quote:Originally posted by PanteraWanabe:
Ah so the pictures must have been taken during the build.
So Doug, if you stiffen the pans some and butt the chassis frame rails it doesn't weaken the structure? Just look dodgy to my untrained eye.
It really doesn't effect the "structure" itself because you are just cutting a hole in the floor pan in the area of the seats.
Then if you want to do a structural analysis you would have to consider that you removed a flat section and replaced it with a 3" deep section like in a building where you replace a flat piece of plywood with two floor joists on either side.
In that sense you add strength to it.
The front impact reinforcements are still there but you would have to crash a car to see how it effects the change?
The original early cars didn't even have that and the first '71 that were imported into the US were sent to Stroppe in Long Beach, CA to have that added after the fact.
The first 71 Euro market cars never had them.
The US DOT failed the car after seeing the crash test. That's the one where the spare in the front of the car came through the windshield. After that the spare was relocated in the rear luggage tray.
Furthermore if you bend down 3" sections of the original pan to use as mounting flanges for the new pan extension you are further strengthening that area.
You've created "floor joists" there where there were none before.
Do you see all of this under the car on the lift? Yes.
I would not argue against the term "doggy" but aesthetics follows function.
If one doesn't understand what you are looking at then it will raise questions.
A big nose on your face lets you breath in more air but keeps you off of the cover of "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit addition?
Personally having an ugly belly pan is outweighed by the increase in room in the cabin. To me that isn't even a consideration. I don't care what the mice think when they run under the car?
The dropped pans probably would add drag to the chassis air flow test around the bottom of the pan in analysis too? You just will need more horsepower to do 200mph.
I don't think that was ever tested by Ford in the wind tunnel tests? Don't know on that one.
Those tests are where the current cars wind up with belly pans to improve their drag coefficients mostly for a better "fleet fuel average" as required by the EPA.
Maybe a similar comparison of "chassis stiffness" is like adding the Grp4 fender flares where they actually stiffen the car?
Others have been concerned with installing sunroofs as weakening the monocoq chassis too?
Marlin Jack has one in his car for 30 some odd years. The car hasn't cracked and fallen apart as a result yet?
Even punching "lightening holes" in the inner rocker panels of the factory Gp4 cars didn't weaken the car and those are big holes.
It all depends how and where the holes are? It's kind of like a ladder. There are spaces between the rungs. Just don't remove them?
