Well seeing as how college is out, and summertime's close, my project ideas start to become reality... I want to make myself a strut tower brace.

The plan so far is to use steel tubing, 3/4" diameter, for the brace across the engine. I'll weld up mounts for the tops of the strut towers. Then, I'll use Heim joints (aka rod ends) to connect the bar to the mounts.

Today, I'm going to grab a thinner (I guess 1/2" diameter?) piece of aluminum tubing. I'll get something thin enough so I can bend it by hand. Looks like the clearance between the top of our plenum and the hood will be -tight-, tighter than that of a V8 TPI motor. The V8 top's are lower, I guess because they're 90-degree engines and we have 60-degree ones. I was going to make a "straight shot" across the engine bay, but the tube will need some bending in it.

Then, the "mock-up" mounts for the strut towers will be made out of wood! Yep, a few scrap ends of 2x4's. I figure I can drill an angle in the 2x4's, and insert the aluminum bar after I get a good bend going. This way, I could make the aluminum bar "stand up" on it's own in the engine bay and I could try something dangerous- closing the hood to check for clearance.

I had thought about using what some strut tower braces use... they don't use rod ends where the bar meets the strut tower. They bend the tube to fit over the engine, then they weld a flat plate to each end. The flat plates meet exactly with the angle of the strut towers. Other STB's use a tube end, sort of like what's on the bottom of our shocks. That wouldn't be too hard to do; just weld inch-long pieces of tube at 90-degree angles (spun sideways) to each end of the strut tower bar. BUT- I can't help but like how rod ends look! Plus, they're not that expensive (under $10) from Summit! http://store.summitracing.com/global...m/SUM-MSM4.jpg

The thought occurred to me, too, that I could make a 3-point strut tower brace, just like Edelbrock does. I'll worry about the 2-point guy first, though. Plus, I remember hearing somewhere that a 3-point doesn't offer "that much more" improvement over a 2-point to justify the cost. I think the final opinion was that a 2-point's much better than nothing, and the 3-point is good for that "I want the absolute best" improvement- plus, if 2-point bars were so bad, nobody would have 'em.

I just hope the bar fits between the hood and plenum/TB ... has anyone put a "normal" aftermarket strut tower brace on their V6?


------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

I asked/examined the options, also.
For real easy bending, try welding rods.
They can be quite long.
Do you have any dirt track/drag race shops in your area?
Ask them from sources for heim joints, too.
You close by Englishtown Race Track?

------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

would u consider making some for $ for us friends?!

------------------
1989 Firebird
2.8 v6, t5 swapped in

Ram Hi-po clutch, Cold Air, 1.6 rockers,Lakewood LCA's, Lakewood Lift bars, Wonder Bar, 3" y-pipe, Random Tech Cat, 3" I-pipe, Flowmasters, MSd 6a, MSD Coil (Fireball in future) Accel 8.8 wires, MSD Ignition Module, Auto Meter Gauges (Water, Clock (needed one) Fuel Pressure, and 5" monster tach) 4th Gen Seats


" I'd rather run last in a full out race, than to NOT run at all ".

 

Tom, Have you considered using soft copper tubing (the kind that comes in rolls) for the mock up? It's thin, bends easy, cheap as hell, and you can buy it by the foot.

With the hiem joints your going to have to find a way to jam the threads so it doesn't spin on you. I'm thinking it would be cool if you engineer a way to to use them to load the towers then tack the joints in place. (I have a few Ideas if your interested)

With the steel tubing, use chrome moly! Something in the .07x-.08x range should be plenty strong. ( and might be overkill )

What next? I can see it now, a homemade wonderbar with rod ends.

 

Actually, I found a long (6 foot) thin (I forget, 3/8" maybe) piece of threaded rod that I used for the mock-up. Turns out the rumors are right, our 60 degree motors come pretty damn close to the hood! I was trying unsuccessfully to determine hood clearance, using all kind of oddball stuff (soda cans to see if they crush, masking tape "sticky side out" on the hood and intake to see if when the hood's closed, they'd stick together), pieces of wood, etc, when I realized that my attempts were worthless!!

