latoracing

Hey Terry, I can't remember if you were considering doing the convertible seat riser or not, and I'm too lazy to read the thread again.
Here's a tip of you are going to add the one piece seat riser. All of the one piece risers are 1" taller than the individual seat risers, which limits the head room for some folks. This is why I spliced in the one piece hump onto my stock st risers. It's kind of a pain as the inner seat rails are fighting for the same space, which makes the inner seat belt bolt a tight fit. 

I wonder what this guy thinks about the various "glues" that manufacturers are now using to join sheet metal together.  Fusor comes to mind as one of these "glues" that is quite popular these days.

I have been scoping out the exhaust and seeing what types of fitment issues are going to raise their ugly heads. Vic had a Pypes stainless 2.5" X pipe kit to start with. The generic fitment was surprising as the X and both tail pipes kinda fit without cutting, YET! I spent some of his hard earned money on items needed to hang this system along with some MagnaFlow mufflers.

These things will get cleaned up as they are not going to stay looking like this. I started at the headers with the collectors. The fuel injection system needs an O2 sensor for obvious reasons so I installed the appropriate bungs and mostly welded them in place, then stuck them on the car.

I added another bung on the passenger side as I am not so sure if something might interfere on the drivers side. Either one can be plugged off if not used. 
Messing with the X pipe it will be cut into several pieces shortly as the width is way too tight..

and i want to center it a little better for drive shaft yoke clearance.
The down tubes are MIA on this kit so I have a bunch of mandrel bends to help snake this through the tunnel and get it fitting with the pan-hard bar in the rear.

This setup is tight, but once it is all in position I'm going to make it fit without spacing the cross plate (I may eat my words on that one later lol) and keep it tucked up nice and tight. I'll be cutting up stuff next...

If one were to go off the deeper end of chassis reinforcement, I utilized a thread from sn65 (which has been taken down) on areas to focus on. The main point of that information was to have the chassis working as a system, small gains in rigidity and torsional stiffness can be gained, but how does it translate into real word use. The majority of folks who are installing either SFC or inner rockers are pretty much stopping at that point as their cars are not going to a racetrack at any point nor do they want a subjective jungle gym in their car. That being said, my current build (which is ridiculously slow) has incorporated some of the ideals of several builds and innovations from TA racing, B302 and Shelby upgrades. Mind you, I am not building a race car, but an overkill street car that still has a heater, some creature comforts and can be driven to the track (if that ever happens lol).
 The main area of focus, after having installed inner rockers and a once piece seat riser (lower seat pan reinforcements to come) was a multi point cage that ties into the roof above the doors, windshield and A pillars.


The down bars are attached to areas that will be transferring suspension component loads to this area. The rear down bars are located directly over the rear coil over mounts and the front has several bars that transfer loads to the torque boxes and to bars welded inside the upper A pillars

There are a bunch of areas I would have loved to apply more triangulation like the tube running across the firewall to the cage would have been great, but it has a stock heater in the way. I'm sure there could have been more areas that might add a little more here and there, but as far as going beyond the "norm", this might take the cake lol.

One interesting thing with 69-70 convertibles, they do not use a one piece seat riser from the factory. I don't quite understand Ford's reasoning on this. When I was upgrading my '70 FB I looked everywhere for a specific one for that year, they didn't make them, so I hacked up an earlier model to fit. 

One interesting thing with 69-70 convertibles, they do not use a one piece seat riser from the factory. I don't quite understand Ford's reasoning on this. When I was upgrading my '70 FB I looked everywhere for a specific one for that year, they didn't make them, so I hacked up an earlier model to fit. 

I like the amount of detail you put into your drawings and appreciate your thought process, but I do not see the same strength as a single formed piece of material (inner portion of the rocker). The upper attachment (referring to picture #7) is the same but the lower connection point is not as strong as a continuous bent piece of metal. The tie-ins to the lower outer rocker and the inner flange on top of the floor helps, but the spot welds would be weaker in torsion as they are only attached in "spots". 
The joggle on the inside plate would be fun to do if you do not have access to a press brake or some type of forming equipment. This particular part (if I remember correctly) is at least 14ga (0.083") if not thicker. By the time you are able to form all these parts, get seatbelt nut inserts (weld nut or similar) and get them installed, you would be way ahead by drilling your spot weld holes in you floor, removing 0.250" of material and installing replacement inner rockers for far less time, money, labor and have a known structural strength.
Mike

I like to leave the inner plate in the convertible rocker and the original inner plate in the fast back or coupe as well 

Currently the only way to put inner rockers into a fastback or coupe is to use remanufactured sheet metal parts for a convertible. Yes it would be much easier to add sub frame connectors, but the only test available shows that SFCs do zero for torsional stability. When FORD decided how to strengthen the convertible they used inner rockers. The current method looks like this: see pics There will more posts to show what I propose as an alternative. This is a test to see how visible the drawings are when inserted here.
 



That went well, more pictures to come!!

Sorry Vic, I should be arrested for hijacking. Yes it would be easier to put in SFCs but I've seen a test that shows that they do zero for torsional twist and inner rockers are the way that Ford decided to strengthen the vert when they took the roof off, so I'll stick with that. 
Latoracing from your picture it looks like the rocker only extends back about 6-8" more from where you welded. I like the fillet you did and wondered why Street or Track didn't do that also.
Ridge you are always a wealth of information. Do you think that could be done if the floor was left in- my floor is still in excellent condition. I plan on custom sheet metal for the inner rockers that won't require me to cut the floor from the outside rockers. I should probably start a post on this and get all of your expertise.

