Aluminum diagonal brace

[DWBOX2000]

Woody, I would love to replace everything but it just not feasible at the time. Space, tools, experience, that would surely be a recipe for disaster. I will talk to a body shop about that and will be in touch with you regarding parts.

Those 4 bolts are all that are left to do. The pan was never removed and is still in place.
I'll try the straps and see what happens.

Thanks all for your patience. I'm learning as I go. As painful as this is, I can take some satisfaction knowing that without the accident, I would be done. Considering I push a pencil all day, not a complete failure.

[Deadeye]

You could also try loosening the bolts that hold the aluminum bracket to the chassis, get all studs to line up and then tighten all nuts & bolts to spec. Strongly recommend an alignment after this as this may change your rear toe.

[itsnotanova]

His car was in an accident at some point in it's life before the OP took ownership of it. His boxster has had body work done in front of the right rear tire. He texted me pictures of his car and the right rear subframe is off a 97 boxster. I'm guessing that the car took a hard hit that broke the original subframe and bent the cross member. Whoever fixed it put the wrong subframe on and I'm guessing didn't replace the cross member either. I'm thinking the cross member is causing the subframe to tilt at angle and not letting the op to put the brace back on. He said he's wanting to take it to a body shop and that's a good idea.

[DWBOX2000]

Ok, bolts are not in line. Cross member is junk. Can I do anymore damage by just putting it on the ground and leaving it there until I can pay to have it fixed? I'll have to trailer it to the shop. Ok to just put back on ground?

[Smallblock454]

Hello,

if the aluminium brace doesn't fit you have bolt everything together without. Maybe its a good idea to fabricate a brace made of plywood that fits between the both side sections so they can't twist. Or use a lower brace like the Ernie/Pedro one that connects the side sections.

Very important: don't drive or trailer/tow it behind another car the car without that brace.

Regards, Markus

[DWBOX2000]

Thanks Marcus.
The car will go on a trailer, it will not be towed.

Instead of plywood, why not just get the brace on by enlarging the holes and bolting on? Not to drive, just to put on ground and eventually to trailer to shop. The chassis reinforcement pan is still on.

[Smallblock454]

Hi,

if you enlarge the holes to fit the bolts, you'll have a problem, because under driving conditions the bolt can move over time and also you wont have the correct position if you install a new side member later on. That means the geometry of the rear axle might not be 100% correct or might not be staying 100% correct over time.

If you say OK, i'll buy a new aluminium brace anyway, you can widen the holes. But i wouldn't because these brace is expensive. So i would go with a interim solution self built kind of brace made of plywood or something else to connect the side sections, so that i can transport the car to the shop without having danger to twist or damage the good side section / cross member or anything else. Or i would use a Ernie/Pedro brace which will connect the section members and you could also use it later on if the car is repaired as an additional stabilizer.

Hope you've got the idea behind that interim solution brace.

Regards, Markus

[DWBOX2000]

Back together. My friend came over. He was a little less gentle than I.

[Smallblock454]

My preferred tools are:
- big rubber mallet
- long crowbar
- strong strap with ratched
- pneumatic screwdriver
- propane torch

Regards, Markus

[Turbodad]

With the wheels and tires on, place a speed jack under the muffler to tranny mount. Slowly jack the trans up. The bolts will line up. The weight of the tires will cause the suspension to settle inward and line up the bolts.

[DWBOX2000]

Sorry, all aligned and back on road.

With bilstein HD's and H&R lowering springs, noticeably different ride as far as stiffness and noise. I'll never know if it performs any better because I don't push the car but it certainly looks nicer in my opinion.

Glad it's over. I'm done for a while. Nice to sleep again.
David

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by DWBOX2000

Sorry, all aligned and back on road.

With bilstein HD's and H&R lowering springs, noticeably different ride as far as stiffness and noise. I'll never know if it performs any better because I don't push the car but it certainly looks nicer in my opinion.

Glad it's over. I'm done for a while. Nice to sleep again.
David

Awesome! Post up a picture and let us see how it looks!

[DWBOX2000]

I'm stumped yet again. Took picture with phone, emailed to my computer. Can't save as type needed to upload. Did it last week. Not sure what changed.

[Smallblock454]

You should be able to login via phone and post pictures via phone. Aren't you?

Or you can upload your photos to a could service like dropbox or photo bucket … and link them to your post.

If you have an iphone, make shure the image type is .jpg and not .jpeg. .jpeg doesn't work.

Regards, Markus

[DWBOX2000]

Attached is the final result.

[steved0x]

Looks great!

[Gelbster]

Originally Posted by Gelbster

Some of the links and photos have 'died' in this old thread.
rbcbearing.com has a good pdf showing the solid rod ends available
Here is a current Speedway Motors link for tube and joints:
for example a 1" o.d. x 18"x 3/4"-16 tube(measure yourself!!) is here:
Speedway IMCA Approved 3/4 Thread Swedged Steel Tube, 18 Inches Long | eBay
Swedged Steel Tube, 3/4 Inch Thread
cheap solid rod end LH:
Standard Steel Heim Joint Rod Ends, 3/4-16 LH Male
You would need RH and the correct bore size for the bolt (7/16" = 0.4375")

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/10817-driving-impressions-lower-stress-bar-3.html