Weird Request Regarding 1966 Tubular Crossmember

c24sc said:

Plan on making a new one.

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Why? Not only are they reproduced, places like Glazier's have piles of used ones, should cost about $35.

A critical aspect of this crossmember is the unique tapered seat bolts used to attach them, which prevents shifting.

c24sc said:

Hey Guys,

It was done b/c the bolt holes had rusted (by the looks of it).

Can anybody provide me with the center line distance between the two holes of the tubular crossmember. (I'm assuming the holes are round and not elongated). Plan on making a new one.

Thanks
Nate

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Are the theaded holes in the frame still intact? If not, I can suggest a fix.

It sounds like the actual cross brace is rusted away on each end, meaning that even with new correct bolts, there is not enough material to bolt it to the car? Is that right? You can buy a new cross brace. Which is what I would recommend. But if you are intent on making one, just measure the threaded holes in the frame center to center. You could even forego the stock bolts, however, the design of the bolt prevents the bar and bolt from wearing each other away as the frame flexes back and forth, the tapered bolt keeps the brace centered and doesen't let it chaff back and forth. A regular bolt would eventually be worn away and fail, or the brace would wear away and fail, or both (with a regular bolt).

One advantage to buying a crossmember is you would have a steel pattern in your hand that would force the dimension to be correct. You do need to have clean nuts in the frame. Probably someone snapped off the old bolts, because they didn't use an impact wrench. What I have done is use an acetylene torch to heat the bolt stump bright red, and grab it with a ViseGrip™ and spin it out. If it's too short for that, weld a 3/8" bolt to the stump and use that as a handle for the pliers.

Another advantage would be the brace needs to thread its way between the engine, starter, and steering linkage. Any miscalculation on a homemade one would be a real problem.

The hardest part will be getting everything square. IIRC, there are chassis dimensions in the Factory Service Manual.

I imagine a pair of these are in your future, then, they work very well: