Hey Malloy, do you have any pics of INSIDE the car, of the connector running through the floor?


On edit: Guess I was posting as you were!!!!

'nother pic from the top:

trans x-member weld:

That is what my Mustang looked like when I installed my connectors on it. Good job there.

Thanks. Where's Pearland in Houston?

SE side, near Clear Lake, Friendswood. I graduated high school your kneck of the woods, Langham Creek, '90, off of Barker Cypress and FM 529!

Zoiks! That's like 45-115 mins drive from here, depending on traffic.

Ever go to the sat cruise at I-10 and hwy 6 (west side)?

Back in the day when I had a "street" car, we would. We would cruise Westheimer from the 610 loop all the way out to Cinco Ranch, PASSED Hwy 6! We would all meet up in Deer Park on Center Street, and make our way out there. We did that for many years, until the cops got real bad, run us off, and then we all pretty much took our cars off the street, and made them "strip" only cars. I raced in the Fun Ford events for many years (93-00) and was in the process of re-doing my Mustang, got CRAZY with the money I spent on it, and decided I wanted a street car again, so now I have a Mopar!

Great posts , after reading all about how frame conectors are a small gain in stength in the body twisting department ,and that you realy need a cage ,and that its the cross bracing of the cage is what stops the twisting etc ,etc ,etc,this got me thinking . Ok guys here are a few ideas to throw around that may (or maynot) help without installing a cage.Ok behind the back seat of most Mopars is 'X' bracing already ! This rear deck area behind the seat is also reinforced on convertables yes ! So tie this into the subframes for extra strength, you could use tube and could hide it behind the seat for an almost stock apperance .Same could be done up front with a little thought. Well what do ya think ?Could work.

I was thinking about boxing the same cross braces (behind the seat) that you are referring to. I think tying them into the rear subframe is also an excellent idea! My 71 RR chassis is picked clean so now is the perfect time.

RLB, Malloy
Ive been thinking about that very thing too, but on the fron end! lol

What if a diagonal brace was put across the firewall and core support somehow. It seems the engine is the prime source of torsional stress. hmmm. Tying the seat brace sounds good too

-Ken

Good info....

Actually on a B or E body you could probably tye the frame rails in the engine bay against the fire wall to the top of the plenum in a "V" shape and then from that center point on the fire wall two stut braces like Mustangs to just above the suspention ( shocker ) pad. ! Just a thought.

Hey , have you guys run out of ideas ?

1UglyFish (YES it is,what lake did that northern come from?) I'm not sure what your getting at, but a proper weld is stronger than the pieces it joins. the "overheated area" I think you are refering to is an annealed or heat treated area so to speak. it looks bluish in color and is approx 1/4 to 5/16" wide. this is for a gmaw (mig) welded joint on .083-.125 material. this area is slightly brittle compared to the base metal, but acts as a transition to the hardened weld.

the best way to attach two pieces is to plug weld through the base material. this is what I, and a few others have done. for maximum strength, the total contact area of the two materials needs to be figured out, then a 50% split of each to be welded. make sense??

My welds on the bottom of ZIPPY'S car don't look all that good, and I'm not proud of their show appeal, but they have great penetration.

have I ever said I hate welding on my back (inside joke)

is this cranking hp or rear wheel hp ?

I get it now! 50% through welds as opposed to 100% involved welds. Makes perfect sense and Malloy's pics really gave me good ideas.

Hey Malloy, what type of welding equipment do you use? What do you recommend if using 110VAC service? I hear Lincoln is excellent, but I don't know where to find a good used one.

Great link, this should go into the archive!

Ok, I followed this through three (more than that?!) recessiatations, and I have a question. When cutting the top of the SFC to match the contour of the floor pan (like pete did), how do you get the pattern of the contour onto the SFC to cut it? Thanks!

And, excellent work and thread!

Slider, a contour gauge will do it



You probably could borrow one, they are very handy. Bodyshops use them a lot

Ken