So I jacked up the driver's side of the car, put a jackstand under there, closed the hood on a trouble light. THen I slid under, and using a mirror, checked the situation out. I could wedge 3 fingertips between the TB and the hood (that's 1 3/4 inch) and two fingertips (1 1/8 inch) between the TB's IAC motor "bump" and the hood. If I didn't wedge my fingers in there, the clearance is slightly less. I didn't want to have my engine move around and push the STB into the hood!

So, I came up with a bending scheme... the bar bends outward to go above the frontmost edge of the TB, right above where the intake hose meets the TB. This gave me extra room. Looks like this is how the bar will be bent. Thanks for that copper tubing idea, 87RS402, that's a cool idea. I could actually use the diameter I want!

This leaves me to figure a way to bend the pipe. I could do it with a torch (hopefully propane 'cause that's what I have) and a vise and a bucket 'o water.. but I thought of something else- a pipe bender. Harbor Freight sells a pipe bender for $200- way too much. But, the pipe bender's just a hydraulic bottle jack mounted on a frame, with some pre-bent plates that the jack "presses" into the tubing to make a bend. I'm not spending $200.. but a bottle jack looks like it's under $20, and steel is cheap enough...

I'm going to make one! Er, well, I drew up plans. During lunch today I'm going to a local store (Railroad Salvage in Englishtown), which is like a http://www.harborfreight.com and check out their bottle jacks. If I get one, I'll run off to Home Depot, and pick up some steel, and do some welding. I don't think my frame will need to be "too" strong- this is only 3/4 inch (and 1/16 thickness) tube I want to bend. The Harbor Freight unit bends up to 2 1/2 inch pipe! I drew up a sketch... if the thing's sucessfull, I'll figure out a way to get that sketch online.

[edit] Damn, I just checked the Harbor Freight website, and they have a pipe bender that wasn't in my catalog- for $50. That's about how much I'll spend to make my own. Ugh... decisions, decisions... make one or buy one.... dammit. Making one would be cool, but...

Also, 87RS, won't the jam nuts take care of the joints twisting? Here comes another problem- threading the rod ends. Home Depot only carries 1/16" wall tubing. If I use a 3/4" rod, the only rod size below 3/4" is 5/8 inch. With the 1/16" wall tubing, the 5/8 just slides in & out of the tubing, so I've got nothing to tap for threads! But, I did some thinking... 5/8" O.D. steel rod slides into the 3/4" O.D tube. I'm going to fabricate what Chassis Engineering calls "tube inserts"! https://www.thirdgen.org/messgboard/...ML/001891.html

I'll cut off two lengths of solid rod, say, each are 2 inches long. I'll weld the pieces into the ends of the tube, using my method #1 on that link above. Then, I'll drill & tap the solid rods to accept 1/2" rod ends!

I know I could escape that by using tubing with a 1/8 wall thickness, since I could thread the tubing directly, but how the blip would I bend the stuff? Probably with the torch.. which I don't want to do yet. I don't think my homemade tube bender could handle 1/8" wall tubing. Plus, with these home-made tube inserts, the jam nut (for the heim joint) gets something sturdy to jam against.

A wonderbar with rod ends, eh? Didn't think of that, but I did think of just re-creating the wonderbar with some welding. I'd use square tubing instead of round. That thought's definately crossed my mind! I have a couple drawings sketched in the margins of my Criminology notebook (fall 2000), I'll have to dig 'em up after the STB's made.

I bet nobody's read down this far, but oh well.

------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

[This message has been edited by TomP (edited May 21, 2001).]

 

Ha, you bet wrong. I'm watching to see how it goes. Starting to get me thinking about some home made stuff. Good luck

 

Tom,
My buddy has the Harbor Freight pipe bender.
IT ALMOST LIKE A PLUMBERS BENDING TOOL!
WHAT YA DO......
is go to a muffler shop with your idea and ask them to bend it.
$.05 effort on the dollar investment.
IF ya want jam nuts, let me know.
They are out here.
I have them on the suspensions of many of my cars.
NO, you cannot heat it with a propnae torch.
You need INTENSE HEAT FLAME, like welding torch stuff.
Go to the muffler shop.
The area, you discovered (the only area where the STB can reside) is where I'm gonna have to stick my fresh air hood idea, the space between the throttle body and the radiator.

