Chassis stiffeners

Mike,

In my (and many others) opinion the front trunk triangulation brace is completely unnecessary, just eating up valuable storage space. If you have the lower chassis braces front and rear and an adjustable upper brace, then you are good to go IMO.

Julian

Thanks for the reply. I do have what you just described on my car, so good to hear I have what I need. I have chassis under-braces front and rear, and the adjustable aftermarket cross-brace in the rear.

I've looked at many Panteras, and like mine, they all have cracks at the window posts and other places. I've read this is normal and it's actually lead.

I've read about stiffening the rear so the taillights don't crack (mine were all cracked around the holes but I repaired them to almost new condition) during frame-up rebuilds.

I've seen a few other bolt-on extras people add, one that spans across the rear inner fenderwells, that triangle front brace, and others.

What about dealing with the body cracks in all the normal places?

I read they are lead that fatigued faster than the steel, so structurally no issue but because the car Does flex, the cracks appear where the lead was used.

I suppose if I ever decide to paint the car, I'd go "all the way" and have the body seams welded and whatever else they do to eliminate the cracks from reforming.

These are all very minute little cracks, every Pantera I've seen has them.

For most of the typical areas that crack a "brace" can be welded on the other side to strengthen that area e.g. base of the windshield pillars, top of the B pillar where the roof is welded.

quote:

Originally posted by mike the snake:
I'm hoping people can post up the different things they've done to stiffen their chassis (and their opinions)?

My car has two bolt-on braces underneath the car that I think are very effective, but I've seen upper bolt-on braces in the front trunk, and rear trunk areas that look interesting.

I'd like to explore stiffening my chassis a bit more. Possibly going to do a track day or Autocross, and I've got big, sticky tires.

Here is what I have just done with my car. I will also be adding another brace to the center section of the car soon. The car now seems more controllable during first gear full throttle acceleration runs. I also have the front and rear lower chassis braces and upper rear brace system installed. There is a roll bar bolted to the floor and rear bulkhead inside the car also. I didn't install the front trunk upper brace because it would cut down luggage capacity. This Pantera is street driven, but does get some track time.

I believe, but have no proof other than Zonkey developed no cracks after his restoration in ~2002, that one of the most effective stiffenings is to install a glued in windshield. Gluing in the rear glass should help as well.

Well, I lucked out, Kinda, the PO glued the windshield in (it fits flush like a modern car) but not before the cracks got there.

The front and rear underbraces installed on my car are REALLY stout too.

Maybe, someday, I may deal with the minor things, but for now I'm just enjoying the car now that it's running.