I've seen many pictures of raised driveshaft tunnels in order to clear it when the car is lowered. But I've never read anything about what is done with the floor braces after they cut through them. Is this what everyone does? ... http://www.lowridermagazine.com/tech/0604lrm_air_bag_suspension/photo_06.html Or do they just leave as is and not worry about bracing?
Personally, I think that solution is kinda lame. I would rather see the stock brace modified to push up into the car as well. Here's what I did on my roadster floor. different beast, but similar concept. The stock braces were just modified. There are some other pics on my build thread if you are interested.
I agree. Nice work btw. So since my brace is under the car, just modifying that section as you did, should be enough strength?
Is it also necessary to brace the floor somehow, when cutting and raising the tunnel? Such as weld a piece of straight bar from rocker to rocker, almost like bracing the body when chopping a top.
Here are some under car shots of a model a we did. It is 1"x1" 11g square tube. The floor bolted to the 1.75" tubes of the frame. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
working on a 51 Chevy right now where the tunnel was cut out, the new one put in and brazed and a few boogerwelds along with some sort of rubbery stuff was all that was holding it in so basically the left side of the floor was not really attached to the right side. has to be the worst driveshaft tunnel of all time, but it matched all the other ****py work that was done to the car.
I would sure think so. I'm not a materials engineer or anything, but you're not really cutting the entire middle out of the car. There is still metal tying right to left, and top to bottom. When you chop a top the entire structure of one end of the vehicle is removed, hence the braces. On the contrary, braces wont hurt anything either. Ah the joys of home engineering
I don't like floor or tunnel bracing to be raised or above floor level, but I do replace it. I use box tubing, and try to use lightweight box that is close to the original size of the braces. When I chopped the tunnel and floor out on my Falcon project I built a new brace out of 1.75" box tubing. I split it lengthwise to make it close in size to what I cut out, and then welded it into the old braces, and tied it all together. Then I built my new tunnel and floors to the new braces, and added some 1" box tubing to brace up the rest of the new tunnel. It's heavier than the original floor and tunnel, but I don't mind the extra weight.
Sounds like fabrication is going to be the hardest part. Keep them coming I need to get as many ideas as possible.
Thank you HRP! When looking for answers to fabrication issues, sometimes emulating stock is the cleanest way too go. Just modify to fit. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
So can I get some more ideas and help on this. I'm afraid of cutting through the floor brace and the floor shifting.
what you do is get some steel like 1/4 X 2.5 and bend it to the shape of what your tunnel will be. then weld those pieces to whatever crossbraces your floor came with. then make the sheetmetal tunnel to fit the hoops you just made. this photo should explain it.
Looks and sounds good. Hate to get technical, but every placed I've called said their steel is cold rolled, isn't hot rolled easier to work with and weld? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
No, cold rolled is easier to work with. When I do mine I bend up lightweight box tubing to the shape I want prior to bending up the trans tunnel. Then bend the tunnel to fit the new braces I build, and drill holes in the new tunnel where it overlaps the braces and plug weld to the braces.
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