I know, another 'shock tower' thread, sorry.
Has anyone just cut the old tower off flush with the inner wheel well and welded a replacement over the top of the old frame?
Is this even a remotely reasonable idea, or should I just shut up and keep drilling out the many, many spot welds?
Can't give up on her as she is mostly in good condition, I've already done much of the heavy lifting on her (so to speak), and have much blood, money and time in her.
'75
Thanks,
Jeff
Shock Tower
-
vandor
- Posts: 3996
- Joined: Sat May 23, 2009 1:23 pm
- Your car is a: 1971 124 Spider
- Location: Texas, USA
Re: Shock Tower
As long as you completely remove the old one I don't see how it matters what method you use.
Csaba
'71 124 Spider, much modified
'17 124 Abarth, silver
http://italiancarclub.com/csaba/
Co-owner of the best dang Fiat parts place in town
'71 124 Spider, much modified
'17 124 Abarth, silver
http://italiancarclub.com/csaba/
Co-owner of the best dang Fiat parts place in town
-
jlw35
- Posts: 130
- Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 7:18 am
- Your car is a: 1975 spider
Re: Shock Tower
Success!
Driver side shock tower is off, and truly if I can do it so can you. Just a very average shade-tree mechanic.
Persistence is the key, as it was time consuming and I did walk away from the job on a couple of occasions.
Once all of the "stuff" is out of the way (a-arm, coil spring and shock), settle in for a bunch of drilling (I used 3 spot weld cutters from H.F.)
A good quality metal drill bit will give you a start point on each of the welds which is necessary or else the weld cutter will "walk". Be prepared to cut all the way through on some of the welds, just can't be helped, easy enough to repair later. I also used a 3 1/2" cut off tool from H.F. ($19 on sale) to remove some of the rusted tower as well as to finish cutting through some of the welds.
This is mostly just a elbow grease, grunt work task, but can be done.
Jeff
Driver side shock tower is off, and truly if I can do it so can you. Just a very average shade-tree mechanic.
Persistence is the key, as it was time consuming and I did walk away from the job on a couple of occasions.
Once all of the "stuff" is out of the way (a-arm, coil spring and shock), settle in for a bunch of drilling (I used 3 spot weld cutters from H.F.)
A good quality metal drill bit will give you a start point on each of the welds which is necessary or else the weld cutter will "walk". Be prepared to cut all the way through on some of the welds, just can't be helped, easy enough to repair later. I also used a 3 1/2" cut off tool from H.F. ($19 on sale) to remove some of the rusted tower as well as to finish cutting through some of the welds.
This is mostly just a elbow grease, grunt work task, but can be done.
Jeff
-
Frankd1
- Posts: 135
- Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2015 4:13 pm
- Your car is a: 1978 Spider
- Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Re: Shock Tower
Nice work Jeff! Any photos?