The Dodge Challenger Message Board

This stuff looks good, some great ideas and well executed pieces, check it....

http://uscartool.com/

Yeah..

viewtopic.php?p=63732#p63732

Aahh gotcha now Daveman..........still don't remember it
...... wonder if Hezzel noticed any improvement?
Or if he had any other braces added?
My original plan with the Baccaruda 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 wrote:My original plan with the Baccaruda 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 am sure that would work. But when I looked into doing that on my Challenger I decided it was all going to be too much in the way and make working on the engine a pain. So didn't bother.

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.

That sounds like a good idea as long as wheel clearence is OK.

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?

Same here. I don't understand why you would need that. If you really needed to do that why not just re-enforce the radiator frame, add a diagnal brace across the radiator opening and tie the lot into the shock towers too.

It all just seems to be a lot of added weight to the front end for no clear improvement to the chassis stifness.

Could it be a requirement for a sanctioning body's race series?

If had a bare front stub,AND really fat rubber,, I would add the upper braces and lower Rad support and seam weld the panels. Every little bit helps IMHO,,BUT for street and some competition,,it's probably overkill. XV and MoPar Action Mag had a few articles regarding both E & B body stress evaluations on a Formula 1 Surface plate with F-1 Engineers doing the work up in Canada. They said the front end needed help in the RAD area and this is why XV and AMD US Car & Tool ect offer these parts or a fabricator could easily make them. I would love to add them but stripping the fenders, front end,,ect is not in the current game plan.