Beefing up the rear frame 1st Gen Camaro

[Jr]

Hello all,

Instead of replacing the rear frame rails, I'm looking for ideas on how to beef up the rear rails. From what I've read, the rear rails aren't the strongest metal on the car. Any help would be appreciated.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

what are your plans for the car and how bad are they now? rusty, dented?

[Jr]

Plans are to run usca events and local tracks. There are no dents/ rust. I started with a good California car.

[Ron in SoCal]

My humble opinion, the best way to beef up the rear frame rails are to replace them with solid 2x3 units. Lots out there to choose from, and one of the more established companies is Autoweld (scroll down):

http://autoweldchassis.com/spec.ivnu

In the absence of that, if you're mini-tubbing you can put 1/8" steel reinforcements or box the internal structure of the rails. Then there's the Mark Stielow way which can be found in his recent build thread post #70.

I'm not sure what the answer is (i.e. do it or don't), but if you're in the media blast stage and want to reinforce them now would be the time.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

My humble opinion, the best way to beef up the rear frame rails are to replace them with solid 2x3 units. Lots out there to choose from, and one of the more established companies is Autoweld (scroll down):

http://autoweldchassis.com/spec.ivnu

In the absence of that, if you're mini-tubbing you can put 1/8" steel reinforcements or box the internal structure of the rails. Then there's the Mark Stielow way which can be found in his recent build thread post #70.

I'm not sure what the answer is (i.e. do it or don't), but if you're in the media blast stage and want to reinforce them now would be the time.

recommended.

if you are going to weld in a rear suspension you can just tie into a cage and subframe connectors. most aftermarket suspensions are supported by a cross support or box so the actual full length frame rails are there for the ride. I'd re-weld most of the factory spot welds.

[Jr]

My humble opinion, the best way to beef up the rear frame rails are to replace them with solid 2x3 units. Lots out there to choose from, and one of the more established companies is Autoweld (scroll down):

http://autoweldchassis.com/spec.ivnu

In the absence of that, if you're mini-tubbing you can put 1/8" steel reinforcements or box the internal structure of the rails. Then there's the Mark Stielow way which can be found in his recent build thread post #70.

I'm not sure what the answer is (i.e. do it or don't), but if you're in the media blast stage and want to reinforce them now would be the time.

Thank for the link. I will also look at Stielows thread

[Jr]

recommended.

if you are going to weld in a rear suspension you can just tie into a cage and subframe connectors. most aftermarket suspensions are supported by a cross support or box so the actual full length frame rails are there for the ride. I'd re-weld most of the factory spot welds.

Agreed.

[3_z28camaro]

Art Morrison offers a replacement rear frame and several suspension types.
http://artmorrison.com/camaro.php

One of the main reasons I went this route was my original frame rails were damaged. Then during removal of the old rails I found that the original spot welds did not contact the body.

[Build-It-Break-it]

I think people over think things sometimes about the difficulty of doing something simple. I reinforced my rear frame rails pretty easy for about $20 and some 11 gauge flat plate. About 6 hours (3 hours each side)of making a template, cutting,prep and welding.The reinforcement plates run the full length of my inner frame rails and wrap around to the lower frame rail.

I'm going to be running the Speed Tech torque arm and wanted added strength and to spread the load across the full length of the frame rails.

I just tried to ad the images but for some reason I can't. I can email them to you if needed so you get an idea of how to do it. Or you can resize them and post them for me so everyone can see??

I think $600 or more to fully replace the frame rails plus the time isn't needed unless the frame rails are rusted.

[Jr]

Ahmad,
Send me a pm with your email address. I will be more than happy to post the pics online.

[Build-It-Break-it]

Pm sent

[Jr]

I had to resize and crop the pic.

[Jr]

The other half

[Build-It-Break-it]

Hey JR, thank you for taking the time to resize and post my picture. The first picture JR posted for me is the inside frame rail on the passenger side towards the rear leaf. The second picture is toward the front. In the picture nothing is welded in yet and cut free hand with a plasma cutter. I'm in the processes of the Patent for these frame rail reinforcement plates and I'm going to try to produce them for about the same cost as weld in subframe connectors. They'll be water Jet cut and folded accordingly.

[Leadfoot1]

When do you think youll have em ready? (Appx) im planning my mini tubbing for winter and these would save me quite a bit of time IF in the price range your talking about. (comp Eng weld in go for what ~100$?).
So i would be interested. Talk about a time saver!!

What is 11 ga like? Im thinking you'd make these in some 3/16 steel so they have some folding resistance and offer real vertical support to the side of the rails.... but i have no clue when steel is GA measured lol!!

Im in for the first set!!

Let us know!!

Lead.

[jydracing]

Who did the welding? Are you going finish that weld and close that opening in the original frame? Should a person clean up or grind the are a little better so that it would look finished?

[Build-It-Break-it]

Sorry for the late response. My wife just had our first baby,a little boy and ad you can imagine I've been busy.

But I'm still working on how to make these affordable and package them adorably. Shipping would kill the price on these due to them being the full length of the frame rails. I'm thinking of making them into two pieces per frame rail.

I'm using 11 gauge only to make these. This allows you to clamp them to your frame rails for welding easier and leaves space to fit aftermarket suspensions on still. Arty Morison and Auto weld chassis use 11 gauge to build there rear frame rails. I believe the 11 gauge along with the factory 16 gauge will be plenty strong.

In the pictures posted nothing is welded in. I made a bunch of rosete holes for welding and attaching along with welding along all the seams of the frame reinforcement plates.

Before I welded the frame reinforcements in i completely inspected the frame rails for rust, cleaned the coating/paint off to bare metal. I then sprayed weld thru primer on the factory frame rails and frame reinforcements before they were welded in.

I'm going to try and get prices on the water Jet cutting in the next couple of weeks so i can have a final price to sell these. Like i said they'll most likely come in 4 pieces, two per frame rail. You can pm me or post here with any questions . I'll be contacting Jody as well to see what I would need to do to offer these to members.

Ahmad

[b.ski]

Thread bump, did you get the reinforcement plates cut? I'd like to see how they turned out.

[Build-It-Break-it]

I got the patterns made up and quotes but had to modify them slightly to get the most use of the sheet of 1/8" material. I haven't went back to have them laser cut and folded. I didn't see a lot of interested people in them so I never went back to have the sets made. If anyone is interested in them they can pm me and I can get them made as long as I have enough interested people.

[Leadfoot1]

Yup.... BUt we, well.... At least "I", need a price to tell if its interesting.... Or not!

Lead.