Need some help on going forward on the shock tower damage shown - can I weld the right performation and grind flat, weld the left tear from fenderwell and engine compartment and grind flat - follow this with a supporting piece welded from side to side on the shock tower and a couple of inches up (I have a 1" lower so the support piece welded on both sides can help here)? What do you guys think, thanks?



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ewll i am no metal person but this applies to several things in life and well i would not just weld it together but i wouls get a sheet of steel and weld it over the repair as a reinforcement

 

yep, I was thinking to first weld and then put a sheet metal piece that would be about 4-5 inches on each side and weld that over. I was so tempted to go take a welding class at the local JC but just can't take the time from work - I like to do the work myself

 

did a bit of welding this evening, now have to dremel and go........... the before and after

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looks better i would buy a shock tower re-inforcement kit for that not right away but just to protect your investment and your life possbly

 

Looks OK. How are you going to be lowering the A-arms, do you have a template to just drill the new holes, or do you have the big metal piece as is used in the Pro Motorsports kit? If the latter you will definitely need to grind at least that part of the weld where the steel drilling / reinforcement plate is going to wind up, so that it will sit flat on the outside of the shock tower.

My cougar was pretty clean and complete when I first got it, so I was thinking about keeping it correct. But then I discovered the cracks in the shock towers. I welded the cracks up first, then decided against grinding them flat where I didn't need to. I figured I'd rather have some extra metal in there where it had previously cracked. Then I did the A-arm lowering with the Pro Motorsports kit. I ended up welding in the steel drill / reinforcement plate on the outside of the towers, then taking the bolts out and completely welding up the original A-arm holes. No going back now. And then I went and welded in the reinforcing gussets on the inside of the towers. I just figured if that part of the car had been stressed enough to crack in the first place, I'd rather do as much as possible to reinforce the area before rebuilding the suspension and driving the car.

 

What's with the big round hole? Mine doesn't have that. If it is so you can grease the ball joints, just get a 90 degree zerk from underneath.


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My 66 has that hole there. Do you guys think, since i did the shelby drop, that my shock tower, are bending or something? because my cars wheels keep moving in at the top. It's either the mounts bending, or the frame itself moving since it doesn't have that crossmember.

 

I was going to say to bradleyb that he needs to either cut a patch that can be made to fit that huge hole in the shock tower, and butt-weld it in there, or at the least, get some 16 gauge stock and cut a patch piece and overlap weld it in. Again, I am no engineer but I think a hole that size could compromise the shock tower appreciably. I would weld the reinforcing kit in as well while the suspension is out of the car.

Apparently the 67-68 cars are very prone to cracking in that area. I think if I were you I'd get the front of the car on stands, pull the wheels, and take the coil covers off. Get in there with a really bright light and look for cracks. If there aren't any, well maybe try a monte carlo bar for your next step. But sure, if the shock towers aren't sound that's a bad thing. With the cougar I figured the erratic steering was going to be due to a bad ball joint or tie rod or loose wheel bearings. All of those checked out and then I happened to notice the cracks in the towers.

If you need to weld up cracks in the towers, then just "stitch" them up, no more than 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch at a time. Alternate between cracks or at least just give the thing a minute or two to cool between welds. I believe the towers are made of 16 guage so they can take some heat, but don't just draw a 3 inch long bead. I think that would be enough to maybe warp the piece. And if you are new to welding, practice on scrap first. The shock tower is too important of a piece to be doing your first practice on.

 

I am planning to weld a piece in for the holes in the shock tower sheet metal. I have seen several mustangs that have this and was pretty amazed that they would just cut a hole in the sheet metal vs. just putting the 90 degree zirc fitting but then again to each their own. I was contemplating either welding a piece in and will probably overlap weld it with about a 1/4 overlap - maybe do it from the fenderwell and then just fill in the little ridge with bondo from the engine compartment side. The easiest deal would be to just fiberglass it but metal work is probably the right answer. Welding on this thin old metal was a bit of a shaggy but once we ground everything to metal and used the argon bottle with the MIG welder, things beaded up nicely, I'll try to take a few pics of the work we did to clean up some old tears in the metal with the other panels.

Also, I think the monte carlo, good export bar and the subframe kit should keep the car rigid - horsepower on Spike did a great show where they cut out the front end and put in a new steering crossmember piece, put in coilovers and completely got rid of the shock tower pieces all together - looked very cool