Bit different question about body mounts... or lack thereof

[dsapper]

So, as you may or may not know I have coilovers installed and lowered the car quite a bit. Loved the look but it was to low, the front overhang on the car means its a real scraping hazard and the crossmember is a bit lower than I'd like so I raised it back up about 1" just to be safe.

Now I built a 1972 z28 and mounted the front subframe to the body without bushings. Worked out great. I'm now thinking of removing the body mounts and mounting the body of the car directly to the frame to get that extra drop without sacrificing ground clearance and it will cover up the small portion of the frame showing out of the side of the car.

My concern is squeaking with that much body touching the frame. I have a set of solid aluminum bushings I didn't use and am also considering throwing them on a lathe to cut them down to 1/8" or so just to give the car something to sit on besides the body.

Input/ideas?

 

[chopped39]

I dont know if that would work. If you have a drive shaft loop that would have to be modded. there is more room on the side of the body between the frm and body than there is between the cross member where the shocks bolt up. plus the fuel lines are between the body and frame up there. The fillers would have to be modded.The bumpers wont move with the body.I would mess with springs to get the right stance. hope this helps

 

[Chuck Leeper]

What do you plan to do concerning the loss of the space the mounts provide, with the transmission, intake manifold, AC box?
Sounds like a bad idea to me...

 

[Buhog]

I did away with body mounts. I did have to add half inch spacers to clear trans tunnel. All the other problems mentioned I didn't run into and the stability was better than expected. Looks wise which I was after was awesome without any negative altered suspension issues


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[dsapper]

I'm thinking 1/4" Buhog. Most people have collapsed mounts anyways, hoping its not an issue. Only concern at all is the bumpers.

 

[Buhog]

I had no issues with bumpers. The absorbers have quite a range of up/ down adjustment. My first try was frame to body but had contact issues with trans and more so the frame hump at rear suspension. 1/8 inch still had same issues but barely. I did 1/4 with no issues but added GNX cut outs on plastic fender liners for tire clearance. Actually I settled on 1/2 rear to 1/4 front alum with bike inner tube so no corrosion issues and shorter bolts


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[dsapper]

Thanks Buhdog, glad to see I'm not the only one thinking out of the box. Any reason for the 1/2 in the rear, clearance? And what did you mean about the bike tire?!? Didn't really get that

Also, any idea on the stock thickness of the body mounts?

 

[Buhog]

Only reason for 1/2 out back was looks. Sorry about tire, what I did was use bicycle inner tube cut and a piece to isolate the aluminum spacers touching steel. 2 reasons , squeaks and dissimilar metal contact. The handling was a judge improvement. Stock rubber mounts are 1 1/2 when new.


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[dsapper]

Mind me asking what size tires your using? Any hood clearance issues? Hmm I wonder if the inner tube is needed, I've used solid mounts before and never heard squeaking. I'm also planning on turning down solid mounts on a lathe and not just use spacers so maybe that will give it a little more stability and less ability to rub and squeak. Would love to see a picture of your car, especially how low the pinch weld is compared to the frame.

 

[ZNix]

Why not cut down the poly bushings to thr height you want?

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[Buhog]

The thin rubber was more for dissimilar metal contact. The rear frame section was narrowed a 1/2 inch either side but I don't think there would have been an issue there. No hood clearance problem almost like the bubble was actually there for a reason. Did discard OE pad and used a thinner material from Toyota. Tire size I finally settled with 255/50/18 all around. Fiddled with 275s but didn't like the performance/ looks.


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[Buhog]

I did solid alum mounts as you are as for poly , they still give more than I wanted. The car was tortured while I owned it. Sold it a couple years ago and I think new owner likes to look at it more. Reason I'm on now is to assemble parts and info as I have a TR I'd like to build with a 6 speed manual trans.


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