Lewis Maudlin Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 I have a buddy with a machine shop who is making me a set of polished stainless strut bars. The front bar will fit my 355 sbc and will connect the strut towers to the firewall for extra support. Would there be any interest in show quality bars like these for $100 to $200 each? The price will depend on whether the bar connects to the firewall or just goes between the strut towers. JTR recommends the bar that connects to the firewall to reduce front end flex. Let me know. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 you couldnt have some made out of dull scrap metal or something cheap couldja, just a nice black metal piece would make my day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony240ZT Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 The SS stuff sounds tempting, but I'd actually be more interested in something not so pretty and at a good price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 just want one that works, maybe you make a "racer" one and a pretty one???? i would shell out some bucks for an "ugly" strut bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 I can provide all three of those bars, unpainted for $200 plus shipping. You would have to drill holes for the mounts or weld the tabs onto you firewall or strut mount, but that is your choice... Let me know if interested... All parts are steel, 1 inch tubing with 3/4 inch heim joints... SUPER Sturdy... Let me know.. I'm already making these for Owen! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Maudlin Posted May 20, 2002 Author Share Posted May 20, 2002 So you can do polished stainless to the firewall for $200? I was talking about a completed polished stainless strut bars for $200. $200 seems a little high for a non-stainless strut bar. I could pump those out much cheaper than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 i hear competition, and competition drives down prices, i want one, a cheap ugly one, heim joints or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgia Flash Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 Personally I like the one that Pete Paraska has on the blue Z. Pete if you are a listening where did you get that one? Is it custom as in you had it made, or did you buy it somewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 I made a triangle shape strut bars between the struts and firewall out of scrap pipe that was not thin wall. I placed 1/4 inch thick X inch wide flat bar in the ends and pressed the ends shut on the flat bar followed by welding. Drilled 1/4 inch holes into the ends and made attaching points on the strut towers and firewall out of small angle iron with grade 8 bolts.. Looks great but stainless steel and heim joints are show quality. (stainless steel and threaded heim joints are cheap at $200.00) My triangle is not triangle shaped since my mounting point at the fire wall is not joined together at one point but about 12 inches spaced apart separately . Charlie: look under that hood of that Camaro and see if there are any firewall to radiator/fender long round tube braces. A perfect material and size and strength to make strut tower braces. For the rear I used two inch square tubing and welded it between the towers. Keep in mind I got a roadster convertible and the rear tubing on the strut towers form a bulkhead to help separate the trunk from the passenger compartment.. I figured about $100.00+ to build stainless steel jointed strut braces with no labor costs involved. Mine cost less than five dollars in parts, welding, expenses and my labor goes at 2 cents a month. If I run across appropriate stainless material, I will be making the conversion to SS Show! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgia Flash Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 Larry, The Camaro has the short bars that go from the radiator support to the fender well. I looked at buying a 70's model Malibu that had the long bars that you speak of, only it had the 305 instead I have been looking at using the short camaro bars under the hood of the Z in some fashion but I have not got too serious with it yet. I also may sell the ZX mirrors that I bought from Z Car Atlanta and go with the steel (metal) Camaro mirrors instead. Ah decissions decissions decissions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Maudlin Posted May 20, 2002 Author Share Posted May 20, 2002 So what I am hearing is that a few would be interested in polished stainless strut bars for $200 and a few would be interested in $100 cheap, ugly, but highly functional strut bars. I am surprised that no one seems interested in one that connects to the firewall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 There is not much support in the firewall, you'd be triangulating to a point of 16 ga (at best) sheet metal that has basically some stampings in it to make it stiffer. I don't think the strut towers would have any problems flexing the firewall as it is stock. The radiator support might actually be the stiffer of the two although it still is not what you'd call stiff. If one were to maybe weld a piece of square stock or angle iron across the firewall and then connect to that maybe make attachments to the inner fenders on each end as well, it would be much much stiffer and stable IMHO. Regards, Lone Ps: I found that roundy round speed shops have alumiunum strut bars in varying lengths for very cheap, even with the L and R heim ends, 45.00 bucks. Make some brackets to hang them on, your done. So at under the 100.00 price point, an aluminum rod that looks good and works. If you want it hella cheap, go ghetto and just flatten a pipe on both ends, it works fine and less than 5 bucks. (for the back, the front might not clear your air cleaner depending on what your using). