I am builing a 3.0 six conversion for my 72 and I'd like things to be solid. I plan on time trialing and autocrossing the heck out of this car. I cut out part of the sheet metal that supports the rubber seal for engine tin for easier access. I initially tried to make a single plate with 3 bends in it to fit. I spent an hour with a piece of cardboard and my sheet metal/ hammer etc. It was beyond my abilities, and I believe worked out for the better with 3 pieces.

I made three cardboard templates. These are the front und derear in steel. The rear and side piece (not pictured yet) are out of 16 gauge. The front is 1/8". I plan on running a brace forward to the firewall. The templates were cut so if you ran a straight edge across the side face of the console the cardboard was about 1/8" from straight edge.

I sprayed the inside of each with 3M weld through. A paint that supposedly can handle the heat. $20 for the can. Maybe its worth it. I'll let you know 2027. I did the front plate first. I figured that it would absorb heat better, and I'd get the hang of it. I'm still not a master welder/fabricator. Welder=Lincoln 3200HD Setting: heat-C, speed-3

Here is the rear. I tried the same settings and it worked just as well.

Grind the welds down. I didn't take my straight edge to it, just eyeball it. Here is the steel side piece. The template wraped the sides by about an 1/8".

Oops, heres the pic

Drilled some holes so I could tack into more than, just the edges. Also the top is a little long, so it wraps around the longitudinal. Hey just on the othe side of the top edge is where my chassis stiffening kit is. Hmmmm

You saw the line on the plate in my previous pic. Thats where I needed to fold the metal. Two pieces of hardwood. Pine didn't work.

The 3M Weld through. Dries quick

Positioning this plate is crucial. Take your time. I used wood to pin it down flat. You do need to do a little bending of the plate to make sure it reaches all the right places. I made my plate to wrap around the very bottom of the last curve on the counsole. Make a few tacks, then check to see that you have positioned this correctly.

You can also see on the previous pic where the chassis stiff kit has burned through to the inside just above my new plate...if you turn your head clockwise 92* On this picture below you can see how I used the car body and some wood to hold the plate flat. Work your way down. Keep the plate flat. Work the hot areas that you have just welded with a hammer.

nother, this time shortened broom handle.

Keep going down, down.

Awesome!!

I approve and I will need to come by for a full inspection and fact finding visit.
( so I can take good notes and do this on my car )


KT

I didn't take enough pics. In the previous pic I had most of the welding done. I drilled the hole through the backside, then took the correct socket and centered it. I think 22mm. Draw a circle around it and use an 1/8" (I like 1/8 don't I) drill bit and drill a buncha little holes, or get a hole saw. I used my dremmel to smooth and shape it. I wanted to take it back to the console just for the fun of it.

Top shot. Grind your welds! Took me only 20 minutes! Not!!!

Thanks Trek, I still have my templates if you want em.

I do want them.

After next week I will have some time to work on my car.

The engine and trans will come out. The cage will go in and my *special* suspension mods can move forward.

thanks


KT

Dude that's nice work. Do you have access to a scanner? You could scan them and provide a few key dimensions. Then people could just blow up the image till the "key" dimension matchs and you have new template. A little extra work on your part, but I'll bet it would be appreciated. I wish I had done that when I did my car.

Kelly

Thanks, I have got a scanner and I will try to figure out how to do it later today.

That looks good!

The "ear" part that holds the suspension is the most important part as it's the weakest link of the whole thing...

One suggestion with your welding, when you weld the hole, try to start at one position (inside the hole) and work your way around the inner hole with the idea of just enough material being laid on and then stop. That way you dont have to grind it down. The idea is to have the weld puddle inside the hole and attach to the edge of the plate hole instead of on top of the plate hole down into the inside hole. The speed of your wire feed is the key to the amount of good welding puddle and the heat for good penstration.
I hope i'm making sense here but you did good for what you can do.

Put more holes in the center of the plates too, that will secure the whole area instead of part of it.

good luck!

j

Thanks for the tip, I guess the extra is good if someone is shooting at me and aiming at these welds.

So, Are you going to make a kit available to the Club members??

Thank You!!!!
Phillip J. Haun
Oak Harbor, WA.

uuuuuh, I really had no plans to. I don't have the tools to make a lot of them. That is why I put a fairly detailed decription. I used a jig saw with a bi-metal blade to cut the metal out of stock. Perhaps Trekkor can post the templates if he can scan them.

