just got mine finished... 12 gauge sheet, i believe...not as far back as i've seen, but we wanne keep her as strong as possible. we are also not gonna run a monte carlo bar, but we are going to have the cage come out from the firewall, to the shock tower, and then another tube from the front of the shock tower to the front of the frame...
Okibono That looks really good. Those are nice straight lines and welds. Really clean How thick is 12-guage? I can get some steel today, and was just going to feel the flex of each until I figured which one feels the strongest without taking up too much of the space I am trying to open up. 3/8" would not be too thick, but I don't think the welder is rated above 1/4".
Scoop, I'll check it out today....thanks for the compliment. Squall, those are for the almighty 170 6 cylinder, in all her glory!
Lmao...... i have only seen the mounts for the 250 and 302........ I never had the pleasure of seing the almighty 170
OK, I am hearing 1/8" to 3/8" in thickness. I might go somewhere in the middle, and use 3/16". The 1/8" looked pretty thin, but would be easy to work with (ie. cut) but I would like the extra strength of the 3/16", especially since I took out more than most. Any suggestions?
Mounts from very early (pre65) small blocks fit our cars too. They are a lot like those in the pic. They are iron and bolt to the frame, then they stand straight up, and then the engine mount is just a rubberized bracket with a single stud that bolts through the stands. They are said to make a lot more room for header tubes and such down in that area. Some 351w/c swap headers call for them on the Mav as a must. I think they also raise the engine .5", not sure. Dave
I don't see where it matters alot in this case.. you're still limited to the strength of the thinner metal it's welded to. Take it for what it's worth, it's my , but I've never done the shock tower cut.
I still say 1/8 is more than enough. 14 ga is .0747. 1/8 " is .125. Almost doubled. 3/8 is way over kill. You wont hurt anything by going thicker but like Matt said, your weak link will be the shock tower metal. I think that is 16ga.
I looked at the 1/8", and, in thinking that the material will do at least a little in keeping the suspension straight, decided that a little thicker would be better. I would rather spend a little more time (cutting) and money on 3/16" and have no problems, than use 1/8" and pee bissed off when the towers cave in. I would rather do a little more work now... I have made the cardboard estimates, and will begin cutting either this afternoon (probably not) or tomorrow morning. Got two cutting blades for my circular saw, as I don't know how much wear on the blade there will be. I will cut them a little big and then grind down any overlap. Would rather be a little over size than under, and have to do it over. Wish me luck.
Any idea how much mig-wire (in pounds) I will need for this job? The drive to the Home Depot is about 30 minutes each way, and I don't want to have to do it more than twice (once to pick up, once to drop off).
barry I am glad you cleared that up. I was wondering why you added 96 pounds of metal to your front end after removing 2 pounds. I was thinking my 3/16" was overkill, and didn't want to say anything about yours...
