Northwest Members - Custom SFC's On A Budget

Well, times are tough these days so a guys gotta do things on a budget. My original plan was to buy some SFC's, but they're around 180. I thought that was a little extreme for some bent up steel. I also need a rollbar, so that got me thinking about buying a welder and doing some of this myself since I have so much free time these days being layed-off haha... :) Once I get a welder, I should break even with the price of "bolt-in" stuff, except now I'll have a welder that I can either sell, which would put me well ahead, or just keep it.

Here's some pics of the custom SFC's I'm fabbing up in my garage. I've got most of the cutting/fitting done, now I just need a welding machine to finish it up. :)

Started off with two 5' pieces of 2"x2" mild steel with 1/8th wall thickness. Thes are going to be STOUT SFC's and only be about 2lb's heavier than aftermarket pieces. The actual length of the SFC's ended up at 45-1/2", but the steel yard would only sell 10' min length. I had them cut it in half for easier transport. Total cost for material, 35.00.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ds-001.jpg

Here's the front and rear subframes that I'll be tying together.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ds-002.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ds-003.jpg

I used a piece of foam core board to mock up the bend and pattern for cutting. The bend makes it line up better, and creates an area on the outside mount that can be welded. Otherwise it would be too tight to get a welder into.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ds-004.jpg

Create a pie notch in the tubing to get the bend. Once it's notched, it bends fairly easy, no special tools needed. I used a hand grinder with a cut-off wheel for all the cutting and it went fairly quick.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ds-005.jpg

Once I had the correct angle, I transferred the pattern to the steel and started cutting. This is a trial and fit situation until it's good. Had to do this several time to get the fit good and tight against the front subframe.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ds-007.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ds-008.jpg

Here's the outside area of the front subframe mount that required the bend to get a welder into. Still pretty tight but should be good enough for a MIG torch head. :)
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ds-009.jpg

Here's the clearance from the side. They tuck up real nice under the lip of the bottom rocker panel. Once painted and welded in place you'll never see them from the side.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ds-010.jpg

Here's the rear subframe and the connector. Notice that I'll need to fab up a spacer to fill the gap. Also going to fill the factory gap between the LCA mount and the rear subframe rail that goes over the rear axle. This will add strength and integrity to the entire front/rear subframe and create a stronger mount for the rollbar. I'll finish up the spacers once I acquire a welder.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ds-11.jpg

Shot looking forward. The PS SFC is nearly complete other than welding.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ds-12.jpg

The passenger side is nearly identical as the driver side, but here's a few shots.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ps-001.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ps-002.jpg

The PS hangs down a little further, maybe a 1/2" or so. Still barely noticable once it get's painted.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/ps-004.jpg

That's it for now. Hoping to have a welder soon so I can finish it all up. :)

Mike

Dam Mike! I commend you for your getter done attitude. You are isnpiring with your skills to just bust something out like that! Thats really cool bro cant wait to see how it turns out and if ya want to make some $ maybe you could hook me up with a set of those someday!! I would love to learn how to weld!

I don't know if I missed it but I would definatley use some sort of flat peice at the mounts to spread the load and help stiffin things up.

The fronts are getting welded just like you see them. It's square tubing, and it's getting welded around 3 of the four sides so that should be plenty. The back is getting a spacer betweent the new square tubing and the rear lca mount. It might get a plate welded accross the very bottom and wrap around the lca mount. Then I'm going to add another spacer in between the lca mount and the rear frame rail (that big factory gap). That will hopefully stiffen up that area for the rollbar mount. :)

Mike

Dam Mike! I commend you for your getter done attitude. You are isnpiring with your skills to just bust something out like that! Thats really cool bro cant wait to see how it turns out and if ya want to make some $ maybe you could hook me up with a set of those someday!! I would love to learn how to weld!

Thanks man. Once I get the MIG welder, c'mon over and I'll give you a quick lesson lol... Overhead welding is a little tricky but it's pretty easy with a MIG. Overhead with a stick welder or TIG is not as easy lol....

Mike

Nice work Mike. Do you think it matters if you weld it with the car weight on the tires or on jack stands?

Nice work Mike. Do you think it matters if you weld it with the car weight on the tires or on jack stands?

Yes it does matter and it's something I've paid attention to. The front of the car has the jackstands placed on the frame rails in the same place/height on both sides. The rear stands are under the axle in the same place/height on both sides. I'm hoping that having the rear being held up with "sprung" weight, it will even out the load on the chassis. It's about as level as it's gonna get without welding them on a "drive on" type lift. That one pic shows the jackstand up close, but it's not supporting the car at all, you can see the supporting jackstand in the background. That one up close was being used to support the SFC while I clamped it down. :)

Mike

They say you are supposed to fully load the suspension evenly. I noticed on my SFC's that the back part had the lower control arm bolt run through it. Here is what I did :)

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h8/nitroused383/100_0949.jpg

They say you are supposed to fully load the suspension evenly. I noticed on my SFC's that the back part had the lower control arm bolt run through it. Here is what I did :)


Clever method there,,,, lol. I guess I could borrow some ramps and load the front end on those while still having the rearend loaded on the jackstands. That might be a better solution. I just don't know if I'll be able to get the height needed with just a ramp in the front. I don't have a lift so the 55 gal drum/ramp combo is not an option for me haha... :)

Mike

Well I bit the bullet and ordered up the welder a couple days ago. Should be here next week sometime so I can finish burning-in these sfc's. Also picking up a used 6 point rollbar this coming Sunday, so there's yet another welding project for the black car. I'll post up some pics of these sfc's once they're all painted and welded up. :)

Mike

I made some more progress on the SFC'c this weekend. I've been busy fitting the rollbar also, so it's been taking a little bit more time to complete. Also getting used to the new welder. I'm almost finished with the driver side SFC so here are some more progress pics.

Welded up the notched angles in the SFC's.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/08-22-09/001.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/08-22-09/002.jpg

Ground the welds down for a smoother/cleaner look.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/08-22-09/003.jpg

Primer coat.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/08-22-09/004.jpg

Final coat of Rustoleom black.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/08-22-09/005.jpg

Re-checking fitment after the welding.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/08-22-09/006.jpg

Measuring for the rear 3/8" spacer I had to make to fill this gap.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/08-22-09/007.jpg

Front welded up and ready for paint.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/08-22-09/008.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/08-22-09/009.jpg

Rear spacer welded onto the SFC on both sides before installing/welding to the car. Still not real happy with the way this turned out so I'll probably end up making a tie-in bracket that wraps around the lca mount like most SFC's do. It was difficult to get my MIG torch up into that gap so I'm just not 100% confident about the integrity of the welds to the lca mount.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d136/Bowties4evr/Z28/Custom%20SFC/08-22-09/010.jpg

That's all I have for now. I'll probably run several small beads of weld down the sides of the rocker lip either today or tomorrow. I still need to finish the passenger side SFC as well. More pics to come....... :)

Mike