Chassis Stiffening, should I? Options

[J P Stein]

Shoudn't be for me, dude. Sure, I'm a hammer mechanic but how many times did we have any problems at the AXs over the years?(other than my shity driving every time (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ). Once IIRC, and we gots that fixed quick and didn't miss a pass.

Development stops when the car breaks thus overkill is gud.

[Randal]

If you are building a race can then tieing the entire car together, i.e., Tortion bars in front to front of front shock tower, rear of front shock tower to front hoop in drivers compartment, front hoop to rear hoop to rear shock tower, simply makes a huge difference in handling.

JP told me this would work and it did. You can really dial in what you need (springs /shocks) and the car responds.

Hell, JP even liked it "222" when he drove the car at the WCR in Medford.

Oh, you need to weld plates to the shock towers which become the mounting point for the tubes.

I did spend the money to have Chris Foley strengthen my trailing arms and the good news is that I haven't had a failure. Probably overkill, but a light weight car with big slicks, which are going to get bigger, really puts stress on those trailing arms. I also run needle bearings in the trailing arms.

[J P Stein]

I was prepared to use Foley's kit ( or copy it DIY (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ) if I ever had a problem with the trailing arms. I don't much care for the outside cage thingy method. I spent hours getting all the weight ( & redoing the factory welds) I dared off the stockers.

222 is quick and has more potential on tap......once you get over the cheep tire thing. Fresh rubber even made me look good.

[Woody]

Well I'm going to get the 5 bolt conversion and flares done, next step would be to build a cage. Guess ill need to do some reading up on cage design and what is legal in SCCA.

[J P Stein]

Well I'm going to get the 5 bolt conversion and flares done, next step would be to build a cage. Guess ill need to do some reading up on cage design and what is legal in SCCA.

Tis a slippery slope. Before you hop on try to figure out where it goes.

[Woody]

Yeah that's what I'm afraid of.

[grantsfo]

It all depends on your chassis. I don't think there are many good ones left. I bought a pristine 36000 original mile car to build my race car and didn't reinforce the car anywhere. It was very fast on track running 1:41 lap times at Laguna SECA with 200 hp and about 2050 lbs wet with driver.

Only real flex I had was from rear suspension with slicks on the car but it wasn't excessive. No cracks or issues for 3 years of running track, ax and hillclimb.

[Randal]

Well I'm going to get the 5 bolt conversion and flares done, next step would be to build a cage. Guess ill need to do some reading up on cage design and what is legal in SCCA.

When you get ready for the cage we can post pictures of what we did and give you reasons why the tubes were located where they ended up. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I build mine to SCCA specifications.

[ThePaintedMan]

Well I'm going to get the 5 bolt conversion and flares done, next step would be to build a cage. Guess ill need to do some reading up on cage design and what is legal in SCCA.

When you get ready for the cage we can post pictures of what we did and give you reasons why the tubes were located where they ended up. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I build mine to SCCA specifications.

I wouldn't mind some advice as well! Building ours for Chumpcar, but might as well make it SCCA legal while at it...

-George

[naro914]

I've been running for years without any stiffening, and until about a month ago, I didn't see much need.
however....go to my thread on this subject.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act...=2&t=159595

I've now ordered Foley's raised rear suspension point kit which should hopefully fix all the cracking area issues. we're also going to tie the roll cage to the shock tower points and brace a few other areas. I hate adding the weight, but it beats having my suspension fall off mid corner.

Keep in mind, this car runs track DE and Club Racing. Now has 330 hp, 12x16 and 11x16 wheels with full slicks, 375# springs, fully adjustable coil over suspension, and very stiff sway bars. It's an absolute blast to drive, but the 40 year old metal was not made to handle these stresses.

Your results may vary...