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Body stiffening?

Adrian Worman

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Just a thought, but I'm dead set on making my 72 Challenger into a streetable auto course car.
Floor pan subframe connectors seem to be the only way of stiffen the shell to take full advantage of the hi tech suspension systems available out there.
What are your thoughts on engine bay mods, shock tower and inner fender bracing for example?
 

ramenth

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Frame connectors and torque boxes are a must.

Let me give you the run down on what I'm doing to my M-body to take full advantage of the suspension: frame connectors,- torque boxes, and double layering the rockers (1/8" inside the factory sheetmetal, welded to the boxes) as well as some apron bracing (still in the engineering stage). The car will be running an Alter-K up front with an IRS out back.
 

burntorange70

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Subframe connectors, lower radiator brace and some kind of front shock tower bracing are all good. I think shock tower brace is a must if your going to run a coil over front end.

If doing much racing a cage or roll bar will not only save you but also can help stiffen things up a bit.
 

Adrian Worman

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My original plan with my 65 Baccaruda project was to weld stiffening plates to the highest part of the bulkhead and run tubes from there across the tops of the shock towers and dropping down to the chassis rail, connected at the shock towers with a fabricated steel top hat and a bolted on brace joining the towers together.
I'd like to be able to run the bracing from the bulkhead to the chassis rails from the outer side of the inner fender, if only because the little A body has an already tight engine bay.
It would take a fair bit of fab to get the bends and pipe notching right but we have all that at work.
This would tie the shock towers together directly and brace the chassis rail to the unibody at the bulkhead.
I still can't see the benefit of fitting a lower rad brace to stiffen the two frame rails, surely the K member is doing that? It is it just for the benefit of the strut rods?
 

Adrian Worman

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I was chatting to a good mate of mine from Indiana who's deeply into auto course type events.
He told me about a Formula One test facility in Canada that did an F1 chassis plate test on an E body and their conclusion was that it needed more work in the rad support area, hence why USCarTool and XV produce these braces.
Apparently it was covered in an issue of Mopar Action a while back, I'll see if I can find it on line
 
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