I installed them to the rear torque box, much like everyone else, but I did a fillet weld instead of tabs. I wanted a little more contact area, plus it was fun :)
 

All is well in the lovely wet Carolinas lately.
It's back...

It missed being here so much it had to come back for a visit. Looks like it's getting a new exhaust system and a return line for the EFI along with a few other small mods. It's weird seeing it like this. The first time it came here it wasn't in good shape. It really looks good. There are a bunch of small details with the wiring and plumbing on this. Vic has outdone himself.
 

I have installed numerous long pans before one piece floors were readily available. My biggest issue with welding in long pans is the tedious butt welding and grinding of the seams. I have installed them with a lap weld, which doesn't look good on the inside. All of these were done on a creeper, not fun. I love to weld, but can't justify all the work it takes when there are easier and cleaner ways to accomplish the task. If the car was some sort of concourse / RARE restoration, patching is the way to go, otherwise get the best full floor pan you can afford and avoid the generic one pan fits all model. 15 hours +/- installed full floor vs 40 + hrs for long pans... As long as the car is braced properly it will not hurt to remove the entire floor.
Toe boards are interesting, especially under the steering column. If the areas are small I would just fabricate the replacement areas from flat sheet metal and butt weld them in place. If you get patch panels you'll end up making them fit and having to undo some areas that are stamped. Patch panels are usually pretty poor in fitment as they are usually cut into small pieces and lack a lot of the original panel detail. You can go with a new firewall, depending on your level of confidence and abilities. I've seen a lot of people new to bodywork put together some really nice cars using these aftermarket parts.
I still like the parts Dynacorn and other vendors are stepping up to make, which is making this hobby much easier to get involved with. 20 years ago there were limited replacement aftermarket parts available and you could get some NOS parts. We are building cars now that several years ago would have been crushed due to the extensive damaged metal.  Having these parts where you can buy pre-assembled floor / trunk / front frame rails, cowls, doors... is relying on someone else to weld the parts together accurately, then attempt to put them in a chassis that is 50 years old. I don't like the parts assembled, and much like the OP they have to be cut back apart to properly fit them. I'm thankful to have these parts, even though they don't work sometimes and need some fitting, cause there are more cars back on the roads instead of rusting away in some field or melted down.
 

I have used Dynacorn parts throughout my build, and they are much better than the parts of yester-year. I installed full quarter panels, one fit perfect the other didn't want to go on the car. With a few adjustments it fits. Installed a full cowl, radiator support rear bulk head (whatever the rear seat structure is called) trunk filler, tail light panel, both door skins, outer A pillars... the list is extensive. I wouldn't hesitate to use (and have used) Dynacorn products on several builds, and will continue using their products. They are not perfect by any means, but much better than others. NPD parts (Golden Legion I think) are good also, but probably stamped by the same metal manufacturer and re-branded.
I would highly recommend using a one piece floor instead of having to weld in long pans. The above issue with the floor not fitting the transmission tunnel support is common and requires some finessing, but the factory parts did not fit that area well either.
 

I do not like rap ,country is what i am 

Busy summer has impacted my wrench time, but slowly finishing up my final wiring tie-ins and plumbing in the engine compartment.   Installed my radiator overflow, front radiator support and radiator, electric fans, oil temperature sensor, started on my oil cooler lines.    Some temporary wire ties in the pictures, just need to do the final alignment before I lock the locations in.   
 

I had a wood bed trailer and sold it to get a metal deck, much better. From projects to cinder blocks to steel shipments, it's been through a bunch and keeps on going. I wish I had bought a 18-20 foot trailer, but this 16' dove tail hauls Mustangs just fine. 
I didn't do a tool box up front, but did weld up a receiver for a winch, another item that will spoil you. It has been a fantastic investment.

Doing quite well, and I hope you are. Thanks for the inquiry. 
As the reality of "nothing last forever" sets in, this site has lost a lot of valuable information with the deletion of thousands of pictures. I am not alone in this issue, and I am greatly saddened by the hundreds of hours of time lost documenting these wonderful builds. I would love to continue documenting my progress here but I am not up for the tons of hours to upload my pictures just to loose them again. A picture is worth a thousand words which should be shared with others. I may look into some type of secure hosting site, but for now, I'm going to continue building but unfortunately will not adding to this thread. 
I will continue to be a part of the 69stang community, and look forward to a good resolution to this issue, 
Thanks to all who contributed to this thread, and I hope to revive it one day.
Mike

All mine are gone too, again...
Not up for a third attempt

Sorry, I gotta call BS on this.

Yes, one of the few "thick" pieces of metal on the car 
 
I attempted to fit my outer torque box over the unmodified inner rocker, when I was installing on my '70 FB. I was lazy and didn't want to mess with the box lol. 

Careful with the (outstanding, and much needed) pictures guys. You'll get the forum shut down again. Some sarcasm and truth was used in this post.

Could it be because they are like a woman, always requiring/needing attention or something...usually costing a lot?
 I know one of the members calls his Bitch, lol 

Me too if you enquire and find anything out let me know.

I was wondering the same thing as well.
perhaps if we are asking for 3-5 sets they might think about it