Opinions on weld vs bolt on? Obviously I can do bolt on myself. Opinions on brands?
hard top send the money else were till u really need them
anyway, slp bolt on
spohn weld or bolt on
but bolt on s the way to go!!!just my .02
i love my bolt ons best of all incase i sell the car ( very doubtfull) or i wreck it beyond repair (high probability) i can always take em off and sell em. My slp’s went in w/ very little drilling frame was slightly off. But pretty easy install overall.
pics
those r the ones!!!
& i’m a dealer:D
Did you notice any difference in the twisties? First thing will still probably be lower control arms & panhard bar.
I have kenny Brown weld in’s. they arent as big as Mikes. mine are just 2 bars that bold onto the seat frames then wels to the chasis. they were only like $75 and i think that they made a diffenct for my car cause i could feel the car flex a little cause of the ttops.
my car flexs also, tiny ripples on the 1/4 :eek: :eek: :eek:
I noticed a little difference not as much as some people notice but takeing turns at higher speeds it seems to stay more level and doesnt feel like its going to get loose on me. ( it was a early mod so its hard to tell stock vs modified) I can definately take the turns alot faster than i could before.
if anything i was afraid of all the stories about twisting your chasis and causeing stress dents so i got em early.
they really tighten the car up!!!
I guess I’m going to have to go against the grain here. First off, don’t worry about the value of the SFCs when you sell or wreck the car. If you total the car, chances are the SFCs will be ruined too. If you sell the car fine, you lose about $200.
Weld in is really the way to go on SFCs. T-Top 4th Gen. Fbodies have a TON of flex, and it’s way more force than I’d trust any bolt to. Yes, I know there are a lot of bolts, but you still have a much better distribution of force with large welded pads. Kenny Brown Double Diamon SFCs are the best IMHO. There’s a guy locally out here that makes ‘copy cat’ KBDDSFCs for about 3/4 of the retail price of KBs but you don’t have to pay shipping/tax on his, and the install is included. I’m sure somebody out there that can weld/fabricate can do the same if they get a chance to check out a car w/ KBDDSFCs.
BTW, check out camaroZ28, LS1 and some of the large Fbody sites for more opinions. Don’t take any of our words for it.
-TJ
JEFF’s car a hard top!!:wtcslap:
Originally posted by Pewterss
JEFF’s car a hard top!!:wtcslap:
sounds very good for an lt-1:tounge:
Hmmm… I would hope they give you Grade 8 bolts (120 ksi yield). Probably yield the base metal before breaking the bolts. Maybe the weld would distribute the force better. I don’t know that breaking the bolts would be an issue as much as the SFCs slipping if the clamping force wasn’t enough. Dunno. Maybe I should take measurements and do an analysis at work - I’m sure my boss wouldn’t mind!
fuck the weld in ones buy the bolt in ones.
Originally posted by Jeff95TA
Hmmm… I would hope they give you Grade 8 bolts (120 ksi yield). Probably yield the base metal before breaking the bolts. Maybe the weld would distribute the force better. I don’t know that breaking the bolts would be an issue as much as the SFCs slipping if the clamping force wasn’t enough. Dunno. Maybe I should take measurements and do an analysis at work - I’m sure my boss wouldn’t mind!
I guess I wasn’t very clear. Like you said you’d probably stress the metal around the bolt shoulder before you breaking a bolt. My point is that all of the forces are concentrated on a very small area (bolt shoulder) as opposed to a large welded in pad.
-TJ
Originally posted by tjZ28
Like you said you’d probably stress the metal around the bolt shoulder before you breaking a bolt. My point is that all of the forces are concentrated on a very small area (bolt shoulder) as opposed to a large welded in pad.-TJ
:repost:
Would SFCs ever interfere with any maintenance? That’s why I was thinking bolt on. If not, then welding seems the way to go (except that I can bolt stuff on myself). I don’t know if tearout or pull-through of the bolts is a problem or not, but if it was and someone still wanted to use bolt ons for whatever reason they could always weld extra plating around the holes - that’s how we solved a problem with some A/C plant problems.
But like Pewter points out, with a hardtop my money would probably be better off somewhere else first. TJ has me interested in the differences now though!
mine are bolt ons!!