Has anyone welded the seams on the shock towers, fender aprons, and crossmember to increase strength? As we all know, they are spot welded from the factory
I saw an article on doing that to a Mustang to stiffen the front end up but I have never done it. It will make replacing sheet metal a lot harder in the future. I am working on a triangulation bracket to add stiffness. A "bolt on" three piece affair but I don't really think it is necessary and i may never put it on. Then again I might try it to see if it makes a difference through the corners.
My own opinion is that they are welded sufficiently form the factory. I have never heard of or seen any separation in the panels. Usually high hp will cause bending in certain high stress areas or fatigue cracks, but not panels pulling apart.
These were welded in the same manner as the Mustangs were. And I know I have seen a bunch of Mustangs w/ twisted up front ends from bashing. If you are really gonna run the thing, weld them up. Or run some J bars from your cage through the firewall....
Ive been thinking about that too..... I dont have the bar that runs under the engine that connects the towers together, but building something soon. Since the EFI conversion,, I lost the tower braces, but making some to replace,, but still,, I belive it could use more support. Maybe some tubing that connects tothe frame, over the top of the shock towers from front to back?? Of course,, a cage dont sound like a bad idea either,,, Chad
it comes down to what you want to do with the car. Be honest with yourself. How fast do you want to go. Road or Track? Straight or Twisties?
Thanks for the responses. I'm only talking about 350hp with a few trips to the drag strip over the next several years. Mostly street driving with tires that will break loose!! I decided to weld a few spots to add strength. I have installed frame connectors, will install shock tower brace (side to side in addition to the stock braces from the towers to the firewall) and I added a brace from the frame (where the front crossmember attaches) to the front of the shock tower.
i have seen mustangs that have the shock towers "leaning" inwards toward the engine. my friend had a 69 mustang and he bought the kit from mustangs unlimited that gives all the pieces of metal so that someone can reinforce the shock towers. it requires the use of a ram of some sort to push the shock towers back to their original places so that you can weld the braces back together, etc. it worked great. doing that with the use of a monte carlo bar afterwards, and i would imagine there would never be any concern of weakness in the shock towers again
