frame out on superchief...

[coloradomech]

pulled the frame out of the HMS Beefeater, must have been sitting nose down for a while, front axles and brakes REALLY rusty, missing LH brake asm, found 3 (so far) cracks in frame. my Question is this: is there any weak areas on these frames that i should be aware of? anything that needs re-enforced?

[hydromike]

my Question is this: is there any weak areas on these frames that i should be aware of? anything that needs re-enforced?

Yup.

Take a look at the very front plate on the frame. There are two small notches, one on each side of the frame where the brake mechanism swings over the front. These frames (Attex ST, Attex Chief, Attex Superchief) tend to start to crack on one side of the notch, on each side. After this crack propagates, the next thing in line to bend/crack/brake is the 1" diameter hollow tube that runs the width of the frame. Attexes tend to be rough on the front end of the frames, and just about every one I've had out has had some variation of this problem. I typically just weld in a 3/16" x 2.5" plate across the entire front end of the machine, and that tends to help it out quite a bit. On the racers, I replace the hollow tube with a solid steel rod. It's overkill, but they're in the air quite a bit.

I'd check underneath the transmission cradle, too. I've had two machines that had pretty nasty cracks stemming from the T-20 mounting holes on Chief/Superchief machines. Other than these classic problem areas, they're pretty tough little frames.

The first picture is some damage sustained to the front of the frame on the 503. The second picture is a beefed up frame (on the front, and a solid tube installed....it's hard to see) on another racer.