Rear X-brace help

952 Views 31 Replies 13 Participants Last post by supershifter2, 12 d ago

lalojamesliz

Discussion Starter · 15 d ago

I was about to install my battery mount and remembered about the X-brace.
I plan to track this car eventually. Not sure how much but that's the plan.
I have convertible inner rockers, a custom MC bar and crossmember, 1 piece export brace, Front/rear Torque boxes, shock tower bracing, 1 piece seat pan so I might as well add this right...

I was thinking 1" tubing with the ends flattened and rounded the way I'm holding this square tubing then the other direction welded to the middle of this and bolted to the other corners and a square plate welded to the middle of this for extra strength.
What do you guys think?
Or do you guys know of a better material to build this with?
Ive had my miller 220 for almost 2.5yrs and have hardly used the tig function. This will be a nice practice piece since its just support and not structural

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supershifter2

· #2 · 15 d ago (Edited)

I dont have a brace back there on my 65. Doesnt need one there. The front is where much needs to be done.

Heres my rear end.

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lalojamesliz

Discussion Starter · #3 · 15 d ago

supershifter2 said:
I dont have a brace back there on my 65. Doesnt need one there. The front is where much needs to be done.

View attachment 896737

Heres my rear end.

View attachment 896743

View attachment 896745

Those holes in your cowl....might let water in if it rained.....

Thank you for this info. It definitely saves me some time. I'll practice on something else I guess

supershifter2

· #4 · 15 d ago (Edited)

lalojamesliz said:
Those holes in your cowl....might let water in if it rained.....
Thank you for this info. It definitely saves me some time. I'll practice on something else I guess

I know and the lower cowl pan could melt.

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Flade

· #5 · 15 d ago

Bracing the Car there has been shown to help with rigidity. Ford actually added braces there on a number of cars including the Cougar.

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lalojamesliz

Discussion Starter · #6 · 15 d ago

Flade said:
Bracing the Car there has been shown to help with rigidity. Ford actually added braces there on a number of cars including the Cougar.

View attachment 896752

Hmmm
I'll put it on the back burner then instead of the trash bin

supershifter2

· #7 · 15 d ago

Flade said:
Bracing the Car there has been shown to help with rigidity. Ford actually added braces there on a number of cars including the Cougar.

View attachment 896752

It depends on how its built in that area. Cougar is different from mustang.

Helmantel

· #8 · 15 d ago

supershifter2 said:
Cougar is different from mustang.

Not to the point that a Cougar benefits from braces but a Mustang wouldn't...

An often mentioned test (measuring torsional stiffness of a bare shell) published on another forum some years back showed that a plate mounted behind the back seat was quite effective (2nd after the OEM Export Brace)

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Tool Vulture

· #9 · 14 d ago

NPD sells a sheet metal backing for behind the rear seat. I added two diagonal support square tube bars there and fastened the metal backing onto them and the rear structure.

Woodchuck

· #10 · 14 d ago

Grab a piece of 16-18 gauge steel, run it through a press-brake and bend it into 1 x 2" channels, frame it with 1" C-channel welded, and weld in place in the opening. If desired, add access holes for rear shock upper mounts.

GypsyR

· #11 · 14 d ago

Is that your battery box in the middle? Consider putting it in the conventional "over the right rear tire" area. Especially if you are going to do any track work.

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wicked93gs

· #12 · 14 d ago (Edited)

I used RX8 trunk braces:

They bolt into the RX8, but fit the '66 perfectly(welded in) after some minor trimming:

They also do not interfere with rear seat fitment or shock access if that matters. And since there are a ton of RX8s always being parted out they are cheap(got mine for $20?) hard to beat the cost even if buying raw materials

Food for thought: Every single coupe(2 door hardtop, whatever you want to call the body style) built since the 70s that does not have a fold-down rear seat has trunk braces of some sort.

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rpm

· #13 · 14 d ago

GypsyR said:
Is that your battery box in the middle? Consider putting it in the conventional "over the right rear tire" area. Especially if you are going to do any track work.

I tried to get him to do that, the boy don't listen I tell ya.

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Woodchuck

· #14 · 14 d ago

rpm said:
I tried to get him to do that, the boy don't listen I tell ya.

Frankly, unless it's a drag strip car I'd put the battery on the right side where the seat bottom would go... I'd also drop the fuel tank a couple inches but that's just me...

lalojamesliz

Discussion Starter · #15 · 14 d ago

GypsyR said:
Is that your battery box in the middle? Consider putting it in the conventional "over the right rear tire" area. Especially if you are going to do any track work.

Yes that my battery holder. It's on top of the extra clearance box thing for the 3rd link on my SOT 3-link.

I was thinking of this but I wasn't sure if it made difference. I was talking with a buddy of mine that came over and told him for a normal city driving battery I planned on using a big odyssey battery that I also use on my family SUV for the extra cranking and reserve if I ever needed it.

For track, I planned on using a small odyssey battery that puts out just enough cranking amps for my 408w.
When I had my previous car, people would sometimes track those cars and they would put a small agm battery inside the passenger trunk side panels right next to the fender.

lalojamesliz

Discussion Starter · #16 · 14 d ago

rpm said:
I tried to get him to do that, the boy don't listen I tell ya.

Hey, I don't remember that conversation hahahha
I guess I can just do that since that's the advice you guys are suggesting. Easier to do anyways.

lalojamesliz

Discussion Starter · #17 · 14 d ago (Edited)

wicked93gs said:
I used RX8 trunk braces:

They bolt into the RX8, but fit the '66 perfectly(welded in) after some minor trimming:

They also do not interfere with rear seat fitment or shock access if that matters. And since there are a ton of RX8s always being parted out they are cheap(got mine for $20?) hard to beat the cost even if buying raw materials

Food for thought: Every single coupe(2 door hardtop, whatever you want to call the body style) built since the 70s that does not have a fold-down rear seat has trunk braces of some sort.

Very nice! I'll definitely look for some.
Can't find any

lalojamesliz

Discussion Starter · #18 · 14 d ago

Woodchuck said:
Grab a piece of 16-18 gauge steel, run it through a press-brake and bend it into 1 x 2" channels, frame it with 1" C-channel welded, and weld in place in the opening. If desired, add access holes for rear shock upper mounts.

I almost bought one. I almost made one. Eventually I told myself to stop because space is a luxury I don't have in my 2 garage

GypsyR

· #19 · 13 d ago

The idea is to use the battery's weight as a natural (and free) traction aid. The average group 24 battery weighs like 50 pounds. If you are going to use a battery that weighs next to nothing then by all means, place it wherever you like.

wicked93gs

· #20 · 13 d ago

GypsyR said:
The idea is to use the battery's weight as a natural (and free) traction aid. The average group 24 battery weighs like 50 pounds. If you are going to use a battery that weighs next to nothing then by all means, place it wherever you like.

Heh, car batteries are too expensive these days. My plan is to use 2(maybe 3) lawnmower batteries wired in parallel instead. Gives me a lot more options for weight distribution.

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