"El Mongrel" '65 Formula S Restomod

Ok, about time I updated this thread as I've let it lapse too long.

Part 13

Let's continue with the suspension upgrades. Today's installment will be "Sub Frame Connectors ". You all know by now that I'm anal, to the point of detracting from the performance of the car, about not doing any permanent modifications that can not be easily removed and returned to original. This includes drilling holes, cutting sheet metal and welding. We also all know that A bodies need sub frame connectors if they're going to be driven "vigorously". The whole point of building this car was for "spirited" driving on twisty mountain roads which we have an abundance of here in the Pacific NW. So obviously we needed connectors that stiffened the chassis but not the permanently welded in kind. After digging through my metal supply I found the box tubing I thought was there had mysteriously disappeared. Hmmm... thieves in the night?.. or...needy friends. Same result, no sub frame materials. I did have some leftover 1 5/8" roll cage tubing leaning in the corner of the shop and as I eyeballed it I thought "why not, it's going to be bolt in anyway". After setting up the chop saw and taking some measurements, four 48" lengths of pipe lay on the floor. I clamped these together into two pairs and stitch welded the pipes using alternating 4" welds on each side. Some 2x3 box tubing cut offs were cut to form U channel that fit over the front "frame horns" of the rear suspension structure. Then it was time for the drill...hell they can be plug welded! Two holes on each rear bracket were punched through the "frame horns" for long grade 8 bolts. The front bracket was more involved. To drill through the transmission mount/torsion bar cross member would have been an option but there was already a nice large factory hole in the frame just in front of the cross member and I set about to utilize that instead of drilling more. I used some short pieces of heavy box tubing to make a "T" shaped cap that fit over where the front frame legs connect to the torsion bar cross member. I placed the rear boxes in place, fit the tubes between the two and tacked them together with several heavy tack welds. Then I removed them and completed the finish welding. A 3/4" shank grade 8 bolt about 6" long bolts the front sections in place. Sorry the pics don't show it well, hard to get decent angles on the connectors without a lift.
Pic 1 front box structure
Pic 2 & 3 tube connectors looking aft
Pic 4 rear box structure
The tubes clear the parking brake cables and floor pan, don't hang low, bolt in real easy and are very stiff. Not everyone's way of doing it but it met my needs/priorities. On bolt in connectors make sure you use the largest fender washers you can find, even double them up, to spread the load of the bolts out. The factory sheet metal is easy to collapse if you tighten down on the bolts to much.