Does any one make templates to cut the towers? Maybe someone makes a shaving shock towers for dumbies book?
John, that link was dead... There is no "correct" way to notch them. I went in further than most, but used a little thicker steel to weld them back up. You could go in even futher, and down more, if you wanted, and still clear the springs. Do a search. I know somewhere on here I responded to a thread with numbers showing how far down and in in inches....
check out MNTony's shocktowers mod thread also. I think it's another way to get even more space in the engine bay. I don't know the actual handling of his car, but I guess it's either good or better than an original setup.
Well........I am going to notch my shock towers tomorrow. I will take some pictures and hopefully get them posted for all to see.
Be sure to keep the weight off the wheels while you do this. Jack the car up by the frame or somewhere sturdy to keep the wheels off the ground. Then take the wheels off. You don't want those shock towers to move on you while you are cutting and welding, or it may go back together cockeyed.
Got them done today. Took about 9hours from start to finish. All that's left now is to repaint my shock towers. I tell you, it's not easy to cut up an expensive paint job but I guess it's got to be done. If someone whats the pics let me know and I can send them over.
post up some pics. and do us a little writeup. maybe it will help someone else on down the road... ...:Handshake...
If you email them to me, I can resize them and put them on my website for a few weeks and they can be seen on here without using up your attachment space. scooper at shilohtreatmentcenter.com
Well guys here are a few things I learnt doing mine myself. First off it's not that bad of a job with the right tools. You will need a good air compressor. Something that you won't have to wait for it to catch up. A good die grinder and a pile of discs. As far as prepping the car for the surgery....don't worry about it. Before I started to cut(with the springs in the car) I measured the distance between the shock towers in several places. After I cut out the first tower I measured again. They DID NOT move at all. Not even a 1/32". So don't worry about jacking it up and all that jazz. To mark off where to cut I actually started at the bottom first. I drilled a couple of holes to see how low I could go without interferring with the upper a arm. I found that if you lay a small square across the top to the a arm bolts and measure 1 3/4" up and draw your line across the bottom of the tower you will be about perfect. Next use the square to continue the line around the sides of the tower. Make your mark two inches in. Now at the top of the tower measure 1/4" from the bolt hole. Do not go closer than this or you will be cutting into the spring perch. You will just graze it at 1/4". Now I used a piece of 16guage wire and with the help of a couple friends I ran the wire from the marks on the sides of the tower up and along the mark at the top of the tower. Then I simply traced the wire. After I had cut the tower out it required no grinding to make the plate fit. This method worked perfectly for me. I also cut out the part between the two bolts and welded in a plate, however a template and prefabbed plate where supplied with the Crites headers I bought which made this part really fast. All in total it took me 9 hours to perform this job and get it to the point where all I need to do is a very little puddy work and paint. Please feel free to contact me for any concerns you may have. Sorry I don't have any pictures posted but I am just too damn computer illiterate. I could use some help with this so everyone interested can see how it went.
