Upgrades to my R-code Mach 1...

[machoneman]

I have those outside braces on my 67.

Yep. me too on the '70 Mach 1. Hey, I'll be the first to say it may be overkill but adding them+subframe connectors+Monte Carlo bar+export brace means we've done everything possible, per the B302 Book, short of a full roll cage to tighten things up!

I also like the piece that ties in the lower A-arm pivot boxes. I had thought a long time ago of making something up (its also on the B302 Book) but forgot about it until now. Maybe I'll cut some metal this summer!   

[cjshaker]

Sorry, Bob, I thought you were referring to the factory shock tower braces. I'm aware of the Trans Am mods that they did back in the day, but I won't be going that route. I just don't think it will be necessary for my street/strip car. If I were doing big wheelies, that may be a different story, but I'm not fond of smashed headers and oil pans

[Heo]

What i have found out working on Mustangs
The ones sold New in Sweden by Ford. Had a tube
crossmember under the engine with ears to bolt
to the pivot points for the lower a arms  and the export bar.
there is a couple one piece export bar and a couple
two piece bars one with welded mounts on the
sprig tower and one thats bolted on top of the tower
My September 64 mustang had the welded mounts
65-66 have torqueboxes from the convertibel
on hardtop cars
But not on private imported cars

[Heo]

I  made those "boss" braces on the outside
of the shock towers for most of my customers
Mustangs  they were often cracked especialy
bigblock cars so i recomended that mod
and the shelby lowering plus  620 lbs "shelby"
springs it was a completly different car to drive

[Nightmist66]

As far as jacking the car goes, there aren't many good places to go on the front of the things. I have this jack adapter from Summit Racing, with very minor modification, it works awesome.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-918008

Very nice work Doug! I still need to get my subframe connectors in.(sigh)

[My427stang]

That's a nice little piece, assuming it isn't too tall, price is easy too

As far as jacking though, I don't have a picture for a concept, but my idea is different than the Boss 302 manual.  The B2 manual takes the existing bolt on tube crossmember and adds ears to tie it to the lower control arm bolts.  Good for strength, but not really convenient for jacking and only ties the rear of the lower control arm bolts together (not a big deal, but it is a leverage point)

I though that I would put a flat plat across the inside edge of each lower mount facing each other, then make a bolt on crossmember to tie the two plates together.  t would give you a crossmember that was under the oil pan.  The thing I haven't figured out yet is if there is enough room to have something strong enough without hanging too low.  Last thing I want is a big piece of steel hanging in the breeze, or something too low to get a jack under!

After the truck redo is done and the truck interior, both planned for April, I will get back on the Mustang and play with some ideas.

[cjshaker]

Finally getting some non 100% humidity days, I got my butt in gear this weekend and got a lot finished on the car in prep for some racing at the Reunion.

First, something I've wanted to do for a while but kept putting off, I finally made a torque strap for the engine. One reason of course was safety, not wanting to take out the hood, radiator and a bunch of other stuff in the event of a motor mount failure, the other reason, to stop my header bolt from pecking at the shock tower, which amplified inside the car and was annoying. Being factory MR heads, they don't have the side exhaust bolts, and it's readily apparent why Ford needed them in shock tower cars.

Since I don't run a sway bar, I made a bracket to bolt onto the mounting point on the frame. It's perfectly inline with the head, so it was a great spot to make an anchoring point.



Then I welded some rod tubing ends to a piece I made and bolted it to the head and bracket. Hopefully there isn't enough leverage against the bolts to break it. That's the plan anyway



Then I made a driveshaft loop. Something that I should have done LONG ago. I didn't like the generic versions that you could buy, they just look like they're a 1-size-fits-all kind of deal, which they are. I also needed something that hugged the floor a little better since I have my exhaust tucked up kind of high, against the floorpan. A bar that went straight across would have interfered with them. Since I just installed the subframe connectors, it was the perfect place to bolt the mounts to. Here's a shot of the mounting brackets and the loop about 3/4 done.



And here's the finished deal.



I didn't like the way the bottom of the strap came together, it was supposed to overlap more for strength. So after the Reunion, I'll cut that bottom section out and make a smoother bottom loop, overlap it on the sides more, and weld it in. I laid some extra heavy welds for now though, so it'll serve its purpose. I also ordered a Mark Williams driveshaft with 1350's at both ends with their slip yoke. When I was finishing the car, I used a stock yoke with the 1330 and had a local company weld me up a shaft with 1350's to match my rear. The front was always a weak point, and that was not a good thing. The new shaft is chromemoly and should hold up nicely. It's supposed to be here tomorrow. Except for some paint touch-up and my line-lock, the car is done and ready. Until I decide what I want to do next to it

[machoneman]

I'd leave the center section as is. It looks mighty strong if not 100% sexy! 

