suprspooky

please post review at some point after it's installed (I really like the look of it versus reworking my original with the flanges).

pauldana

OldCarBum

69427

What's the weight on that?

pauldana

We do most all are own fab work. I ask my sons before I purchased it if it was just better to make it ourselves.. obviously we believed it a good deal, and it is,, welds are very good, quality to this point seems to be very good, and yes it is powder coated. Although the Crossmember itself is complete, there is fab work still needed, attaching it to the frame... will post pictures and results, about a week.



Heavy... This I do not like, If i could have purchased in in aluminum for a few hundred dollars more I would have.. 27 lbs with nuts and bolts and hardware... I will weigh what we removed when done, then post.

pauldana

pauldana

Ok.... good concept, BAD followthrough...


The problem ... well several actually, but the one being addressed in this post, is that the exhaust pipe feedthrough is in the friggen wrong place! It is set out wider, further from center both sides, then the stock. There is very little room to get the pipes up high enough to not scrape the ground, with this crossmember in its standard form it moves the exhaust pass through to far to the outer edges and away from the transmission where you can tuck the pipes up and out of the way... if left in stock form the pipes would hang about 2" lower... what a friggen lousy followthrough on a great idea.,

more pictures to follow... by cutting it down and moving it in center, I will be able to run my 3" mandrel bend pipes through it and not give up and ground clearance....

I will also be fixing the weak not thoughtout link/attachment to the side frame rales..



Center pice where transmission mount is... to wide, had to cut down

Different angle of cut down center pice

Different angle of cut down center pice

Frame where old cross member was cut off

Frame where old cross member was cut off. other side.. and yes, we will be replacing the fuel lines

view of cuts

small center box that is removed

ready for welding

ready for welding in this form

close up

different angle

carriljc

pauldana
Do you have any more pics of this completed cross-member?
How you attached the outboard ends and fabricated the replacement mounts?

I am pondering getting one because I was thinking the further outboard "pass-under" would make more room for my planned 200-4R.

Looking at all the work that did here I might be better off just buying a piece of channel steel if it's necessary to fabricate that much????

pauldana

I can put the car on the lift tonight and post a few pictures...

when i get home...


the reason I had to cut it up is it did not match the exhaust piping I had/have i run 3" mandrel bend SS.

OldCarBum

Good to see you are still responding and hanging out on the forum.
Greg

pauldana

thanks:-)… life has just gotten so so busy, that a lot of pleasure items/things are set aside for
another day/….


welded, that’s what my sons did, they welded the ends on the frame,
cut the end of the tubing, sleeved it and then put in a hole for a large bolt…

carriljc

pauldana
Many thanks..... Great pics! I see how you did the ends----so I'm guessing the vertical bolts on the stock automatic crossmembers don't do much of anything but "align"? Most of the weight is supported by the horizontal bolt? I can do that.

If someone can use the aftermarket cross-member without redesigning, then this seems like a good option

For that matter; the "side" stubs I left for my removable crossmember are longer than that.... wonder if I could cut the ends off that aftermarket crossmember (there goes my no-modification idea?) and slide within, and then bolt on???

I you have time could you give us the height & width of this crossmember? If I can easily modify to slide into the remaining stubs it makes everything a bit easier.

OldCarBum

Just looking at my GForce crossmember, I should be able to use it for my bb with 3” exhaust without any modifications.
They do sell several for C3 Corvettes so you might want to give them a call and see which model will function best for you.
When I called them they were extremely helpful and their customer service was awesome.

carriljc

OldCarBum
So you must have an Automatic to begin with? Can you take height and width measurements? I'm curious if it is a skosh smaller than stock. Hopefully I could slide it into the stubs I left for my crossmember.....

OldCarBum

My GForce crossmember is model number RCC-300, which is for a 700R4 or 4160E automatic, which is the same model crossmember you will order for a TKO-600 manual and bolts up to all three transmissions without modifications and bolts into the frame rails just like the oem crossmember for an automatic trans.
It will depend on which transmission you will be running as to which crossmember you order.
If your running a TKO-600 like me, the RCC-300 should be the crossmember you would use.
If your running a different transmission, then the measurements from mine will be different than the model crossmember you need.
Give GForce a call and confirm which crossmember you need, they make 3 for 68-81 C3s
I can measure mine for you, I’ll just need to pull it out of storage.
What areas do you need measured?

carriljc

OldCarBum
Thanks. Below is a pic of the height and distance I am curious about. The square tubing before the attachment brackets ae welded on.

And if you could also the following measurements:

Overall width
WIdth at the outboard ends of the bracket for the horizontal bolt.
Width at the ends of the square tubing where the attachment brackets are welded on.

Richard Daugird

Seems to me, if you already have exhaust how you want it, better to fab a crossmember from scratch. If not, buy their crossmember and have exhaust built to fit.

69427

carriljc

I plan to put in a 200-4R which will be bulkier than the Manual.

Richard Daugird

I could easily build a crossmember in a day. Not that complicated of a piece.