US Car Tool torque box and subframe con. install

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str12-340

str12-340

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I bought frame stiffening materials from US Car Tool for my 1970 Dart GT and we installed them finishing yesterday. We put in 4 torque boxes and the subframe connectors. Unlike many subframe connectors, these install to the floor of the car like the original subframes so that the floor of the car becomes the fourth side of the box. This is the third car that I have installed them on, one a dedicated drag car - it was a drag car since the mid-70s and already had the factory torque boxes, and the second is the 1970 Dart Custom that is in my avatar. The Custom I have driven many many miles since the install and it really changed the feel of the vehicle for the better. So let's start here with the torque boxes. All the welding was done by Mike Brenno (aka Dr. Big Block) of Wagons of Steel racing here on Vashon Island WA. Mike is a real pro and has done all the installs of this stuff on all of my Darts.
Front box Right side from front
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Front box from rear on right side
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Front box left side next 2 pics

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Rear box right side from back see spring mount on right and subframe overlap on left

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Left side from rear, rear box spring hanger on top
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left rear box from side, big square hole gives access to rear spring hanger nuts all boxed have a drain hole like the one to the right to keep water from sitting int he box
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Next is the subframe connectors various views before and after finishing and paint
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Dr. Big Block at work
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Some last thoughts. lessons learned: the gas line (right side) and the brake line (left side) go through the subframe connector, so get those in place first, some minor massaging of the lines is desirable. The brake line was covered in an abrasion spiral and we covered the gas line through the connector with oversized gas hose to protect from abrasion. I did this after the connectors were in place the first time - never again. I used stainless steel lines because replacing them would be a bear (gas line more than brake line).

I stripped the floor where the welding was to happen with a wire cup on a grinder, and then painted the floor and the inside of the connector with weld through primer.

There is a bunch of massaging to get the lines to fit cleanly and the connector to fit flush to the floor. The CNC cut connectors do an amazingly good job for a start fitting to the very irregular floor, but add the imprecision of factory panel placement and 50 years of flex, bumps, and what ever got run over that hit the floor pan, you can't expect them to get it 100% correct for your car. This was particularly true of the race car which obviously lost a drive shaft somewhere along the line. It is well worth the time to do careful fitment before the welding starts.

We did this on a lift and took great pains to get the car perfectly level, especially flat from side to side in both the front and the back. I took the extra precaution of using lift floor jacks to support the rear frame rails back toward the bumper and to make them also perfectly flat - this took the weight off the body that would make the car want to 'arch' on the lift. Obviously there was no engine or transmission in (though we did one car with them in place). If they were in place I would have used more jack stands in front for the same reason. ONCE THESE STIFFENERS ARE IN PLACE I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE A BODY SHOP TRYING TO STRAIGHTEN THE CAR AFTER THE FACT, so we had the car measured 6 ways to Sunday to be sure it was straight before we started and took these pains to be sure it was straight when we welded it up.

I shouldn't have to say this but there can be nothing on the floor of the car when this is done and the inside floor has to be cleaned and repainted after you are done.

Several years ago I went to Carlisle when US Car Tool was up and coming. As always, I made the investment in time to go to Herb McCandless' workshop presentation. Every year I learn something important. That year he had US Car Tool drag their rotisserie display of an A-body up to the tent and went through what they were offering. He said that he would never build another unibody street car from scratch without starting with a frame stiffening kit like this in the beginning. He talked about driving 50 - 70 year old cars around and how this would help reverse the ravages of time. After using the product, I am sold too.
 
One more, if you are going to pay or barter for the welding work (I did all my own prep and finish) the torque boxes took about 45 minutes of welding and the subframe connector took a tad over 2 hours. Just something to go by. Brenno doesn't take breaks once he starts welding. We did the boxes first so that when I fitted the subframe connectors they were in place to work around (they overlap) so these two steps happened on two different days. He said that it was really important to get the subframe connectors tacked up using a jack stand to hold them solidly to the floor and then to weld them up a bit at a time moving from side to side, and inside to outside to keep from warping the floor or the connectors.
 
That's a bunch of nice upgrades to your car, and is what I have in mind for mine. How much did he charge for the welding?
 
One thing for sure after seeing those welds I'm happy about what my $89 Harbor Freight flux core wire welder does.... It ain't worse that's for sure...
Anyways what you do have going for it as it will probably hold and nobody will ever see it...
 
The next time I take my Dart to a show on a rotisserie and flip it over, I'll worry about how pretty the welding is. Everything he has ever done for me has never come apart, period. When he welds where it has to show it's pretty, we were much more concerned about warping the floor pan .... *****, *****, *****...

halfafish - I bartered for the welding that's why I listed how much time things took so you could use it to gauge what it might cost.
 
str12-340 said:
The next time I take my Dart to a show on a rotisserie and flip it over, I'll worry about how pretty the welding is. Everything he has ever done for me has never come apart, period. When he welds where it has to show it's pretty, we were much more concerned about warping the floor pan .... *****, *****, *****...

halfafish - I bartered for the welding that's why I listed how much time things took so you could use it to gauge what it might cost.
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Personally I wasn't bitching whatsoever I noticed other people had commented and I tried to add mine in there is more to say for a small price of a cheap welder you could probably do this yourself... Maybe saving yourself the barter for something else... Also like I mentioned and you mentioned no one's going to see it and it will probably hold. I didn't mean to pee in your Cheerios you seem pretty happy about having that done and it does make a difference....
Party on Garth...
 
j-par wasn't you I was unhappy with... sorry I wasn't more specific

At this point I'm done with this...
 
str12-340 said:
j-par wasn't you I was unhappy with... sorry I wasn't more specific

At this point I'm done with this...
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I hear you brother you're all excited to show your new stuff and everybody comes out of the woodworks to pee's in your Cheerios... ain't that some s***!?...
Anyways I'm happy that you're happy...
 
I know one thing, with the torque boxes and the subframe connectors the car will have half the flex it did and I'll be smilin' flying down some rural 2 lane blacktop!
 
str12-340 said:
halfafish - I bartered for the welding that's why I listed how much time things took so you could use it to gauge what it might cost.
Click to expand...

Well duh, I read that and then it completely escaped me. We'll chalk this one up to grey-hair disease.
 
i did mine on my back, US TOOL torque boxes and home grown connectors. can only imagine how much easier it would be on a lift. nice you have a buddy to help.
BUY HIM SOME GLOVES!
 
mopowers said:
Looks better than the welds on the majority of K-members I've ever seen.
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Actually, I was thinking the same thing, those welds don't look bad compared to the factory welds at the time. Hit the big goobers with a grinder, shoot some undercoat on them and 90% of the world will think it's original.
 
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder...and when you be holdin' on to the beautiful ride quality your new mods gave you your eyes will certainly light up with joy. Thanks for the pointers, this is part of a future upgrade to resist some twist for me...I'll be sure to refrain from posting pictures since my HF welder and I will be melting the parts in on the garage floor.
:thankyou::steering:
 
str12-340 said:
The next time I take my Dart to a show on a rotisserie and flip it over, I'll worry about how pretty the welding is. Everything he has ever done for me has never come apart, period. When he welds where it has to show it's pretty, we were much more concerned about warping the floor pan .... *****, *****, *****...

halfafish - I bartered for the welding that's why I listed how much time things took so you could use it to gauge what it might cost.
Click to expand...

warping floor pans is not a good excuse , if they start warping , ur staying in one spot too long. and can be shoved/hammered back into position/shape ---------
 
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