------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

Mike, thanks! The best part about this stuff is that even though I'm doing welding, it's not needed! This job could be done without tube inserts - Summit Racing sells "female" rod ends. They go over a tube instead of inside... I just like the idea of making the rod inserts, I think it's kind of cool.

Ked, thanks for the info on the propane deal. My welder's a MIG, so there's no flame; I can only join metal with it. I went to Railroad Salvage ( http://www.menintools.com ) and bought this guy for $17 (why does the website say $13? Dammit!): http://www.angelfire.com/nj2/hydrahand/guard2.html

They also HAD the same pipe bender that Harbor Freight sells- but the 18-ton one, not the small/cheap 2-ton one. They wanted $120 for it... so I just looked it over realllly good. Turns out, my original paper sketch for a 2-ton bottle jack was stronger than this 18-ton one! I was using rectangular steel tubing as the 4 side braces, when the 18-ton guy doesn't! It just uses flat steel plate!

So my fabrication job just got easier/cheaper... and I figured out how to make the die, too (the curved piece that goes between the bottle jack & pipe). I'll take steel plate, and curve it on a vise's anvil with a hammer. Then, I'll weld metal across it so it looks like a bridge with a railing. (That's as best as I can describe without a picture.) So far I've put in $17 for the jack, and I have some plate steel at my house... I'm hoping for a grand total of under $50.

Hey does anyone know of an easy-to-use CAD drawing program? I used an AutoCAD program about 12 years ago and it sucked; I imagine they've gotten better by now?


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

Tom, what if you were to put two jam nuts on the rod end. Then drill a clearance hole in the end of the tubing so the extra threads would slip. Insert the ends into the tubing, then tighten the nut thats up against the tubing to preload the towers and take out any slop? You could then do a fairly good job of welding that nut to the tubing and then use the remaining jambnut. That would only have to be done on one side if you have long enough rodends.

Or do I need to put the crack pipe down?

 

Oh, and Tom, don't buy the tubing at home depot. The steel they carry is mild steel. You want chrome moly. Mild steel is basicly bicycle tubing (1/16" is)and 1/8 inch (.125) wall 3/4 O.D. is nowhere near as strong as, say .085 5/8" moly tubing. Just go to a steel supply shop and tell them what you want and how many feet. The more severe the bend in the tubing the thinker the wall you will need to resist bending during hard cornering.

 

Oh, I see... so you're saying the bar would be held up & across the engine bay by the stress put on it by the rod ends? How do the strut towers flex? I thought they could flex inwards and outwards... if they flex out, too, then the bar could fall. Although I doubt the towers would ever flex outward at the same time...!

I had thought about chromemoly tubing, but for now, I'll stick with the mild steel. The bends aren't that severe, and plus, I don't think I can weld the chromemoly tubing, and I don't think my 2-ton "soon-to-be-made" bender would be able to bend it. I'll keep it in mind though! I'll try the mild steel version first, and if it snaps on me, I'll move up to chromemoly. There was a guy on the suspension board that made his STB out of water piping, and he didn't mention anything about it cracking or bending. I believe the mild steel tube is stronger than water pipe, too. Thanks for the source information... the chromemoly should wind up cheaper thru a supply house as opposed to going through one of these racing supply internet stores!

I need to hit Home Depot today.. I don't want to waste my "expensive" steel on the bender (Bender?! I don't even Know her!) if I don't need to. The plate I have at home is 3" wide x 1/8" thick.. the bender I saw looked like it used 1.25 or 1.50 wide plate.


------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

Tom, an idea.
Why not look for old junked bicycles in your area.
I can "see" one 26" inch "racing 15-speed" bicycle "fitting" under the hood. You may need, two.
Bends made, and welded, too.
I see those bicycles all over the trash cans out here.
If someone made a STB outta house water piping, why not use/start with an old bicycle frame?
Could be free and the metal is the same.

