My son has built a couple of lower chassis for 700 series cars braces using flat steel. The diagonal braces are made from 1.50" X 3/16" (40" total) flat steel bar, and the connecting bar is made from 1.00 X 1/8" (24" total) flat steel bar. A bench vice was used for the bending, and my drill press for the holes. If you don't have a drill press, a hand drill is certainly adequate for drilling the holes. The holes were drilled to match the available holes in the chassis. The lower chassis brace along with the upper strut tower brace he also made really stiffened up the car, just like the same parts you can buy. Total time to make and install was less than two hours.

Impressive! I recieved the Cherry Turbos chassis brace kit for Christmas. The bottom brace looks pretty much like the one in your pic (the cross bar is round on the Cherry turbos kit). They do stiffen up the car. The front feels tighter on mine now :)
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Chris. Halifax N.S. '91 745Ti, 269K km.

As mentioned already, it resembles the Cherry Turbo lower brace. I've just bought (but haven't retrieved) an '88 745t with an M46. Can't wait to get it home and start in on it.

Regards,
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Erwin in Memphis, '95 855t

Nice work, Evan and John. My kids grumble when they have to change an air filter and they have to be flogged to change a timing belt. Glad to see others are more interested.

Nice work, Evan and John. My kids grumble when they have to change an air filter and they have to be flogged to change a timing belt. Glad to see others are more interested.

The job is now complete except for my re-wiring of the overdrive relay base. Hurray for no oil leaks. Evan doesn't have my skill level but he was involved in the whole project. He is sure happy with the car and the way it drives with the M46 and the small Mitsubishi turbo on the 1991 B230FT.

Looks great! What size bolts, nuts and washers did you use? Do you have a template? How did you measure to get the correct fit?

No template, and no drawings. Evan just built to fit. The cars very in dimensions ever so slightly, and he makes the brace to fit rather than generic with larger holes and washers. He just used bolts and nuts from the spare hardware cans.

Good job! Now, fix those oil leaks! ;>)
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Warren Bain - '86 744Ti M46 >290Kmi, '99 V70Glt > 45K mi, '96 965 >100Kmi Wifemobile near Manassas Va.. Check the 700/900 FAQ via the 'features' pull down menu.

The oil leaks have been fixed by installing a 1991 B230FT with Mitsubishi turbo. This car really scoots better than it did with the Garrett.

" Now, fix those oil leaks! ;>) "

Those are strategic, and are part of John's anti-rust campaign. Don't distract him from his purpose.

Oil leaks are good!
--
Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

Chassis rust and corrosion is not much of an issue here. The roads are not salted in the winter time.

This car was purchased from the original owner's family in August. It had never had much maintenance. The engine was quite oil encrusted and not knowing it's history, we are replacing it with a used 1991 B230FT. The AW71 transmission is being replaced by an M46, and the rear end is being changed from 3.73 to 3.54 ratio. Lots of work!

Evan spent a lot of time cleaning the engine compartment. If he has time before returning to college, he will clean the under side of the chassis.

The attached picture was taken Christmas day when we removed the engine and transmission from the wrecked 1987 744T which donated its new clutch, clutch linkage, brake/clutch pedals. The P type OD on the M46 has a bad one way clutch, so the car is getting an M46 with J type OD which I purchased for a price even Don Foster would say is cheap.

Nice towel rack.
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Warren Bain - '86 744Ti M46 >290Kmi, '99 V70Glt > 45K mi, '96 965 >100Kmi Wifemobile near Manassas Va.. Check the 700/900 FAQ via the 'features' pull down menu.

hmm don, which do you work for remind me Mobil or Amsol?

Not me, friend! I'm retired, back in school, and loving every minute of it. Except the petty politics. With all their whimpering 'n whining, you'd think some of these PhD professors never finished first grade. Almost none of 'em have ever had a real job.

Remember the old saw, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."

It's true.
--
Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

So Don, are you doing or teaching? ;>)
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Warren Bain - '86 744Ti M46 >290Kmi, '99 V70Glt > 45K mi, '96 965 >100Kmi Wifemobile near Manassas Va.. Check the 700/900 FAQ via the 'features' pull down menu.

"So Don, are you doing or teaching? ;>)"

Yes.
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Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

They look nice. I have not seen the Cherry Turbo lower brace up close. I do have the Cherry Turbo upper brace. On my car, I use the Volvo lower brace, which does have a sort of W shaped bend in it, combined with two home made bars running to the cross member. I made my bars out of round stock (don't worry, I did not use electrical conduit) with flattened ends.

Depending on the force involved and the angles of the force and the length of the flat stock, it is possible to bow 1/8 inch flat stock. Even 3/16. John is very thorough and knowledgeable and probably assisted in his son's undertaking and determined that the thicknesses used would be fine. Round stock of the appropriate diameter - I think I used 1.25 or 1.5 - would be stronger. There is also a flat bar with short raised edges, that I do not know the name for, that is much heavier and really strong, but would require considerably more effort to work with. The Volvo W brace like I have is less than ideal as it is designed to absorb a lot of flex and resist to to some degree rather than stop it. I should change that.

For paint, there is a new Rustoleum Hammered Finish black paint that is really nice. Perhaps it is a copy of the old Hammerite or perhaps Rustoleum bought that company. Hammerite was pretty good also. As is Wurth and Por15 and Corroless.

