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I'm beginning to think you're the last guy left doing mods to the early S197's, and one of the last guys doing S197 chassis & suspension work by themselves who doesn't seem to be specifically building a race car. Not nearly as much traffic in this section as there used to be . . .
Originally Posted by 08'MustangDude
Picked it up for $40.00, easy swap:
Going back to the beginning of this thread for a moment, I will say that's more rust than I'd expect to see on my car's brace. I'd either replace or rework a brace that looked that rough as well.
BMR INSTALLED:
The structural analyst in me thinks that the designer of this particular aftermarket brace could have straightened out the load path over on the driver side by filling in the front and rear "sides" with triangular pieces of steel so that it more closely matched the OE design. I imagine that the aftermarket brace is using thicker steel than Ford did, but this really isn't the place to be adding any more bending than can be helped. More steps and more pieces, so more expensive. But better.
The DIY'er in me would put the missing triangles in before installing it on the car, if I didn't simply clean up the OE brace and box it with 1/8" steel strip. Having welding equipment does come in handy from time to time
Norm
Last edited by Norm Peterson; 10-27-2018 at 07:26 AM.
I wasn't fond of that bend either, when the factory brace is straight. There was no
reason for the bend either. It would have gone on if it were straight. I still have
the factory brace, no sense in junking a good factory part. I may just evap-o-rust,
paint and sell it.
I got my S197 on Jan 29th of this year, so yeah, it's new to me. Plus, I am getting these
parts at less than HALF their original cost.
I had thought about boxing the original brace, but I am not a welder, and if I were
to pay our welder to do it, then that's an hour of labor I don't need the owner of the
shop to pay, for me... SO, $40.00 for a heavier brace, or, even one shop hour labor
rate, which is more, plus materials. I know, all that needs done, is a strip welded
in at the open side. The sides are even folded over, so you lay a piece of plate right
on top of it and tig it.
Whiteline sells one like I just put in, without the bend in it. Lakewood, has tubular one,
no bend in it... J&M... Should ask BMR why theirs has that bend in it...
Still, you can weld, about a a 1 1/4" wide, and as long as needed, piece of plate
right on to the factory bar at the open "U" side. As I said, and of course you know, the
each end has a good 1.5" of flat surface , then you can tig all the way down the length.
I may try it myself on the Tig welder, just to see what it would do, can't be hard to weld
it on...
10-27-2018, 07:09 AM
