any one have a good description on how to replace a torque box?
There are a couple of good vids on Youtube. I’m working on a write up for this site right now.
Did you get the old one out yet. Getting the old one out is easy because you can cut it out in pieces just leaving the spot weld areas and then take your time and remove that metal carefully. You also pretty much learn everything you need to know taking it out.
Here is a picture of one of mine going back in. The toe boards or lower firewall panels over my torque box are removed. I have it separated into its two pieces and pinned back together for initial installation. After you get it located and tack welded in place take the pins out and the top off so that you can make the welds that are inside of the torque box and otherwise impossible to get to. Later you will install the top and weld it.
This next pic is after the inside is primed and ready to install the top. I will find you some more and better pictures of the weld areas and what they look like individually.
Here are some more torque box pics. Hope they help.
Or you could just put this under your Cougar… It’s in my plans:
http://www.schwartzperformance.com/1967-1970-mercury-cougar-chassis/
Thanks for the quick responses, Is it possible to remove the box and reinstall from the bottom or the out side of the interior? The guy who owned my early 67’ already welded in floor panels over the not so good torque box and I would hate to cut that all out.
Thanks
As you can see from the pics above, it would be extremely difficult to do that and get a good structural capacity from the box.
Removing the toe board and floor section is essential for a number of reasons. The interior upper flange of the torque box goes between the floor and the frame section. The alignment of the new part takes some time because generally the body will be out of square a bit too, or something will be irregular that you’ll have to adjust or make allowances for.
The torque box is a structural part that depends on being both square and welded properly. You can sort of cram floors into a car and do a half-assed job of it (yes, floors are structural in a unibody, but much easier to fudge and fill with bondo and forget). But the torque box is structural and needs all your attention to detail. So, you probably need to pull the toe board and part of the floor out at least to allow yourself ample opportunity to get it right. Especially if you’ve never done it before. Measure ten times and take very thorough measurements, then cut, then mock it up and take your time.