Andy, I need to see this work and chit-chat about it ASAP.

Give me a shout!


KT

Nice work! I hope to see you March 3 at the PCA RR AX in Santa Rosa, or soon after.
Is this the red car, polished 2.0 fuchs, Santa Rosa, tall Andy?
ATTN: all six conversions - I can offer free disposal of un-needed 2.0 and larger TIV engines, no charge, will pick up in Bay Area

Hey, thats me tall Andy red yada yada. Thanks for the praise. But it ain't gonna get ya a big IV. Thats stayin in the red car. The 3.0 and all those mods are going into this ugaly 72 that is black and orange and soon- blue hood, that is going to be a smokin fast dual 46 weber time trialer autocrosser and barely street legal beast. Trekkor this weekend I will be availlable some time. I'm not sure when. You might want to wait until I bring home my next 914!

I'll be in touch.

Saturday afternoon?


KT

bump

Thanks for bumping this Andy. This is probably the best solution I have seen for strengthing the ear that doesnt require adding a tube in the way of the lower 6cyl valve cover. All the ears I have seen in the past start cracking at one of the many spot welds the factory used to assemble everything.

I used to do something similar with just a scab plate on the lower ear below the engine shelf.


B

So Brad, do you think it would be total overkill if I add removable braces going to the forward firewall from the ears? 3.0 six time trialer.

Honestly,

my biggest concern is TOE adjustment. I normally have to "load" the ear with the control arm to get any toe in what so ever. The stiffer you make it.. the harder is it going to be to get the toe you want when it comes time for an alignment.

You can still do an adjustable rod (double shear heim joint setup) Treat it like an adjustable part of the suspension.



B

This is exactly what I had in mind! I found a place that sell heims reasonably priced. Do you think a 1/2" heim is beefy enough? I got one opinion that it will be plenty. I like two.

I agree with the first person *plenty*

Tony at TCDesign carries (stocks Aurora heims joints) he is in Milpitas.



B

I like the way the inner ear re-enforcement extends from the very top, then down to the pivot shaft hole area. In effect, the boxed portion of the structure will add quite a bit of strength and stiffeness. In my opinion, this is probably the best solution I've seen for strengthening this immediate area.

For the remaining areas, scab plates are one of the few solutions to choose from. What I dislike about scab plates, is that the strength/stiffeness to weight is pretty poor. I'll be soon tackling this myself, so I'll give it some thought. If there was a way to create a formed section in some of those other areas, it would add a lot. Thinking cap is on.....

Andys

Andy,

I agree 100%. The scab plate approach is not the best. This is why I have said (and will continue to stand behind) the fact that half of the GT stiff kit available is worthless. The piece that goes in the inner fenderwell is 100% wasted effort. It takes up valuable tire room and welds to a cover that doesnt even attach to the rear shock mount. Cut that cover off and weld that piece INSIDE..then weld the cover back on.. you'd have something then.


B

Well I should have updated this post about a year ago when I completed this, but any way I did add bracing struts for the ears to the firewall. I used 1 1/4" angle iron for the brackets. I wanted to point the strut as close as possible to bolt hole for the trailing arm. I also wanted to use the setup to clamp the upper and lower pieces of console together. It was necesary to notch the seems on the console behind the bracket so the end of the strut has room. I did the before welding the brackets on. I have seen pix of cars tearing apart at this seam. The heim joints/rods were made to length from an ebay source. About $100.

Firewall side.

Complete. I cannot find my receipt for the strut rods, but they are on ebay and sell a ton of heims and build the rods to your length and come painted & ready to install. These joints were for some suspension components of an ATV.

You can also see that I rewelded parts of the engine "shelf" the the seals go on around the motor.

I attacked this a bit differently but probably not any better. The only critique I would make is finish.
One must inspect this area periodically. Smooth welds/ transitions and light colors make this much easier. Smoothing things out also makes for fewer stress concentration points (stress risers) with particular attention to the out side pinch seams of the ear. Thank God for grinders.

"thank god for grinders" I agree.

Is it possible to edit the title of this post so I can update it? How do I do it?

Thanks for the update.

That's what I had in mind, Andy.


Nice job.


KT

this should be added to the "classics" thread. Someone should scan the templates and make them available.

KT

Cool I made the classics! I gave the templates to Trekkor.