And yes, this has given me an idea/solution. ONLY, if I can still fit my fresh air hood idea in the same area as the STB. The hood comes first!

------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

Tom, Just for your information, I can bend 1/4" .049 wall moly tubing with a hand bender. Your 2 ton model should be easily capable. If you can turn you welder down enough you can weld chrome moly. Comparing the two, the 1/16" is .0625. 1/8" is .125, if your worried about welding .085 wall moly tubing because of the thickness you need to be real worried about welding the 1/16" stuff. That's the only reason I can think of that would cause you to wonder if you can weld the moly. Every race car made anymore is usually made from moly and they're all welded.

 

Just an idea but when I made mine I used a chunk of clay on the engine to check clearance. Just leave the clay on the engine, shut the hood, then lift the hood and the clay should be on the engine. Mine stuck to the hood but a little WD-40 fixed that. Good luck. By the way, I have the larger of the harbor freight benders and it crimps the tube on me. I might be doing something wrong but it just crimps it when I try.

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92 Firebird 3.1 ~ MSD ignition, coil, 8.5mm wires, Exaust, cat, ram air, k&n, tbi bypass, new moog suspension, hotchkiss tie rod links, sfc's, kyb's, wonderbar, coils, ES poly bushings, lower control arms, panhard bar, 17" rims, 265/40/17 kumo tires. 86 Camaro 2.8, 1951 Chev 327, Four-wheeling hybrid with 40" tires, chevy engine, chevy tranny, jeep axles, pulls 1000 on 23 degree ramp.

 

That's an interesting thought... a piece of a bike! I want this thing to turn out both completely home-made, and professional though, but maybe I could score a bike and do some test-welding. I thought chrome-moly was only on the big-bux bikes... it was on my old freestyle bike (way back when chrome-moly on a bike was "new & hot"), it's more common now?

Chrome-moly's easier to weld than regular steel? I thought since it was an alloy, I'd need something special to weld it. Hm. Hm.... And you did make me think of something else- right now my MIG is set up for flux-core wire.. (as in I haven't bought an Argon/CO2 bottle yet, altho I have the hookups & wire & tips & etc for the gas-mig setup) Welding 1/16 stuff with flux core = melt thru the 1/16. Too bad Home Depot doesn't carry CO2 bottles or I'd be set. So this means either risk burning thru the 1/16 stuff, give chrome-moly a try, or get the CO2 bottle. Hmmm.......

HotRod, thanks for the clay-clearance idea. I'll have to check into that. And, know what I heard about the pipe benders? Since they're meant for water pipe, you'll get a bit of a crimp. Water pipe's measured in inside-diameters, tubing's measured in outside diameters. So if you're bending 1" tube, your die is too small... if the tubing's 1/8" wall, you'd need a die that bent 1.25" pipe. I read it on a website that was selling a "special" tube bender .. they were trying to steer their customers away from the Harbor Freight pieces. I tried to find the link again, I should've bookmarked it, dammit, but here's another link that's interesting: http://taggart.glg.msu.edu/gyro/landohs.htm Read down in the 2nd paragrah under "overhead stick construction". He talks about filling the pipe with sand (reminds me of "sand-mandrel-bent") to keep the pipes from kinking.. maybe that's the "real" deal, and not what the other site mentioned.

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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

Thanks for the pipe suggestion. I was going to try the sand idea next. I will let you know how it works. I am hoping that works because I need to build a cage for my jeep and the bird. I would recommend using gas with your welder. Good gas and wire will give you much better quality welds than the flux will. This is really usefull for thicker material like sfc's, control arms, cages etc. I think you need a tig or stick to weld chrome moly. You can weld it with mig but it won't be as strong or pretty a weld. I would use steel. Spend the money you would have spent on chrome moly on something else instead. The differances are not that great.

