Where to brace the back end ?

[BIGS]

Im going to cut the boot floor out and want to know where would i need to weld box section in to stop the shell from having any give.

Could someone drew lines on this pic where i would need the bars welded in please

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/b17ova/nova/nc0269.jpg

And hope you dont mind me using your pic Oli?

[EUROTURBO]

sounds silly mate but any reason as to why you want to cut the complete boot floor out???

If you are going to do this i suggest you weld the new bars in on a Jig otherwise the car may crab slightly...

[BIGS]

It is but im not saying untill ive done what i want to do. then ill update my thread with pics

Only person will know what im planning is burgo

[meritlover]

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/6486/nc0269zb0.jpg

[BIGS]

cheers bud, i can go but the metal now :thumb:


Edit was going to give you rep but have to spread it around

[EUROTURBO]

if your going to do what i think your going to do then i would bin the standard suspention turrets and put box ones in with coilovers and pipe around them...

By cross bracing as above it will stop contorsion of the chassis...good call meritlover

[meritlover]

indeed, if you are going to such an extent, removing the inner tubs and fitting larger custom jobs to increase your wheel selection and also allow the shocks to be mounted on the 'cage'. also consider bracing the chassis leg where the axle mount is, as this is the bit that takes all the load, technically, anything rear of that is pointless.

[BIGS]

Well i doubt you know what im going to do lol But i am going to turret the rear. Ive got these turrets here like rich bought

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/b17ova/nova/DSC00918.jpg

But turrting the rear is the easy part

[BIGS]

Well thats the thing im going to be cutting the whole back end out. the chassis legs are not going to be there to brace.

[meritlover]

thats not actually doing anything. the strut brace has to be held relative to the cage.
the strut tops on the nove dont do the same job as say macpherson struts on another car (or even the front) as all they do is go up and down. flexing at this point doesnt change the geometry of the rear wheels due to the beam axle. And the cage welded to the rear tub isnt doing anything really to stiffen the chassis. it needs to be held to a structural part. likely even more so in your case...whatever that may be ;)

[DaveyLC]

The floor doesnt actually offer much rigidity (the bit behind the tank anyway). the rear beam is bolted to the chassis rails which obtain most of their strength from the sections beyond the floor.

When I got to this point it started losing some rigidity lol!!
http://www.dohc.co.uk/temp/nova/24-06-08/25062008501.jpg

[BIGS]

That something like im going to do. but the box section will be much lower tho

[meritlover]

you will be amazed at how quickly the back end turns to a wobbly box of tin when you start removing metal.you will soon find yourself space framing almost the entire car.....you have been warned.

[BIGS]

So you think its worth bracing alot more then?

[meritlover]

it really depends on what your doing/planning on doing. you have to make absolutely sure that the axle mounts on the chassis leg are solid, or anything else is a waste of time, as even though the roof and sides are solid relative to the front, the axle will be floating about like jelly. and youl start to realise that theres actually very little solidness left to weld any bracing to, so you'll need hundreds of it everywhere, and you may end up with more weight and less space than you started.

all im saying is that the point where daveyLC was at before he added the box, you can hold the rear tale-gate slam panel and move the back end at least 2-3" in each direction and even under its own weight, the boot wont shut.

removing the floor is one thing, but if your talking about slicing the chassis legs as well then your in for a lot of work.

[therealnovaboy]

ive never understood why people brace the tops of the rear shocks and the idea behind rear coilovers. to brace the rear end youd be better taking the tank out and putting a cross brace across the two shassy legs ie from the back of the bracket where the axle bolts on to, to the other side behind where the chassy legs join to the floor pan under the rear seat.

[Stuart]

http://www.pngclub.com/forum/viewfeaturecar.php?ref=2949

not the best pics, but you get the gist.
it wasnt floppy at all

[burgo]

bigs imo you are better off cutting all but the chassis legs out or you'll be adding that much more metalwith bracing that your getting no gain. cut it all out but the chassis legs the all you will need is the brace between the struts. thats assuming your having a cage to go down to the rear archs aswell.

[BIGS]

Yea im having a full cage. the one that has a X bar and goes to the front turrets. So bassicly cut up to the legs and use the gap in between that?

[BIGS]

Ah cheers Stuart that is ideal, so was that cut to the legs? or left abit of room on the side of it?

[burgo]

you dont even need to brace between the chassis imo. i was suprised how strong it all is with the floor cut out. as far as handling is concerned you only need to worry about rigidity between the suspension points. imagaine linking all the strust tops, it is this rectangle that wants to be as stiff as funk. forget the rest

[Stuart]

cut to where the legs flattened out onto the boot floor (approx 10-15mm from the legs)

[BIGS]

Ideal thanks for the info lads really appreciate, if i could give more rep i would lol

[meritlover]

http://www.pngclub.com/forum/viewfeaturecar.php?ref=2949

not the best pics, but you get the gist.
it wasnt floppy at all

...thats because that one has the chassis legs intact:roll:

[burgo]

cut to where the legs flattened out onto the boot floor (approx 10-15mm from the legs)you can do this by cutting 10mm towards the centre from the spot welds. thats how i did it anyway

[burgo]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/sclurgess/light%20blue/S7302369.jpg

[BIGS]

Looks like tomorrow i will be taking all the paint of to see the spot welds and do some cutting :D

[burgo]

you dont need to take the paint off to see them. just use a mark to join the dots basically then cut 10mm in from that line

[Stuart]

and of course, make sure the fecking fuel tank is out!!!

[burgo]

and of course, make sure the fecking fuel tank is out!!!i didnt :P

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/sclurgess/light%20blue/S7302363.jpg