Frame Connectors?

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Vic Storm

Vic Storm

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Any of you guys have frame connectors or torque boxes on your early A's? I sure would love to see some pics, Thanks.
 
I used the mopar performance bolt on deals.Kinda cheapo, but they work.

Had to use washers to shim the fronts a bit and drill some holes to bolt the rear sections in.

Then I welded them wherever they touched the floor and welded the front and rear areas fully at the perimeters.

They make better, perfect contour fit ones for E and B bodies I believe, but I'm not sure about A bodies yet, and some guys fab up their own, cut the floor pans and go crazy with them.

I'm sure someone will chime in with some more answers for you.
 
Someone was saying that uscartool is supposed to be coming out with the early a ones soon. I just made some for mine using 1-1/4 square tubing and some plate. welded two pieces side by side then used the plate to connect it to the rails. i'll try and get some pics.
 
I used 2" x 3" x .125 wall tubing and made them up and welded them in. Check out my build in Member Restorations for pic's. Total cost $67.
 
camd64 said:
Someone was saying that uscartool is supposed to be coming out with the early a ones soon. I just made some for mine using 1-1/4 square tubing and some plate. welded two pieces side by side then used the plate to connect it to the rails. i'll try and get some pics.
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According to John Pasemann (owner) they will
 
Anyone know how the uscartool style connectors compare in torsional rigidity to a pair of 2x3 box section connectors?

How about weightwise?
 
You can kinda see mine

Y pipe 2.jpg
 
Here are the ones I made for my 66. The pattern is made out of press board and I had a local shop bend the channel out of 11 gauge.
I then transfered the pattern to the metal channel and cut it out.

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Speaking of which, should frame connectors be welded in while supported by the suspension or by the frame?
 
ramcharger said:
Speaking of which, should frame connectors be welded in while supported by the suspension or by the frame?
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If you don't want to mess with re-doing all of your door fits and body gaps they should at least be tacked in place while the car is sitting on its wheels, with the frame in its "natural" position.

Now, if you want to get into physics and assume that the car probably sags in the middle while its sitting on its wheels, and then correct it to be "true", you should weld them in while its supported on the frame with the frame shimmed to be level and plumb. But I'm sure you know that once you've jacked a car up and supported it on the frame that the doors especially don't always open and shut properly, so you may need to do some adjusting. And doing it this way CAN change the way the car sits on the ground.

I'm sure you'll get some conflicting answers on this one, and I'd be willing to bet plenty of folks have done it successfully both ways...But if its not supported by the suspension be careful to make sure that everything is level, otherwise it is possible to end up with a bent car.

The "bolt in" ones make this whole deal a little easier, you can bolt them in while the car is sitting on the ground and then raise the car and weld them in.
 
weld type is what I like, and I like to have the car on a level ground [if it's a non flogged car] to start then when I've welded I can get to, I put the car up on stands square at all 4 corners to finish the rest of the weld.

If it's a car that when you jack it up at the rear frame behind the door and you can watch the door/jam gap change drastically [flogged car] I instead start with it on stands as far in as possible to try and bend it back and keep it there.jmo
 
Thanks! It cost me $40 Canadian for the channels bent to spec. Maybe another $20 in supplies (cut off wheels, welding wire etc). Not sure how much they weigh.
 
66signetHT said:
Thanks! It cost me $40 Canadian for the channels bent to spec. Maybe another $20 in supplies (cut off wheels, welding wire etc). Not sure how much they weigh.
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I just had to jump in and say what a good job 66signetHT :cheers:Looks and works GOOD =P~
 
66signetHT said:
Here are the ones I made for my 66. The pattern is made out of press board and I had a local shop bend the channel out of 11 gauge.
I then transferred the pattern to the metal channel and cut it out.
Click to expand...
NOW this boys &girls is what you call a fabricator.beautiful!!! now that's a nice job!!
 
Great job! How did you transfer the shape of the floor onto the pattern? toolman
 
I used thick wire and bent it along the floor to get the basic shape. Transfered that to the press board and cut it out. I then put the press board in place and used a thick black marker to trace along the floor and the press board then cut out the black marks on the press board to refine the shape. (does that make sense?) Basically about a day of messing around to get the patterns made.

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