sill assembly - install 4f2.jpg
sill assembly - install 4f2.jpg (303.85 KiB) Viewed 6331 times
Regards, Neil Wilson
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birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

Re: express bed steel crossmembers

Post by birdacre »

thank you neil, kim van order and i thought it was a flat headed bolt on top and the big hole on bottom for an extension and socket to fit in. i guess i could put the crossmembers together with wood sills and then set it on the 2inch flange. i would have no reason to drill a hole in the steel flange if i put this bolt in before setting on bed side, thank you, kevin
birdacre
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Re: express bed steel crossmembers

Post by birdacre »

hey neil, i went and studied my old bed sides, rusty but holes still evident barely. i now see what you meant. the bottom hole in bed side is flared or angled to take the head of the flat headed bolt. on the other side is a larger hump to make the flare or beveled hole. this is why the holes in the crossmembers are bigger diameter. next challenge will be to adjust the new crossmembers i ordered from the AA folks, AMC i think. they are wider than original. 4.25 o.d in stead of 4.0. so i will have to shim up outside floorboards or plane down middle ones. the crossmembers sit about 1/4 inch higher than they should. well, solve one challenge, discover another. maybe shimming the outward floor boards up will work out well. it would allow me to blow air under the boards and keep out dirt and debris instead of the original sandwiched design which promoted rot. thanks again, kevin
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Neil Wilson
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Re: express bed steel crossmembers

Post by Neil Wilson »

birdacre wrote:hey neil, i went and studied my old bed sides, rusty but holes still evident barely. i now see what you meant. the bottom hole in bed side is flared or angled to take the head of the flat headed bolt. on the other side is a larger hump to make the flare or beveled hole. this is why the holes in the crossmembers are bigger diameter.

next challenge will be to adjust the new crossmembers i ordered from the AA folks, AMC i think. they are wider than original. 4.25 o.d in stead of 4.0. so i will have to shim up outside floorboards or plane down middle ones. the crossmembers sit about 1/4 inch higher than they should. well, solve one challenge, discover another. maybe shimming the outward floor boards up will work out well. it would allow me to blow air under the boards and keep out dirt and debris instead of the original sandwiched design which promoted rot. thanks again, kevin
I am glad you looked at the original side panel flange and figured out how the flat head bolts are installed.

That extra height of the reproduction cross sills has several problems in addition to the outside floor boards your indicate.

1. Original side sills are not going to work (height wise).
2. The the floor boards will be 1/4" too high for the front panel lower flange.
3. The floor boards will be 1/4" too high at the rear and might cause the tail gate to hit the rear floor board retainer.
4. The original wood spacer (installed inside the #3 side panel support) will be 1/4" short in height.
Attachments
89acf rfr bq8.jpg
89acf rfr bq8.jpg (86.46 KiB) Viewed 6293 times
Regards, Neil Wilson
______________________________________
aafords.com@gmail.com - use this email for contact
https://aafords.com/
birdacre
Posts: 480
Joined: October 8th, 2013, 2:37 pm
Body Type: AA express
Model Year: 1928

Re: express bed steel crossmembers

Post by birdacre »

very helpful info. i appreciate your thoughts and brain. hope all is well. kevin
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