Hi Everyone,
I just noticed an issue with the shock tower on the drivers side of my '69 convertible. As you can see in the pictures, with the brace installed, the middle mounting bolt does not line up now. Also the other forward mounting hole has been distorted so the bolt will not slide back into the slot and stay put.
My question is, how easy of a repair is this? This is the location where this car got hit and never got repaired properely.
Advice is welcomed.
Subscribing… I need to pull mine apart to install a new brace, and I haven’t done it yet because I’m a little afraid of what I might find ~ mine was also an accident victim previously.
Installing those braces can sometimes be a hassle even on cars with pristine shock towers. I’d loosen the cowl bolts as much as possible, and then try working it into place. (Shock mount goes on first, of course.) Don’t be overly concerned if one or more bolt isn’t seated as far into the slot as its possible to go. As long as the head of the bolt has a solid bite on the underside, its OK.
As for the mangled slot, I don’t see any shortcut to cutting out the damaged section and welding in a good piece. A really good welder/fabricator might be able to rebuild the existing slot in place, but I don’t see how it would ever look right. I’ll be interested to see what other ideas are out there.
You can also put a jack under the front frame crossmember and raise it slightly. These cars flex quite a bit, and the jack trick is usually sufficient to get the bolts lined up.
As stated above I’d use the jack under the cross member attaching the shock mount first. As far as fixing the slotted attachment hole I think that’s a pretty easy fix. A good welder/fabricator could weld that crack and dress it where it would be virtually unnoticeable. This can be achieved by carbide grinding bits and a grinder flapper disk.
Steven
Regarding repair, the crack he shows (in the forward slot - unless I missed another!) would be hidden with the bolts, shock cap and brace in place.
P.S., I’d bet that whacking the offending bolt with a brass drift would pop it right into the brace (but as others have said, put the shock cap in/on first!)
Before you go hogging out the holes I suggest you take a look at Don Rush’s YouTube video here;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgxL4xnTTZ4
Dave,
Try lifting by the x-member & keeping it there over night. Get the export brace ready by grinding the rear edge down a bit & leave a bevel. They fit tight & will scratch the paint. Put one side on w/ nut(s), and try to get the other side on . Use a flat screw driver to move the bolt(s)in to place. I have even had to hammer a few. You can pry the brace if needed. I use a drift/center punch in the back holes to help align things.
When you have the motor out & or suspension, get the welding done, checking for cracks.
Get the reinforced X-member too!
I used a “port-a-power” on mine and the export brace went right in. The towers had sagged in toward the motor. I bet you could carefully use a bottle jack with a 4x4 positioned just right between the towers if jacking from underneath the car doesn’t do the trick.
You could also watch this: https://youtu.be/Ax-fpGsJmig
Thanks for all the input and advice so far. I haven’t had a chance to return to that issue as I have been dealing with all of the other screw-ups and mistakes made previously by so-called professional mechanics. As soon as I correct all of those issues, I will return to correcting the problem with the brace not fitting on the shock tower.
Make the car fit the part, not the part fit the car.
Dave,
Let me know if I can help.
Not sure about the last post, but don’t modify the car to fit the part, just the opposite. The repop parts are not exactly correct. I’ve installed dozens of Export braces. Many of them purchased from Ford before they were discontinued. They fit better than the best repops. I hate seeing the fire wall scratched up when other try to install one.
Jacking up the car helps the install, not the fit.