[cjshaker]

Time to resurrect this old thread. Except for the trailer hitch for Drag Week, it's been too long since I've done anything to it.

The hood and bars just came this week. That will keep me busy for a while this year, but I hope to have the trans installed in time for the Reunion. The only thing I have to do to it yet is change the bearing retainer, which I just ordered today. The fiberglass hood from Glasstek is a really nice piece. Thanks to Kevin (thatdarncat) for turning me on to them.

The 8 point roll bar came from S&W Race Cars. I really wanted to try and save some weight since my car is heavy to begin with, so I went with chromoly. Since I can't tig weld, now I have to find someone who can tig it for me, which is turning out to be a bigger pain than I thought it would be. If I would have stuck with mild steel, I could have welded it myself.

[machoneman]

So, how much was that nice 'glass hood? Made to use OEM hinges with weaker springs? Not a pure lift-ff is it?

I ask as I broke my engine limiter last Fall and darned if the too-close carb air cleaner stud (my fault) didn't put an nice bump in my OEM steel hood!

Weight? Been told that most that can use the OEM hinges aren't much lighter than the steel hood.

Can get a steelie (no ram air cutout)  for about $350 or so, less shipping. 

[jayb]

Still a good choice on the chrome moly Doug, that 0.130" wall mild steel DOM tubing is really heavy.  I think I figured a 1/3 weight savings with the chrome moly over the mild steel.  Good luck on the search for a welder.

By the way, do you have a plan for installing it?  You can tack it with gas welds and then get it Tig welded later.  Make sure you put the 1/8" steel plates on the floor, and its a good idea to cut holes in the floor so that once the cage is tack welded it can drop down, so you can weld over the top of the hoop.  Then you just raise the cage back up, slide the 1/8" plates underneath the bar and so they cover the holes in the floor, and weld in place.

[cjshaker]

Bob, the hood cost $520, without shipping. It is the bolt on type, and I got light weight springs from Glasstek when I purchased it. The pin on was $360, but I don't like the idea of a pin on if I need to get the hood open fast. Yes, a steel reproduction hood is cheaper, but I could really use the weight savings. I'm not sure of the weight. When I get it home, I'll weigh it. I had it shipped to my friends body shop so that they could put it in their paint "oven". It only goes to 140*, but that is enough to bring any gas bubbles to the surface that might be present in the fiberglass. My friend is pretty experienced in body work, and he has seen that issue before. Then I'll bring it home and start the fitting.

Jay, I will fit it myself and tack it all together. It came with the plates, so I'm covered there. You did bring up something that I've been debating on, and that's whether to cut holes to drop it and weld the top areas. According to the NHRA rule book, in lieu of a full weld, they do allow a 3/4 weld on the top bars as long as a gusset is used. I don't know which way I'll go yet, because I hate the idea of cutting holes in the floor to drop it. But I also don't like the idea of only having a 3/4 weld on the rear bars. I'm hoping that maybe I'll be able to scoot or move the bars enough, after they're tacked to the rear bars, to gain access to the tops for a full weld. Of course the other bars won't be an issue. It's probably not going to be possible, but I guess I'll make that decision when the time comes.

[Heo]

Doug, Are you using the headliner in the car? I have built a few cages
Some time i removed the headliner while welding. The headliner guy really love
to put it back with the cage in place, but if one give him a few cold ones during
installation he don't mind that much . Some time i have wedged the headliner
up with a asbestos sheet. If one use the TIG torch with short rod and just a plug
on the backside you can reach in to pretty cramped places. And there is torches with
a head that you can, how you say? Swivel around in different angles. Some Times
i had put double Glass in the gasweldig goggles just to get the head in a place to
be able to See the weld
Some times i have done like Jay say cut a hole in the floor with a hole saw and
welded the hole shut before installing the plate over it, that's what i would do
today since i had got a lot stiffer with age

[cjshaker]

Heo, I thought about removing the headliner to gain a couple inches there, but because of how the headliner attaches at the back window, the rear glass would have to come out, at least to do it correctly so it didn't come loose.

If I can't wiggle the hoop to get it in a welding position, then I'll just have to drop it through the floor. Seeing as how I have to cut a hole for the shifter anyway, I guess I should just get over it. I gave up the "original" thing when I welded in the subframe connectors.

[cjshaker]

Weight? Been told that most that can use the OEM hinges aren't much lighter than the steel hood.

Bob, I should have answered this better before. Without a doubt, the hood is at least half the weight of a stock hood. Probably more. I could easily pick it up and move it myself by just grabbing the sides. I would struggle with a stock hood.

While my intake will be heavier, and the roll bar will add significant weight, I'm hoping to offset most of that with aluminum heads, the fiberglass hood and ditching my heater box altogether. The battery is also going to the trunk.