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 I am using the strut bar from Top End, that connects the strut towers together and to the firewall. It is very rigid and lightweight, and required only a little bit of fab to connect to the firewall. I was a bit concerned with the thin material that forms the lip at the top of the firewall, so I took a 3' length of bar stock, 3/4" x 1/8", lays almost perfectly in the top channel, and drilled through it to the tabs of the strut bar. It seems very rigid now to the firewall - no complaints on this one. No heim joints, no stainless - it has a nice black powdercoat, but it's not show quality, suits my application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 Georgia, thanks for the compliment on my (Jim's) strut bar! Lone, SleeperZ, I like the idea of adding reinforcement to the firewall. If it's tied in a bunch of points along the firewall, it'll help spread the loads well. I wonder if there's room just behind the firewall. That way you could be a bit less finiky on the finish of the reinforcement, but had the stiffness. You could also beef up those two "stiffeners" in the cowl area that are like longitudinal bulkheads. That's where you'd want to tie the strut bars to. I remember someone at MSA said that only one car they saw there had those triangulating strut parts tied there, while the rest just had them bolted to the unsupported parts of the firewall. One car at MSA had two struts per side from the strut towers. One on each side at an angle like you usually see going toward the latch bracket, and another one on each side going straight back. I didn't see if there was any stiffening behind the firewall in that cowl area, but that'd be a nice solution! Lone, if you remember the URL of one of those roundy-round suppliers, I'm all ears! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 Well I got mine here, but I walked in and picked them up because they're in Sacto where I lived : http://www.tognottisautoworld.com/ but you'll have to call them probably they're online catalog is SLOWLY (and I do mean slowly) starting to be filled. Measure what you need length wise and remember to include what your brackets might look like and include there projection from the strut tower to get the right size and ask for a size close to it, they have the ends as well. The size I used was a 24" strut rod which was 10.00, the ends were kinda expensive at 12 and 15 bucks I believe (one being the opposite thread I assume thats why its more). They'll ship wherever. I'll email you photo's as I don't have them on my server at the moment. Regards, Lone Ps: I think behind the firewall is easy to get to if you remove the cowl panel right behind the hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JAMIE T Posted May 20, 2002 Share Posted May 20, 2002 The strut bars Mike is refering to would NOT be polished stainless. It would be of "Racer" quality. Trust me it will be super strong and look very purpose built. Just like our sweet control arms, made by racers for racers!!! Now let me get back to my Sam Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted May 21, 2002 Share Posted May 21, 2002 Thanks, I wish I could claim that I made it, or point you to a supplier, but I bought a custom unit there. Jim Biondo made that out of thin walled AL tubing and had a race shop weld the threaded inserts into it. Then he attached it to cut down Jim Cook racing strut bar mounts. He sanded the tubing down and had it clear coated. I'd love to make similar ones to go to the firewall someday, or replace the entire setup with a light weight AL set. The strut bar I have is SUPER light, and since it's straight and a fairly large diameter (1+ "), it's not going to bend or buckle, and I doubt it compresses much. How about somebody make a set like this out of AL or Carbon Fiber tubing? You can by carbon fiber tubing ready-made (.e.g., http://www.apsltd.com/depts/dept1542.asp) and all you'd have to do is bond threaded AL roundstock into the ends. Heck, I bet one of these race suppliers can get lengths of that stuff made up WITH the ends installed and then you'd just add heim joints. Just make sure you make the inserts several inches long, as the ends of the tube deform strangely under tension/compression (actually wrote my master's thesis on that topic!) Personally, being an ex-composite materials engineer, I abhor carbon fiber for LOOKS. To me a strut bar would be a PERFECT application, as you want strength, high stiffness, and light weight in this application, all are attributes of carbon fiber composites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgia Flash Posted May 21, 2002 Share Posted May 21, 2002 Pete yours is one of the best looking ones I've seen, and unlike some of the other guys here I would love to have a good looking one like that instead of the black ones that MSA sells. Oh well the strut bar for me is a little down the road anyhow, I'm not even close to being that far along yet. However, I have all kinds of parts flooding my spare bedroom, storage buildings, and garage area right now just waiting for when the time comes to put them all back on the car To make matters worse, I have began to disassemble the old Camaro and plan on selling its parts on ebay so now I have two cars that wont run sitting around and double the parts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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