------------------
92 Firebird 3.1 ~ MSD ignition, coil, 8.5mm wires, Exaust, cat, ram air, k&n, tbi bypass, new moog suspension, hotchkiss tie rod links, sfc's, kyb's, wonderbar, coils, ES poly bushings, lower control arms, panhard bar, 17" rims, 265/40/17 kumo tires. 86 Camaro 2.8, 1951 Chev 327, Four-wheeling hybrid with 40" tires, chevy engine, chevy tranny, jeep axles, pulls 1000 on 23 degree ramp.

 

I also read abou the sand idea.
Hopefully I threw out a few ideas. I mean, you can use a bike, cut it up, hold it together with hose clamps, for quick trial fit ideas.
Just came back from the wrecking yard.
LOTS of cars without hoods on them. Maybe see if you can play out your bending idea at a yard.
Lots of cars there, that won't matter if ya scratch them!


------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

Tom, I'm no welder. I have an industrial fabricator as one of my fishing buddies, he does all of my welding. All I know is chrome moly can be welded and my fabricator is in florida for another week. (his work sends him all over the world.) I looked into it a bit more and .083 wall moly tubing is as strong as .120 wall mild steel. I'm going to do some serches later and see if moly needs special wire or technique. I'll get back to you on this one.

 

I definately have to buy the bottle... one of my "to do list" projects this summer is to weld a new 1/4 on the back right of my car- and I'll need the gas for that. I've been a lazy sonofaB lately... haven't called machine shops for engine work prices, haven't called welding supply shops for gas bottle prices, haven't called steel supply shops about tubing...

As long as the bar fits my car, I'm happy... I don't really need to use a bike because I already have the bent threaded steel rod.. it's my template for when I get the tube bender finished.

I picked up 6 feet of 1.25" x 1/8" steel plate last night from the Home Depot Speed Shop. It'll be the side braces for the bender. One dilemma I'm fighting in my head... the base of the bender is always shown as fitting snugly around the jack. What if I want a 4 ton bender later? I'd have to build another one- unless I leave enough room between the side braces to fit a larger jack. But, then again, how much extra room is too much? I don't want the bender's base to flex under the jack..

Geez if I'm sucessful at making a bender, I could always make a press for suspension bushings... and maybe use the same bottle jack


------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

me personally I will spend the 110 for a triangular brace and be done with it and have no worries about it... You will easily spend at least 100 on the materials fabbing the mock up and tring to make the first one. If you already owned a tubing bender and weilder that would be another story. remember to use tig welds for the stress point welds.

[This message has been edited by Camaro_hunter_d (edited May 28, 2001).]

 

Update! I welded one side of the tubing bender yesterday morning... it came out good. Heh, you can tell my "first welds of the day" from the "last ones"... the last ones are much cleaner. I miscalculated, and ran out of steel- and I wasn't going back to Home Depot on the holiday weekend! I'll try and weld the other half tomorrow.

The hardest part was cutting the side braces... they angle up & out from the base. I wound up making one, and using as a template for the other 3... that was a ton of filing! Looks good so far... when I get the thing done, I'll draw up dimensions for anyone else so inclined. Plus there was no "build your own tubing bender" webpage on the internet yet!

For the record- Material cost so far:

Bottle jack = $17
6 feet of 1.25" plate = $5
6 feet 2" plate that I'll buy today = $7
Experience gained: Priceless. (In memory of those old credit card commercials!)

For the record, I already own a welder, as mentioned in previous paragraphs. As also mentioned, I had plans to buy the CO2/Argon bottle anyway.

------------------
-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

[This message has been edited by TomP (edited May 29, 2001).]

 

well good for you having the majority of the tools needed...But personally I would just rather spend the money on a proven STB and not have to worry about the welds breaking at a unopertune time.

Now the front LCA's I want to make for mine I will take to a local machine shop and have them tig welded. I still want to find a way to convert the front suspension to upper and lower control arms...but that can wait for a while...I am busy tring to find a Typhoon motor to swap in right now...BTW I found one with 37,000 miles for 2700....but the shipping from florida will be a little too much than I want to spend...I think I will just buy a 4.3 and build it up.

[This message has been edited by Camaro_hunter_d (edited May 29, 2001).]

