formed rear rails and subframe conectors and caltracs

[dms2871]

Hello all i was wondering if anybody had any info on this or done it. first of all i have a 72' ventura II similar to a nova. and i want to install ce formed rear rails and ce subframe connectors and use the caltracs on this car to have more room for larger tires but not running a huge amount of hp yet havent decided on that. is it over kill? ive seen many people talking and saw pic of people notching the frame witch will weaken the factory frame rails unless there is a trick to tie it in, and also ive seen the spring relocation kits that ce offers that weld or bolt to the floor, not to strong i would say considering its only trunk floor sheet metal. but far as i see the ce rails sit ontop of the subframe connectors. is this true

[John_Heard]

Hey Dave - I forgot to ask you earlier what are you going to do with this car? If you're going to race it in a shootout class at some point you'll want to retain the OEM frame rails.

[Bruce69Camaro]

Going off of what John mentioned, S&W makes direct replacement frame rails for your car in either leaf spring or coil spring and they also have a frame connector for it too.

P/N 10-010 (leaf spring) or 10-012 (coil spring) and 10-610 for the frame connector.

I used a pair of their direct replacement frame rails on my 69 Camaro and they fit it very nice.

[dms2871]

yeah ill have to check that out. i dont plan to race it really but if i need the power it will be there also im not running any engine in it yet i have a 350 4bolt main from a junk yard for 150.00 took it down to have it built to 355hp but guess what wrong the kid ill say messed it up its not 355 he told me he couldnt do it so i have not even put this engine in at all to even see if it ran let alone the rest of the engine, so since this ive changed my mind i want to go 400hp but money isnt easily come by so its a slow project.... getting back to what i started about tubbing to fit tires cutting the frame rails where the stock placement of shocks go, i want larger tires but not so large i need like a whole lot of hp to do it. and im using the stock rear end do i have to shorten the rear axle?

[dms2871]

ok i checked them out now im confused, what john did and bruce69camaro did. i have the factory sheet metal type has a lip on them bent out ward where the original shocks were both sides the same way, i understood or thought (john) notched his and reenforced his and you used the formed rear rails. now i dont know what to do... im not going to race it but if i ever wanted to it would be there i want it strong in case i do race it. and if i used the formed rear rails i have leaf spings (witch probably need replaced any way) so would i get split mono or buy the same type leafs i already have, and use coil over with out the spings basically just the shocks.... it all boils down to this.... here are the parts i want to use...
compettion engeneering weld in frame connectors #C3012
SRD assasin bars (thanks john)
SRD shock relocation kit
AFCO sliders

basically i dont trust the factory rear frame rails but dont want to cut the hell out of my trunk i do know i have to use a fuel cell already. i plan on only running 400hp from a 350sbc if thats possible what is the max height tire and witdh tire i can run on this car with out cutting the axle down. i guess i have no idea what im doing or know anything about race cars, but i shure can weld and fabricate

[Bruce69Camaro]

Dave,

Do yourself a favor and listen to these guys, I'm one of a few "big" tire guys on this site and I can't give you advice like these guys can on a 10.5 type car. John is a good one to listen too as well as DOTracer, Supernova and chpcamaro as well as many others. Dave Morgan even makes an appearance on this site.

Supernova is in the process of mini-tubbing and notching out his framerails and I brought up the same issue of notching the frame out. If there is a right way to do it, listen to these guys, they know.

Good luck and keep us posted on your project.

[dms2871]

yeah i feel like i bother people to much since i dont know much about this but im not afraid of tacklling the job, i just want it to look great, hand have decent hp

[Bruce69Camaro]

That's not going to fly on here, you don't say " i feel like i bother people to much since i dont know much about this but im not afraid of tacklling the job".

Wrong thinking my friend, that's what this place is for. I've learned a lot from the good people on this site and the only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

I wish I knew more about the 10.5 type car setup to help you, but like I said, there are people on here that will be more then happy to give you your answers.

