by megavega » Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:26 pm
This is the frame I added under the car, it will consist of a 2x3 crossmember attached will be the 2 rear lower control arm mounts,made from 3x3 box tubing. This will be added into the floor of the car, the rear frame has a nice flat section that is double layer metal and quite thick, the crossmember is added to the floor area by a simple 2 inch wide notch, and the snugger the fit the better. After this crossmember is installed you can either add a round tube connector from the front face of the 2x3 run along the rocker pichweld seam or add a rollcage to the vehical. I have built past vegas both ways and both have never had any flex problems. The last vega I built(silver one in avatar pic on left) had a 427 big block chevy/glide with trans brake, I left the line at 5500rpm and never had any chassis problems, it did have a 4 link attached to the 2x3 and a 10 point cage, but exactly the same rear crossmember instalation as this car. No frame rails were run under the car, this also keeps everything open for exh. clearance or whatever.
This car will recieve a rollbar main hoop, no crossbar for rear seat access. Special bent rear strut bars to clear the rear seat passengers head. The car will use a set of windshield bars, halo bar and a set of sill bars. Sill bars are bars that run from the main hoop to the front windshield bars along horizontaly above the rocker panel, these little guys are basicly frame ties for the middle of the car, they also make it quite easy to enter and exit the vehical, and you dont have to climb in over the door bars this way. This isnt a drag car but a car I want to drive anywhere I want in the country, and including a hot rod power tour when its completed.
This way these will basicly connect the car instead of having tubing below the car or cutting out the floor pans to install frame connectors. The floorpan/rockerpanels is the chassis in these cars, thats why the more bends and ripples they have the stronger the metal structure is. I just didnt want to cut the floorpans out for frame connectors, just my way of doing it, doesnt mean its the only way. I have seen lots of ways of doing frame connectors, each has its good and bad point, this is just what works for me. The front windshield bars will also use a set of front strut bars going out thru the firewall resting on top of the front frame horns, to add rigidty to the front frame horns. The windshield bars will also get a small round crossmember going under the dash to tie the cage in from side to side(left to right). The firewalls in these cars are paper thin and there isnt enuff support in my opinion to connect anything worthwile to them.
Here you can see the metal I started with, cut the angles on a chop swa then glued it all together with a mig welder. Its important to clamp this all together and tack all the seams, check for straightness, then reclamp and weld, otherwise youll end up with a hockey stick.
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Last edited by
megavega on Wed Aug 08, 2007 11:31 pm, edited 7 times in total.
1972 hatchback, 28,000 orig miles, 427BBC/twin T4 turbo's/T56 six speed/big wheels, lowered down pro touring style-work in progress....
1973 vega wagon-under the blue flame knife.