 

Update- the tubing bender's 80% done! Saturday, I finished welding the frame. I cut & welded the other half, then welded the two halves together. The jack fits perfectly in the middle- with one miscalculation. I forgot about the handle for the jack... instead of getting a full "swing" up & down to raise the jack, I only get a half inch. No big deal, the jack still moves upward, and if it becomes that much of a problem, I'll just notch the frame.

I have to make the side rollers next. On each side, there are rollers that press "down" on the tubing, while the jack presses "up" in the center. I figure I'll buy some 10.9 (aka SAE class 8) strength bolts out of Pep Boys. Then, I'll buy some tubing at Home Depot to go over the bolts. I've decided to place the rollers 7.5 inches apart over the center of the jack saddle... 3.75 inches each away from the center. That kind of copies how I was holding my hands to bend my "trial" steel rod.

Then, finally, I need to weld up the bending die... the half-wheel that goes between the jack saddle and the pipe. That might get done this weekend... it's such a pain to "set up" my welding stuff, and then break it all down when I'm done. I can't wait until I have my own garage...!


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

If I'm not mistaken, don't the TPI strut tower bars fit on the V6's as well.... I don't know where I saw it but someone with a V6 had a Hotchkis STB on his f-body... Please correct me if I'm wrong...before I buy one myself and find out the hard way.

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1991 Pontiac Firebird V6 W68
Pioneer DEH-7000R, Pioneer 6X9 4way/4X6 2way speakers, MTX 250watt amp, MTX 400watt sub, custom intake, Flowmaster dual exhaust 80 series, PIAA HID headlamp conversions, custom tail lamps(regular F-bird but amber is now red), many more to list...

 

Beats me! Nobody's been able to tell me that "yes, this STB fits our v6's." If there was one out there, wouldn't all of us have it?


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

well to the apeasement of other yess all TPI STBS will fit our cars. But If you want to have a little extra room get a TBI brace.

 

The bender works! It bends! I finally worked on it yesterday.. I drilled the holes for the side rollers. That was a pain in the butt; just before the drill broke thru completely, it'd stop dead. I'd anticipated that, and clamped the thing to the workbench, but my wrist took a beating! I even chipped the drill bit (31/64" drill bit); go figure.

But yeah, it bends pipe... I grabbed a 1 inch piece of 1/8" walled aluminum tube, and it bent it. Well, actually, it "kinked" it. I haven't made the die for the jack yet; so it was just the jack pad pushing on the center of the pipe.

I might buy an impact socket to use as the die. The jack pad has a indented "+" sign cut into the top; it should hold onto the socket. The impact socket would be rounded enough to keep from kinking the pipe- as long as I get a big enough impact socket.

Either that or I'll go back to my original idea of bending some steel in a curved shape, and welding braces to it so the curve doesn't flatten under pressure. The woman's working late again tonite; I think I'll buy some tubing from Home Depot and try it out with an impact socket.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

I smell smoke! Do you smell smoke?

I have an idea... What about an old leaf spring for the inside radius of the curve? Not the whole pack but just one spring. You can weld a piece of flat stock across the ends to keep it from flexing. You should be able to get one from any junkyard for cheap, it's not like you want a 6" lift spring for a fullsize P/U. Just make sure you get one thats close to the radius you want.

 

True; that would be pre-curved... I'd have to cut the ends off since the spring'd be too long, but as long as I get some kind of curve out of it, I'll be fine. The curve'd be so gradual it wouldn't kink the pipe, either.

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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

You might call a spring shop and see what they would want to do a custom curve and lenght for your application. Since it's one piece of flat stock and just needs to be curved they might only want $20 or so. If you call, make sure you tell them that you don't need spring eye's on it, just a piece of flat with a curve.

 

Eh, never worked on it last night. I got to the basement, and started cleaning it. I really need to throw some car crap out, but it's all stuff I could use one day. I know the second I throw something out (door windows, honeycomb front bumper "impact absorber", two a/c compressors, starter motor, etc) I'll wind up needing it again. I haven't seen my workbench in years...


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!