Im going to try and not ask things i have already in my other thread. I have a 73 maverick with a 351w, comp cams cam with raised lobes, keith black flat top pistons, and a set of crites restoration swap headers. My question is about the shock towers., before i found these headers that do fit i cut the face of my towers off with hopes another set of headers would fit but they didn't. So now i need to weld in new metal to re-brace these areas any ideas, tips, info and pics would help. Really dont want these areas to fail when i get on it. Metal thickness and strength, can it be butt welded or should i overlap with existing tower metal and weld inside engine compartment along with underneath in the wheel well area for strength. Also any leads on a good monte carlo bar brace setup?
Use the search bar, it's there to help you. Entering "shaved towers" and "monte carlo" will give you dozens and dozens of threads.
Yeah...I hadn't ever been on one was a learning curve for sure. Not intuitive but once you learn shouldn't be a issue. I was going to do a windsor till I saw all the mod needed and suspension upgrade exc exc...maybe someday.
Yes, if you simply cut them without welding plates back in you will have serious issues. And a Monte Carlo bar won't be enough to fix it. There is a proper way to shave your towers and you will find it with your search. Hopefully you can salvage what you have.
ive read on here that people are using 3/16" plate for this. they know its thicker than the tower itself but wanted basically not to fall short when it came to holding up any input? does anyone know of someone on the forum that has done this cut and re brace that has or could take some clear pics of the work a like the cut itself and the welds?
back to work hopefully getting back on track. i purchased lots of parts but have been held up by fabrication and welding work needing done. now i wish i had taken shop class. anyways got a mechanic friend coming to look at it tonight to see what way i should go then i will get moving with it again.:bananaman
Here is my shock tower shave for a 351 with Crites headers. http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=95617&page=2 We ended up doing some "tweaking" to clearance a couple of tubes. I also got a Monte Carlo bar from TOPORANGER. Here is a pic of what had to be dealt with. No one has mentioned having this problem with the Crites headers before. Not that big of a deal once the towers have already been cut all up LOL.
