Weird, I didn't get the email saying there was a response to my post.

Well, I have an idea for a crossmember based off PATC's that I was thinking about fabbing up. A friend of mine was going to check and see if he had any left over cuts that I could use at his work first before I went to a local machine shop to buy it.

Here's one that they have at PATC:



They just don't make one in an F-body for my year. I was going to get the machine shop to slot the ends like the above crossmember with an L brace for the frame's connectors. Then have them cut the pieces to my specs, take them home, mount the ends to the frame, and trans mount and tack weld them into place. From there I would give them over to my friend who would do all the heavy 220 welding for me since mine's a 115.

 

Well if you lived closer I think I would be at your shop.

I've seen a lot of the round pipe ones also but I'm scared that they'll go right through my exhaust setup since they're universal setups. I want to change my exhaust in the upcoming year or so but not right this second.

 

The beauty of round pipe is it's stronger than square tube, plus you can cut out the section you need to clear your exhaust, then turn that same piece over and weld it back in place to form a closed cutout portion. A sawzall works great for taking cuts out, and also for notching those end holes into slots.

 

Yeah, but I really don't have a sure fire way of bending the tube to give it any arch or drop. I would love to do a tubular setup I just don't have a really nice bender. I could probably come up with a really nice template for it but without a bender it would be useless.

I remember watching some show a whiles back where they had made their curved template on cardboard and then laid like 3 or four sheets of wood down to create thickness and joined them together. Then they cut their template to that shape. From there they viced the tube and while one guy heated it with an acetylene torch the other guy bent it using the wood template to hold the shape as they went the length of the tubing. They did another tube the same way and cut them in half and combined them to make one full setup. It was for a roll cage but I guess it would work just as well for this.

 

Benders are very nice, but you can do the same thing without one by either heating the pipe and bending it, or cutting it partway through and bending the "V" notch closed and then welding it.
You can get a pretty good little inexpensive wire feed from Harbor Freight Tools for around $100, complete with one roll of .030" flux core wire. I bought one a few months ago, and for $9 extra got the full refund warranty, so if it breaks in the next two years it's repalced free. I've built a lot of parts for my present 71 Camaro, including frame connectors, ladder bars, custom radiator mount for my welded alumium radiator, plus reworked my rollcage, and some brackets. Well worth the price, and it does a nice weld.
With a little tubing, a sawzall and the welder, you could build about anything you want!

 

Found their auction on Fleabay, and the hood. Still don't like carbon fiber, but I do like their L88 hood. Hate to pay $1,000 and then paint over the carbon fiber!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1970-...Q5fAccessories

 

I don't think that's the same company that I saw but it could be with just a different seller. I thought the one I saw had a stronger looking underhood support with a brace across the center. I could be wrong.

Did you see the stripes pic with the carbon fiber in the other thread? I really liked that.

God I wish a couple of you guys lived closer. Is that welder you're talking about a 115v or a 220v? I have a mig 115v that's good up to an 1/8th of an inch. We've welded up to a quarter inch with it but it was for something that wasn't going to be under constant stress or even high stress. I don't mind doing something like that but I worry about it holding up to twisting and vibration over time. I'm probably worrying too much but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

The MIG I bought at Harbor is 110 v. and I welded up my rollcage, and my ladder bars with it. The welds look great, and are holding up too. We put a big block 454 and Surburban running gear under my nephew's 1968 Jeep PU using the same welder he has, and it's been run pretty hard for the last 8-9 years!
The only place we didn't use it was the spring perches, as the plates were 3/8" thick, and we stick welded them, to get good penetration.

 

Yeah, I learned on the big 220 stick welders and almost went into welding as a job but that was 15+ years ago. I wish I had one of those still. It's amazing how much I've forgotten just for not doing it in so long.