poor man subframe connecters duster/demon

-
evil 340

evil 340

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
880
Reaction score
81
Location
ohio
hey all. i m not really poor, i m just cheap. i made a set of sub-frame connecters, that saved me money and i m sure they are probably just as strong as any 300 dollar bolt in set. i chose to weld mine in, but you could modify this design a little and they d bolt in.
this kinda project was fun for me, and it wasn t very difficult, but you will need at least a 110 welder and some metal cutting tools.
i only have about 47 dollars in material in this project. some people will say.....new ones aren t that expensive, just buy new ones! this thread isn t for those guys. its for people like me who are trying to save money on their resto projects, and get a sense of fullfilment by doing something themselves.
hope these pics help someone!!

100_2088.jpg


100_2089.jpg


100_2056.jpg
 
evil 340 said:
hey all. i m not really poor, i m just cheap. i made a set of sub-frame connecters, that saved me money and i m sure they are probably just as strong as any 300 dollar bolt in set. i chose to weld mine in, but you could modify this design a little and they d bolt in.
this kinda project was fun for me, and it wasn t very difficult, but you will need at least a 110 welder and some metal cutting tools.
i only have about 47 dollars in material in this project. some people will say.....new ones aren t that expensive, just buy new ones! this thread isn t for those guys. its for people like me who are trying to save money on their resto projects, and get a sense of fullfilment by doing something themselves.
hope these pics help someone!!
Click to expand...

Awesome! Thats what I will e doing to my 72 Duster this summer. Frugal is Good and a heck of alot more fun.
 
Wow! those look great. I think you're on to something there. Did you plug weld the wings to the floor? Simple and effective! Mike
 
Tell us more on your parts.
What materials did you make them out of?
I like what I see.
 
thanks for all the good input. i knew there was people like me out there who don' t just buy all new stuff. it is more fun to make your own parts!! i actually have a homemade contour gage i made a few years ago. that s how i got the original pattern of the floor then i transferred that to cardboard and then to the tubing. i ll take a pic of the contour guage. u guys will like that. and that was super easy to make. VERY USEFUL.
as far as the materials, i bought two 4 foot pieces of 2in.x3in. (3/16 thick walled) tubing. the wings on top of the rails are made from a 4 in. wide strip of 20 guage sheet metal. i did plug weld them to the floors when i got both ends welded in. i forgot the cut-off wheels in the price list. i used about 4 of them. 4 1/2 in. cut off wheels. i buy them from harbor frieght. you can buy a pack of 10 for 7.99. while i m on that subject. if anybody out there uses the expensive dewalt cut off wheels,, BE CAREFUL. i had 2 come apart on me last week. i ve been cutting metal with a grinder for a long time and i ve only had those two come apart.
 
being thrifty isn't that same as cheap and why buy it if you can build it
 
thanks guys. i ll try to get a pic of em all done and welded in, along with a pic of my contour guage.
 
I just made my 1st. set, was out about 18.00 in steel, i went with 1x2" rect. with .129" thickness (11 gauge), with plates on both ends, i'll be makeing a DS loop soon, haveing a good welder is such a plus & in the long run pays off big time, i'll be out about 30.00 total for loop & SFCs, makes me happy & in the end, its alot more satifying when you build your own stuff.
 
You know, because of the way you made them, they will blend in a have more of a factory look than the stuff you buy. Not to offend anyone, but if you buy all the parts, isn't that like a 1:1 scale model? Building a car is more gratifying than assembling a model! By the way, that contour gauge is kick-butt cool!
 
That is really nice... Why did you contour them instead of cutting the floor?

And that gauge is sweet!
 
That looks really really good! I like those sub-frame connectors! I try to build as many things as I can instead of buying it, and if I can't built it, I'll take it to my good friend Jordan so he can build it! (he helps me all the time with my build) lol

By the way, that contour gauge is neat! I haven't seen one before...
 
It looks nice. I,m going to do it to my 64 cuda. Thanks for the tips, Ronk4
 
as a matter of fact bamacuda,, i m glad you noticed that. thats kinda what i was goin for.those flappers do flow with the way the factory did their framerails. i was gonna cut the floor! i had planned on cutting the floor for about a week. till i started measuring. see, the design only calls for really modifying about a 12 in. area of the tubing. the front half pretty much stayed the same, and the rear half was a straight shot. the curves are mainly in the middle. i was going to cut the rear floor board ans let the whole tube sit inside the car, but it is a matching numbers 72 340 demon that i want to appear pretty well stock, but the frame connectors were a must b/c i am putting a MR. NORMS paxton set up on, an already beefy 340. thats where the flanges came into play and the extra rear floor space was retained. thanks again for all the positive feedback
 
it has been awhile since i ve updated this thread and i thought maybe somebody would want to see the connectors blended in with the rest of the floor now that the rust is gone.
 

Attachments

  • 100_2208.jpg
    70.1 KB · Views: 835
  • 100_2214.jpg
    67.5 KB · Views: 851
it has been awhile since i ve updated this thread and i thought maybe somebody would want to see the connectors blended in with the rest of the floor now that the rust is gone.
 
Really nice work, I had to do a double take to see them... :cheers: the only problem I see is that they look better than the front factory rails ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top