What to do when your torque boxes look like THIS!?

[hemi_fan]

Just jacked up the car to look at what needs cleaning before next spring... never really taken a good look under there yet. Look what I found!

First one (passenger side) is not bad, just kinda rusty. But the driver's side!?! OH GOD!! lol. I know nothing about torque boxes or suspension. I planned on putting subframes in as soon as my budget allows, but what should I do about this!? and what affects will it have!?!

 

[RsStanG1987]

Get them welded and beefed up immediately. If you go to the track with gear and run slicks they will rip out and the your skrewed.

 

[hllon4whls]

Check this out. This is a way to repair and restore torque boxes in any condition.

http://www.wildridesracecars.com/newstuff.html

 

[hemi_fan]

I read somewhere about Battle Boxes... anyone got info on them?

 

[hllon4whls]

The same people that make the stang box make battle boxes. The stang box is sweet, it completly replaces the torque boxes. Battle boxes reinforce them, but they are very good too! You will definately need to weld up your original boxes and get them squared away before doing battle boxes.

http://www.wildridesracecars.com/chassis3.html

 

[04sleeper]

If you know someone good with a welder and metal work I'm sure he can get it fixed up for you. You really need to have them welded anyway.

 

[hllon4whls]

Oh and rick91gt also makes lower torque box reinforcements. His are made out of stainless. Also check ebay. Many sources for torque box reinforcements.

 

[Michael Yount]

I'd do a more thorough check of the integrity of the car (rust) before I bought anything to repair that. Given that you're in Canada, you may be viewing the tip of the iceberg if the car's spent most of it's life up there. How do you feel about transplanting your powertrain into a cancer-free specimen?

 

[cevtv]

Check this out. This is a way to repair and restore torque boxes in any condition.

http://www.wildridesracecars.com/newstuff.html

This is for the UPPER torque boxes........his pics are of the lower.......

 

[hemi_fan]

ttt

 

[Rick 91GT]

I agree with Micheal, you need to take a good look at the integrity of the chassis and make sure it is good for repair. You need to first reconstruct the factory box, get it all straight and weld up the seams. Them add one of the lower re-enforcement kits....

 

[hemi_fan]

I agree with Micheal, you need to take a good look at the integrity of the chassis and make sure it is good for repair. You need to first reconstruct the factory box, get it all straight and weld up the seams. Them add one of the lower re-enforcement kits....

The chassis is actually in really good shape. I made sure to check it out when I bought the car, because I almost purchased a 92' LX, but when I went to have it certified before i bought it, the mechanic put his fist through the floor (to the owner's dismay ) So I made sure to look underneath this one before buying it. This is probably about as close to a 'perfect specimen' that my budget and the weather in this country will allow. You should see some of the other stangs around here! They really live up to the name Rustang. My current car was only driven in the winter for the past 4 years, and garaged before that. It was also oil-sprayed, but it looks like the oil came off the torque boxes. thats why they're rusted. The one torque box is actually in pretty good shape, its only the driver's side that is in need of major repair. Heres some chassis pics for the non-believers;

2 more area attached to help those with 56k modems

 

[hemi_fan]

The two attached files show more of the underside of the car than the first 2 pics. If you look at pic005, you can see that the rust is in fact pretty much confined to that torque box.

 

[87'GTstang]

Got to love cars of the north

 

[hemi_fan]

Would I be able to sandblast and paint the undercarriage of my car when I paint the rest of the body? Should I sand-blast it or have someone steam-clean it... or try to clean it myself maybe? You can see the thick layer of oil+dirt thats on there. lol As for driving it in the winter, I think it's seen its last days in the snow. If I drive it only in the nicer months of the year, will I even need to paint the undercarriage? You Southerners are so damn lucky!! hahaha

 

[hemi_fan]

bump

 

[Mavrick]

That is how undercoating works.. it sticks to the dirt that is on the bottom of the car. If your car was steam cleaned to perfection, then undercoated, the oil would run right off the chassis and would be pointless. That film of oil/dirt is what is keeping your undercarriage from rusting away.

 

[stockhatch]

Have those things blasted if you can. Then repair/reinforce, paint, then undercoat. Oily nastyness can be a good thing like Mavrick said, but a good coat of paint and undercoating will go a long way.

AC

 

[hemi_fan]

as I said tho, im not planning on driving it in the winter ever again... and Ive seen some of your cars down south, it looks like its just completely bare metal, and it still has not a spec of rust on it... would it stay like that if I just cleaned it and never drove it in the winter? or would the rain still rust it?

 

[stockhatch]

It will rust if you dont cover the metal. Bare metal will rust. Period. The best thing to do would be to blast them and paint/undercoat them.

AC