As for you having to cut your rear, you may be able to get away with running a wider rim with a certain size offset, but without know dimensions, it may be hard to know but I'm sure some of the others can give you a good guideline to go off of.

I forgot, one person that may be of good help to you would be DOTracer, he's from Maryland and didn't you say your from PA?

[dms2871]

no im from ohio i did live in pa i lived in hazelton, reading, then blandon pa.....i found a few people on here with venturas some are ok not to knock them down but i think some of them could be better, the ventura is pretty much the same as a nova just the rear taillights and fenders and grill every thing else is the same

[chpcamaro]

ask away dms2871 if you need help how big of a tire do you want

look here and look at the mini tubs we just finshed. we have 2 more we are doing this week and i will try to take picture of it in progress it is just hard and the guys don't like taking picture they say it slows them down and time is money go figure lol.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4666&start=15

[dms2871]

ask away dms2871 if you need help how big of a tire do you want

look here and look at the mini tubs we just finshed. we have 2 more we are doing this week and i will try to take picture of it in progress it is just hard and the guys don't like taking picture they say it slows them down and time is money go figure lol.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4666&start=15

That is a beautiful job i like that, i got a lot of work a head of me. first of all frame notching dont know how far in i need to go, or do i have to cut the rear rail in half part way and use 10ga to beef it up on the inside of it, also do you guys stich weld any of the exising sheet metal trunk floor to the rear rails and any where else or you guys just leave the factory spot welds when they built the car? i worked on mine today i went and bought a mini scaler and i scaled the rust off most of the trunk area and i found 2 bigger holes and several smaller ones.
along where the rear of the car to the lower 1/4 those pieces need replaced both 1/4 pannels (i have one driver side) outer rear wheels and the tubs. that nova is a spitting image of my trunk so im not shure what size tire or rim i want to use i know i want a street strip tire. about 10" wide and tucked under 1/4 pannel with plenty of room so it dont rub, im also moving the leaf springs inward and the shocks. so should i go with split mono or stock leafs? im not racing the car but if i do i would want it there if it came to that. also im using my stock rear end and dont plan on shorting it unless you think i should. planning on only 350 400hp thats all. i know it sounds like im over killing the rear set up but is for future use. i would like the tires in the center of the wheel well but i heard you have to cut the rear down i dont know. i seriously need help big time with this stuff im not afarid of doing it, i just want it done right and looks professional, i am a welder fabricator by trade so i know i can do it, its just getting the right way of doing it and not the wrong way. i talked to john heard on here and looked at his photos he had of his car and i like what he did but wasnt shure of tire size he used. i planed on using the centerline convo pros the star looking ones .but not sure about the tires dont want too big cause they cost alot and no slicks like i said i want to be able to drive it on the steet. so 10" wide would be good and i dont want the jacked up look kinda what it is now with air shocks and stock tires lol. i thought about using the 275/60/15 or the 255/60/15 what do you think would be the best i guess the 275/60/15 are 28" tall and the 255/60/15 are 27.1 tall so i dunno what to use. and i have no idea about the front ither stock a arms too and drum brakes lol. going to switch to disk. oh yeah do you think it be wise to go disk in the back too? so there you have it i know its alot of questions that need to be answered im just picky cause i dont wanna do it twice. the engine and tranny is later on we wont get into that just yet.
Thanks for the info and help

[Dave Morgan]

I’d just like to highlight the fact that you make an effort to stress as much of the stock floor with your connectors and frame rails. Use the shear plate quality of the stock floor to resist frame rail shift. Also, it would be an excellent idea to re-weld all the seams in the stock floor. You’ll notice on that body style that the individual floor panels overlay each other with occasional plug welds holding them together. I know it’s hard to weld upside down, but do what you can to weld over the seams. Also be aware that as the car ages, these seams will separate, if they have not done so already.
Dave