I am considering my next round of suspension modifications, having done all the basics. I have been researching a rear shock tower tie bar. Has anyone made one for a 740? I am also considering replacing the strut tower bushings with basically camber plates and a bearing with no bushing. Has anyone done this? And I am considering adjustable spring perches with new smaller diameter springs on Volvo strut housings and adjustable perches and new springs if not coilovers for the rear. Has anyone done these? I know a fellow in CT has been modifying the struts for a few years now, but have yet to communicate directly with someone who has tried them and experimented with spring designs and rates.

Philip

Philip, I'm wonfering if the coil springs can be replaced with air bags, not the steering wheel variety, but the Firestone kind. See

www.ridetech.com

Air suspension would afford a non-resonant suspension with a comfortable ride and good control.
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Warren Bain - '86 744Ti M46 >290Kmi, '99 V70Glt > 45K mi, '96 965 >100Kmi Wifemobile near Manassas Va.. Check the 700/900 FAQ via the 'features' pull down menu.

You are correct, the flat stock will not resist compressive loads very well. The improvement in driving is noticeable even using the flat stock. The car does not track the grooves in the highway, whether they be road seams or the tire grooves in the interstate. I may construct one for my car from other material. The chassis braces are just one of the many simple projects Evan has done. He made the first set as a senior in high school, and it was a good learning project. Having more time when college is out of session in the summer, he will probably construct something more eleborate with dad's guidance.

He is busy gas welding up an upper chassis brace as I type this. I will be postioning the parts for him in a few minutes.

John,
I wish I had had a father like you. Mine had no interest in cars. I had to learn about them by wrecking his and then my own. Its been a long hard process and now at probably around twice your son's age, I have mastered about his level of auto mechanics. Welding is on my list of things to learn in the next year or two. I bought a cheap stick welder years ago but have always been too scared to use it. I now have easy access to TIG and MIG so I will probably learn with those (the access comes with guidance). I would also like to learn how to braze with Mapp gas. This is reportedly not so difficult. Do you have any experience with it or comments?

Philip

Brazing is easy. I use an acetylene torch, though. Mapp gas has its application, but I prefer oxy/acetylene since I have it. Brazing does not make a strong repair, the repair being only as strong as the brass. Silver solder is stronger, but silver solder gives me grief trying to use it. I think I have the wrong flux for it.

I have used both TIG and MIG. You can do a great deal with TIG. MIG is also great, but both require very clean metal and work environments. Building new chassis braces would be a great application for MIG. You have to be protected from wind when you use either or the gas shield is blown away. The gas used for the shield has to be correct for the material you are welding. MIG does not penetrate as well as an arc welder. When that nasty old manure spreader comes into the shop for repair you had better just get out the arc welder and use good old 6011C rod. Body shops use MIG a lot today because the wleding can be done quickly with no distortion. By the time you get the sheet metal hot enough to weld with oxy/acetylene, the metal can/will distort depending on what you are working on.

Fortunately I didn't have to learn about cars be wrecking them. So far I haven't wrecked one yet, but I have been hit bad several times. Their insurance has always paid for my car.

When I was in grade 9 and 10, my high school had both a wood shop and a metal shop. I learned how to weld, use a lathe, a drill press and other tools. I also learned woodworking. That was very good training. My father was not a machinery kind of a guy, more the concepts type. I was lucky in College, I met a guy who's father had a well stocked garage and also taught me a lot. I plan on teaching my daughter about car repair, simple things first. My son is more interested in paintball right now.
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Warren Bain - '86 744Ti M46 >290Kmi, '99 V70Glt > 45K mi, '96 965 >100Kmi Wifemobile near Manassas Va.. Check the 700/900 FAQ via the 'features' pull down menu.

dito on the school experience, had a metal work teacher who had the philosophy of letting us find out why stuff didnt work, then showing us how to do it right...and he was always up for a chalenge, he and i spent a very enjoyable afternoon learingin how to weld aluminium with an oxy....yes it can be done but im not telling you how much scrap we made getting the 'feel' for it!

although i went on to do computers to degree level, i always thought he was one of the best teachers i ever had...he made pupils critically mark there own work...we always gave ourselves worse marks than he did....which was a learning experience in itself..!

dont use a hammered finish on anything that bends or flexes...it will crack off there are better materials for this (almost anything...including old fashioned celulose)

Great job! You can't help looking at Cherry's design and saying,"I could do that" Nice to see someone finally do it. I intend to do the same. How about a picture of the top brace?

It is under construction as I type. I will make a new post when it is complete. See the attached picture.

What did you use for bolts (grade?) and are they self-tapping (sheetmetal screws or zip screws) or are they in tapped holes?

Nice work and picture by the way.
--
Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 744GLE, 91 244: 808K total

I don't know the bolt sizes. My son, Evan, just helped himself to the spare bolt bin. The holes are already tapped, and the stud is existing.

Three of the existing are threaded holes, and one is a stud. The Cherry Turbo lower brace mounts this way too, except that the cross brace is closer towards the front of the car.

-- Kane ... who does have the CT braces on the '91.
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Blossom II - '91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles - '74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup - '86 245GL/AW70 ... The Wayback Machine - '64 P220/M40