A previous owner of our 70 Challenger was converting the car to a 4 speed. We are completing that conversion. They did install the frame ball stud bracket on the LH front frame rail. I have 2 concerns. 1. It looks like it is poorly welded. 2. I have no idea if it is installed in the correct location. I bought a new one from Brewers before I realized that there was already one on our car. With that, I have no problem cutting this one off and installing the new one.
Is there any documentation on the correct location for this bracket? I am a long way from being able to just test fit it with the engine and tranny installed.
there is a notch on the frame where it lines up , but probably not visable now , the U in the bracket should be centered in the Oval hole in the inner fender .,, if it is centered you could just fix the existing welds
Yes, a little rectangular notch on the outside surface. It looks like they got it right in that one photo anyway.
:iagree:
I would like to follow up with a couple more pictures to verify that this bracket really is in the right place. The inner fender was hacked up with an air chisel it looks like. Was probably done to make it easier to install this bracket I am guessing. I will fix that too. Please look at these added pics to determine if it really is in the right place. Also, what about the left to right placement?
Thank you.
Bracket looks slightly bent but the location looks okay. They weren't welded pretty from the factory either... :alan2cents:
Looks pretty good. This is where the factory welded the one on my A66, sorry this is the best photo I have.
I did the auto to manual conversion too and I temporarily installed the engine and trans to locate this bracket.
Hope these help.
After reviewing your pics again, it looks like it's in the right spot. They put the rearward edge right on top of that little hole in the top of the frame rail and if you look at mine, its in the same spot. And it's one of those things that don't have to be super exact. In my opinion, you're good.
Thanks to all. I AM wondering if mine might be further inboard than the others shown here. Can someone say how far the bracket is from that lip that is about an inch or so high on the outboard side of the top of the upper frame rail? Or, does it matter if there is some variation in the distance from inboard to outboard? This would affect the required length of the Z bar right?
Thanks.
Yes: It would mess up your Z-bar. Yours looks to be up to the inside edge unless your inside edge has been trimmed off.
it is possible to shorten the Z bar tube if nessisary but it has room to float on the 2 balls as in the balls have extra length & are not bottomed out in the tube , I believe you will be OK .
You may not realize but there is a spring clip that locks into the groove in the nylon bushing with the ball swivel locked inside the bushing to align it , but you would have at least 3/4" on the other end before the tube would bind against the inner pivot
Thanks to all. Sounds like I will clean up the rust and re-weld it right where it is. I will do my best to make it a little prettier too.
Thanks again.
At the risk of exposing my ignorance...I am going to TRY to help.
Take a look at the location of the bracket posted by Mr. Lee. It is a good 1/2 inch outboard of your location. I would place my bracket as far outboard as reasonably possible, and here's why.
I can tell you with 100% certainty that all Z-bars are NOT the same length. I just welded this bracket into my 70 Challenger, (340, aluminum bell with factory pivots) and I placed it EXACTLY like you see the one in your car. This location matches the Factory one in my Big Block Cuda. (aligned to the inner flange edge) When I went to install the OEM factory z-bar, it was TOO LONG. I ended up re-drilling two small holes for the retainer, and I was still going to have to cut the Z-bar tube to make it fit. There's a fair amount of compliance in the ball pivots, but the factory (50 year old used part) would not fit.
So I got a brand new reproduction Z bar from Brewers...and figured if I had to cut it, I'd rather cut a repop. I went to install it, and it fit perfectly, with no modifications whatsoever.
I have no clue why this happened. I just know that the OEM bar ended up a little longer. I WISH that I had located my bracket more like Mr. Lee to accommodate the factory Z-bar. If I had to do it again, I would move the bracket 1/4 inch outboard so that it could fit both bars.
:rebelflag"
:rebelflag" hope these help.
Thanks for those shots Cuda Hunter.
I'm no expert on anything like a bunch of yal are, but if I can help in any way I am glad to.
We all contribute to the overall knowledge base here , great pix C H :bigthumb:
I had it re-welded before I saw the last 2 responses. I have now measured and I think that mine is about 1/2" further inboard than the others as well as maybe 1/4" further forward. I kind of think that I can let it go and shorten the Z bar if needed.
Thank you all for your help. Of course, if someone thinks I am making a mistake on this, I can cut it out and do it again, but shortening the Z bar if needed seems like an easier task.
I think you'll be fine. If you have to shorten it I would imagine you would have to shorten the outside of it. The inside comes close to rubbing on the bellhousing as I recall.
I think you're fine as well...there's lots of left-to-right play on the Z bar :alan2cents: