i ordered the spohn sub frame connectors last night to put on my 92 bird. from what i hear they are the best out there right now. so my question to you is, did any of you run into any problems with installing them? how difficult is it to do the installation myself? could i do it myself or do i have to take the car to some shop? basicly im asking those of you that have them or know somebody that does, how did the spohn connectors work out?



p.s. im live in chicago, if i have to take the car somewhere, can any of you recommen a place to take them? and how much am i look at for installation?

 

To the original question, I'd try and find someone who's actually done SFC installs before. Cheap is nice, but you don't want to pay someone to learn to do it...on your own car. On someone else's car, sure. It's not difficult, if they follow directions, but that's a big "if" when you aren't in the lift area working with them (insurance and liability for the shop). Sorry I can't help, I'm not in Chicago.

 

To your first question, because he hates everyone, and that's why he's banned from thirdgen.org, and now this new user name he has chosen has been banned.

In your area, I'd talk to John at HPA for the SFC installation.

www.hpaparts.com

Thanks,
Steve

 

this could be a super dumb question to some of you, but they come with installation instructions correct? my friend is a good welder, but neither one of us have ever done SFCs but i want us to do them on my car.

 

yes, the spohn come with instructions

 

hey steve,

ive seen some install pictures of your SFC's, and while they look like a good quality piece there is ont thing that confuses me....where the welds attach along the length of the connector, is there tabs on the tubing there? cause that looks like an awful long way to stretch a bead.

i have the SSM's in my car right now, very good quality piece, but the main reason i have them is because im using the lift bars...on another car where weight is an issue i think id be more inclined to use your product.

 

Yeah, spohn SFCs are awesome. The only problem I had with them was I couldn't get the brace going from the passenger side sfc to the transmission tunnel due to lack of clearance from the dual cats. It wasn't really a big deal. There definitely worth the money in my opinion. I had a welding shop install them it took them about 2 days and cost me 140-160 bucks... that's including putting the new spohn lcas, brackets, and sfcs all on.

 

I just installed my first SFC and it went off pretty much without a hitch. Pretty basic stuff. My troubles where from the LCA bolts rust welded in. Took a crowbar to the *****(don't ask). Other than that everything is pretty simple. Still struggling with the passenger side Y pipe(lazy).

 

I got the Spohn's, besides the great service, there pretty straitforward to install. There not that hard to install, i am a very rusty welder! The only problem i had was getting the flange where 3 sheets of metal cometogether (the rail along the side of the car) clean enough for a good bead. They conform nicely to the rocker. I have a single Cat. I removed the heat sheild fromthe floor and cut about 3/4 " from the center where the cross bar goes then reinstalled it. I also used some 1/2" angle iron to attach to the floorboards, because i couldn't fill the gap too well.

Steve, i'd like to know what size wire you use for this as well as the welds to the floorboards??

 

sounds like you had the same problems as me westman lol. Im going to get my y pipe fixed this weekend tho. I had to get the air hammer out to get my driver side lca bolt out.

 

I'm all set to weld mine in tomorrow. I have the weld areas all sanded and prepped for welding. Steve recommends stitch welding along the inside of the tubing along the floorboards, and as 383 mentioned, that's a really big gap to try to fill with just a welder. I cut some pieces of steel about 3/4" in depth and will weld them in instead of trying to fill weld the gap, similar to Laiky's idea with the angle iron.

Steve's SFCs fit really well, come with very good instructions, and his website has good pics to see how they should look once installed.

I'll have pics posted tomorrow.

Ed

 

Thought you guys might like to see more pics than what Steve has on his site.

The install went pretty smooth. Be careful with the heat and don't blow a hole in your floorboard...it sucks. I think I fixed it tho.

Anyhoo, like 383 mentioned, I felt I needed to bridge the gap a bit between the floorpan and the SFC so here's a pic of some metal I cut and damn if it didn't fit just about right.

 

Here's a shot of the driver's side and where I sanded and grinded the paint away to weld. These SFCs were coated with POR-15 and I will recoat the welded areas with it also. I just picked out areas where the lip was closer to the SFC and welded there.

 

Here's the little guy that did all the work. These little 115V MIGs are the cat's ***! Nice little units for us DIYs, and run about $400.



Ed

 

my grandfathers mig wouldnt weld worth a crap so we used his stick welder that did the trick.

 

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more pics sorry i couldnt help myself

 

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eb your installation looks like it will go really well.Did ur sfc's come uncoated and u not paint them mdformula.

 

Thanks. My SFCs were uncoated and I painted them with POR-15 (www.por-15.com). I HIGHLY recommend using it on any part underneath the car, and I think MD ought to use it before those new SFCs rust away...

LOL...

I'll have more pics of the finished install this afternoon.



Ed

 

I primed my bare metal spots after i was done then coated them with some rust prevention paint made by SEM.

 

MdFormula350: In the fourth picture that you posted... is that with or without ground effects installed? It *seems* to me like they're installed, but then again, I've never seen one of these cars without the effects installed.

I just ordered my Spohn SFCs on Monday, and I purposely ordered mine unfinished because I honestly didn't think that anybody would be able to see them without looking underneath the car. But if they're going to be *that* visible, then I might have to reconsider...

 

my car is a formula, so no ground effects.

anyway it was at a angle from the floor, you cant really see them if i drive by and u were standing up..

SPOHN SUBFRAME CONNECTORS = :hail: :hail:

 

Here's pics of my finished install, all painted with POR-15 and purdy.

 

Area near the cat:

 

Back by the LCAs:

 

awesome! :hail: i am just going to spray paint mine

 

awsome install very clean look how does the car feel now

 

Hey Ebmiller is that the lincon wedler from like homedepot that sells for like 437.99 or something very close to that? becuz im lookin at the very same welder so i can do some stuff to my car but my big question is do you have to get a dedicated line to run just the welder or will like a regular plug out in the garage work? and is there much of a difference between 110v and 115v? my parents kinda dont want to have a big problem with me like tripping the braker everytime i go to weld so thats why im holding off on gettin it.

 

Yep, that's the Lincoln Pro Mig 135 and it runs on regular 110-115V house current...you could run the thing in the kitchen if you like. No significant difference between 110 and 115V , just how companies choose to market their products. I only tripped the breaker once and it was because my air compressor, plugged into the same outlet, was running at the time and I fired up the welder. It was a 20A breaker, so no big deal. If you run it out of an outlet my itself I don't think you'll have any problems. These are nice little welders. Go for it!!


Spdfrk1990: I haven't taken the car out of the driveway yet.


Ed

 

thanx Eb, i think ill be hittin up homedepot this week.