Longitudinal kit, Longitudinal kit Options

[partwerks]

While I was there I asked my mechanic if he would be interested in installing that longitudinal kit and he quoted me $750.00. Does that price sound about right or is he too high again?
I can always stop by a body shop for an estimate also, but if worse comes to worse, I would rather pay more and have it done right as opposed to cheaper and screw it up for me.

[Jerry75914]

I installed an earlier version of the Engman kit, my first major welding job, and thanks to a lot of good advice here, went in great, no issues, a great product in my mind.

Listen to McMark. I didn't brace my doors either and had no problems. I got everything to fit, then welded the firewall section first, starting at the ends and working to the middle. That way I had the welds far away from each other, giveing them time to cool ( I also waited until I could touch them bare-handed before welding again in that area). Once that was done, I got both longitudinal pieces going at the same time, same method. That went slightly faster. I marked a spot on each door and constantly measured to see if the gap was changing. Both moved about half a mm right away, then never budged again.

One suggestion about the corner radius you seem unhappy about...LEAVE IT ALONE! I also had the bright idea of hammering it tighter to the long. The result is you lose the 90 degree corner, and the edge that meets the floorpan moves away from the vertical side of the long. How fun is it to brace and weld it in place afterwards? Sucky.

Overall, I love my kit, very happy to have it in the car. Get a welder, spend a lot of time doing this slowly, and you'll be fine!