subridersix Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 I'm shaving the rear of my 280Z. I've just finished welding in patches over all the recesses in the rear valence and the gas tank is out. Now is the perfect time to fab up some sort of hidden reinforcement behind the back end if I want to do it. I'm not worried about supporting the rear valence, to my thinking I offered that up to the gods when I pulled the bumper. I would feel more comfortable though knowing there was a little more structure between my now unprotected rear and the fuel tank! My thinking is either a single run of 1" tubing or a pair of 1/2" tubes run between the rear rails would add a margin of safety while still allowing plenty of "give" to absorb an impact. I 'm sure this isn't an original thought on my part. I've searched and found a bit of discussion on the subject but no examples or thoughts from someone who has done this. What's the collective wisdom on the subject. I hate reinventing. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 If you look to the left of the exhaust there are mounting brackets that you covered up with sheet metal. Those are pretty strong and are bolted and welded to the frame. If you wanted to you could weld a tube from the backside of the bracket to some part in front of the gas tank, or at an angle up to the bottom of the frame. You definetly removed some strength from the rear of the car in case of a collision when you took the bumper struts off. Ive got mine off and will soon be doing the same patching you did. Ive got the fg bumpers from MSA, theyre bumpers but sure wouldnt protect anything in a crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANDYBLUE2+2 Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 I show mine more then drive daily, so reinforcing the back end wasn't even considered. Good thought though! Hope I never have to find out how much more damage could be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 When you shaved to rear valance did you grind down the brackets that stuck out or did you just cover it. It seems that they stick to far out to cover. Hey CANDYBLUE2+2 anyway to get some pictures of your 2+2 posted on the hybridz albums so I could see them. Im trying to get all sorts of pictures of different 2+2's to see how different colors ect. look. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subridersix Posted February 11, 2007 Author Share Posted February 11, 2007 Mopar, I know the brackets you're talking about. At the bottom they are about 6" below the bottom of the rear frame rails. Maybe an "X" patern would work? Lower bracket to top of opposite frame x 2. I'll check it out. Like CandyBlue says "I hope I never find out" but I always like to CMA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 I thought about the same thing, but didn't add any extra re-enforcement.. I figure if I get hit from behind hard enough to do major damage, the rest of the car is going to fold up prety quick.. (and I seriously doubt the factory bumper offered much more security anyway) which means the gas tank is gona get squashed no matter what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subridersix Posted February 11, 2007 Author Share Posted February 11, 2007 My bumper was hung off a pair of shock absorber type mounts which I removed . They went through the outer most oval shaped patches on the pic in my orginal post. The semi-rectangular patches just inside of those cover the brackets on the inner rails; they were not used. I have no idea what the long horizontal depression in the middle is for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbc3 Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 I also felt that I wanted extra protection back there, so I figured that roll bar tubing was much better than nothing. I cut the stock bumper brackets so they would still bolt to their original lcation to the frame, but still fit behind the rear valence. Then I bent roll bar tubing so it would fit behind the gas tank and attach to both brackets and welded the tubing to the brackets. I also have roll bar tubing between the front bumper mounting points for the same reason. In the front I cut and drilled holes in 1/8" steel plate that would bolt into the stock bumper mount holes, then I bent the tubing to follow the shape of the hood and welded it to the steel plate. You can see the front bar in this picture. With the grill and covers over the old bumper dents it is less noticable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANDYBLUE2+2 Posted February 11, 2007 Share Posted February 11, 2007 I'm gonna try a couple recent, but not very well lit pics here for now. I'll try the album thing when I get some better snaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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