Taking a break for lunch. Cleared two 2" "Z shaped" paths down the floorpans for the subframe connectors this morning. I wish I had my camera, I would post a picture. Wife has it and she is visiting her Mother until Sunday. I hope to be finished welding by Sunday, so I will definately get some pictures then. Time to eat and maybe take a nap then start pulling the seats. Cleaver
cut floorpans, that is the best way to do it. That way, the connector does not hang any lower than the factory frames do, plus you can weld the floorboard directly to the connector. That's exactly what I am going to do with my mustang, eventually.
It really depends on how much streangth you desire........The ones that Dan builds are very strong but I would lay money on mine being stronger anyday(no offense Dan)It is all in what you are after.....
It's a lot more work than the regular "under the car" type that weld to the bottoms of the subframes or bolt through the sides. The advantages that I see are; 1) They do not hang down under the car Granted - there is a piece of 2" tube in the back seat floor pan. 2) It really boxes the sub frames good. I don't have any information about chassis stiffness, other than it "looks like it attaches better" I got all of the pieces fit and mocked-up today. Still have to final fit before welding. Cleaver
Actually I am making the connectors 3 pieces in a "Z" to make up the offset from the front to rear frame. It looks pretty stiff but not as stiff as a Maverick I did several years ago. On the one I did before I welded a tube across the inside of the front spring mounts from left side to right side, making a cross member that I turned into a rear driveshaft loop. Then I replaced the rear crossmember (behind the gas tank with another tube) Then I used those two tubes to re-mount the springs inboard . Then for subframe connectors I ran the tube straight back from the front frame and tied into the tube/driveshaft loop. The whole thing was pretty stiff. After I added the mini tubs it was kind of like a home made cheater back half kit. Cleaver
You can say yours are stronger, etc all day long. Even a cheezy square tube SF connector welded through the floorboard is stronger than just welding the ends! The floor is like a giant sheer plate. If you can connect the floor to the SF connectors you just strengthened the entire car 100%.
at what point do you have "overkill"? the S.F.C.s only do so much. they had "none" from the factory. ...frank...
My soon-to-be streetable '73 Grabber will have Dan Starnes sub-frameconnectors. My '70 drag car, that I am building to run mid-8"s on the 1/4 mile track, has squared up sub frame connectors through the floorboards and has parts of the 10-point cage attached to it. Is sub frame connectors through the floorboards and welded to make one frame overkill for the street? Depends on what engine and drivetrain you are running. A 460 making over 600 ft lbs of torque will twist a Maverick like a piece of pasta.
