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Connecting Frames 67 Firebird

923 views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  xntrik 
#1 ·
Hello I am thinking about making my own frame connectors for my 67 Firebird. I want to weld the front and rear solid. I would like to make them look like they are from the factory. Any advice or tips on how about to tackle this, Or pictures if anyone had done this them self on a first gen Firebird or Camaro would be great.

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
red_rider52 said:
Hello I am thinking about making my own frame connectors for my 67 Firebird. I want to weld the front and rear solid. I would like to make them look like they are from the factory. Any advice or tips on how about to tackle this, Or pictures if anyone had done this them self on a first gen Firebird or Camaro would be great.

Thanks.
The most important thing is that the frame be square and level before you do the welding. A smart thing would be to have it on a frame machine and measure exactly before striking that arc.

How'd you lilke to weld all that in and then find out there is a 1/2 inch twist in the unibody?
 
#4 ·
it is possible to do anything your heart desires in your garage, I built an entire frame from scratch on my garage floor and its as true as the commercial manufactures can do, I also modified the frame on my 49 chevy truck quite heavily in my garage, the trick is getting the frame (in your case the unibody) level on all axis's, this took me more time than anything, I used a bunch of jackstands (8 total) and dug up my plumb bob, made sure the truck frame was true before I started messing with it, picked identical measuring points and marked them off with grease pencil, and marked the floor of the garage for reference sake, then started leveling with a bubble level, took me about 4 hours to get the vehicle level from side to side, front to back etc....the prob I had (found on hour two) that my garage slab was not as true as it looked so I had to shim and micro adjust the truck which took the remainder of the time...trick is accuracy, get a game plan specific for your sled and measure and remeasure as much as will convince you your true....I also pulled measurements off of friends, aquantinces and folks I dont know's trucks to make sure mine was correct as well....that said I ttoally destabalized my entire frame before putting it back together again, you got it easier in as much as you are not destabalizing, but adding to existing structure....that will be much easier than what I went through.

oh and BTW, I have all the same tools you have and accomplished all of my work just fine, (wish I had a plasma...that would make short work of alot of things...)
 
#5 ·
Red, I made the ones for my 68 Bird using 2" square tubing. However, I did have mine on a rotisserie in my garage which made it much easier, but I made mine so that they welded in in the rear and bolted on in the front so that the subframe could be removed easily. It wouldve been MUCH easier to make it welded in the front also, but I wanted to keep the subframe removeable. So I think what youre attempting is definitely possible in your garage. There are some pics of them installed on my website and I have some newer ones with the subframe installed that I havent posted on my site yet but that I can email to you.
 
#6 ·
CDJr. The pics look good but I don't want to cut my floors I would like to just follow the contour of the floor with a little gap. The dimensions of the frame might come in very handy tho. thanks.

Some very good pointers thanks. any other pics or tips would be great.
 
#7 ·
Like he said, you can do anything in your garage.... but do you have the time and talent to do it? A frame machine is a lot faster and worth the money. If it is bent then they can fix it first.

The other thing to remember is that unibody cars are not the same shape with weight on the wheels or with their weight on jackstands. Jack up a lot of them on "spider racks" and you can noticeable see them droop at the door gaps...

The 60s models Mopar B body 2 dr ht were so horrible that if you jacked one up on a "spider type" grease rack either you couldn't open the doors, or if you did you could not close them until you set the car down.

They all flex a little, that is why you are putting sub frame connectors in anyway.

You better have the car straight when you start bolting or welding.

www.readershotrods.com
 
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