Levi Zoesch Pro-Touring 69 Ford Maverick MEGA Build

Line vector of what I plan on doing.

 

Just a suggestion............wish it had been done to mine back when, why not tie the trans crossmember into the side rails like this?
Just a thought.

 

and additional gusseting here.. certianly wouldn't hurt anything either since that will be the weakest point for torsional twisting of the narrower rails out back. With big power launches.. that'll also keep your rear sheetmetal from bearing as much load too.

 

Gary is right, plus extra strength for the cage supports into the trunk and or mounting of fuel cell..............although the centroid of twist will be a little further forward of the axle.......still good to engineer to 120%....IMHO

 

The transmission mount will stay the same location of stock. It will still be functional.

I appreciate it, and will def add to those areas. I was going to do it throughout the chassis just for additional support.

Apperciate the assistance and ideas guys keep em coming Handshake:Handshake

 

You may want to adjust your 2 front angled bars that come from your outside perimeter frame to your inside frame to meet where the trans cross member bolts. Good place to triangulate while you have the chance

 

Mav1970 has a good thought, and that's why I mentioned making a new support..........under the trans and tying it to your rails. When I had my Maverick up in Portland and up in the air we mod'd mine because of the stress cracks that were appearing at the attachment points.....and you
could see some twisting in the floor member that goes under the tunnel.
Although I have no idea what the torque was on the old motor(at least 544lbft) I have to assume it was partly due to solid motor mounts and solid trans mount.
While I have not changed the solid motor mounts I did take Mike's Transmission suggestion and going to a Poly mount that is pre-loaded to give the trans just a little flex..................but since you are going this far
I'd think about this mod............IMHO

 

Where would you place em? Nvm, I see what you mean. I dont see why not do it Makes sense.

Ill probably go that route later down the road, I am just afraid to cut to much out and have my front frame rails move at all due to less metal holding it.


I just finish cutting out the front torque box to accept the 2x3 tube. I have a 5 foot 2x2 1/8th inch wall tubing in the garage and placed it in there. I will need a total length of 5' 11/16" 2x3 .083 wall (x2)

I need to take some measurements of the frame rails O.D. thickness so I can have a channel bent up to go over it. Instead of having a 2x3 tube I am gonna do a 2x3 channeling to help on weight, and It will give me the ability to plug weld the new floor to it. Slip right over the top of the exsisting frame and plug weld every 5-7". It will look clean, and be super simple to tie everything into the rear trans hoop.

What are your thoughts on doing a front trans loop? Is it over kill?

 

Here is something I built back in 98 - angles angles & angles - stress doesn't do well when you send it down a tube to any 90 degree ending - stress likes to travel somewhere where it can continue on through other bars or cross members

 

Very, Very Nice!

 

I think the front trans loop wouldn't really serve a purpose.
Since you are going to do this "right the first time", don't think about things you'd change later...........I've been down this route and it never
happens. All you have to is brace the rails............since you are going to cut out the floor you will have to brace the body shell anyway..........go all the way and you will be please that you did.
I think I've got a cross section of the cross member hoop that goes over the trans (stock) and I'll take a picture and show you how thin it is.......
plus I think you can save some weight by cutting it out and building a new one to support the floor/tunnel..............plus you could make a new tunnel (or buy one already formed which would look much nicer and maybe take up less space)......................JMHO

 

Thanks, the very same tubing bender that I used to bend the tubing for my Maverick

 

Those look like mandrel bent tubes..................do you have one at your house????????????????????????????If so I'd like to live closer to you

 

A "Pro Tool" manual tubing bender

 

Wow, learned something new today. Watched the video of the Pro Tool 105 and although it's a little slow, the bend came out looking just like a mandrel bent piece of pipe............very impressed......also the price was very reasonable.