Reply to "Reinforcement of the chassis ..... again"

I thought about this too.

Triangulating everything is probably a reasonably accurate description of what is done with a full cage.

In the Pantera the spot that needs a cage is right where the decklid is.

You need to first reinforce the roof. With a roll bar mounted in the cabin that puts the roof reinforcement in about the right spot. I think inside the engine compartment would be better but makes it less accessible if you need to remove it. The bar needs to be tied to the roof.

Then you need rearward braces like the Gp4 cars have BUT the 45 degree diagonals would need to go through the decklid. If the car was a fastback, then that would simplify it, but it isn't.

Everything else is just a compromise of sorts.



Even if you were willing to accept the engine mounted roll bar and rearward braces down from the roll bar, if you look at virtually every car that has the rearward braces, you take up the space that the decklid struts occupy in a street/production car.

The race cars use a prop rod to hold the decklid open.



Long ago (late '70s) I noticed that every Pantera that had it's paint stripped off and was repainted had cracks in the paint in the roof pillars. In investigating this further, I found that the cracks were only in the paint, not in the metal.

I guess the original PPG paints used were flexible. The replacement paints were not.


The rear uprights in the Pantera probably should be X'd like the front frame on a 427 Cobra is.



I just live with the "Pantera" cracks in the paint like the 289 Cobra people do with the cracks under the doors. It's just part of the cars quirks.

I don't think you can eliminate the chassis flex, just reduce it. It depends on how much effort you want to put into this BUT if the criteria is to keep the car stock looking, that's not going to happen. It's going to look like a race car. Or worse, like a Baja race car.

Everything from the firewall back is just like a diving board.


Take a look at what Comp2 did. His solutions help are creative and reasonably effective.

I think you probably can dial them down a little but making the stiffening attractive or aesthetically pleasing is a challenge and also just a matter of taste?