Front Cross-member

[pspeaks]

Sorry for using a picture without permission here but does anyone know how much to cut the front cross-member as in how many inches to clear the pan for a 302 conversion and what guage metal to box it in?  Just trying not to re-invent the wheel.


"P"

[ex-tyke]

1-1/2" at the deepest should suffice - follow the contour of the Ford front sump rather than cutting as per your example (which removes strength and introduces stress risers). Weld over the top with 11 gauge (1/8") steel.

Here's an installed photo of my setup - not the best photo angle but the xmbr contour does follow the oil pan contour - allow about 1/2" clearance to the sump.

[pspeaks]

Thanks Graham, I think that's a very clean look; I'll follow your example and the info will make it much easier for me.

Thanks Again,     "P"

[ex-tyke]

For additional reference, here's a couple of photos of the actual piece removed from a xmbr for my Ford conversion ...........


...........and a stencilled outline on an original xmbr. Max depth measured is 1-7/16"

[pspeaks]

It's like a road map Graham; even I can do it.  Thanks, maybe some day I'll know enough to help you out.   "P"

[MGB-FV8]

Hi Paul, I did not use the original cross-member on my MGB; I've opted to sell a very nice old pick-up truck so that I could buy a new modern cross-member from "Fast Cars."  I don't have the car on the road yet so I can only go by what I heard from people that purchased one, "it'll give you awesome handling results and a smoother ride"

As I thought about modifying mine to accept a Mustang 5.0 Liter, I wanted to reduce the cross-member's weight and replace the OE king pins with the more geometrically successful ball-joints.  I've looked everywhere but no one sold a ball-joint/spindle conversion kit.  I even tried to get the RV-8 spindles and ball-joints from Heritage but their distributor would only sell the complete unit.  What made me buy Fast Cars instead of the RV-8 unit from the Roadster Factory was the weight difference.  I believe that it was around 80 or 90 pounds against the RV-8, and, the un-sprung weight was also much better.

One thing that you should consider in doing to your cross-member is to punch a series of large holes at strategic locations.  You'd be surprised at how much weight these little round discs can amount too.  Although the cross-member is overbuilt, caution to not weaken the cross-member must still be exercised.  

This forum is a wealth of information and seems to always have someone willing to share hard earned experiences.

[ex-tyke]

....I could buy a new modern cross-member from "Fast Cars."

Jacques, we all wish we could have Ted's front xmbr - it's a very well engineered product.

[pspeaks]

Actually I do plan to replace the cross member in the future.  Our shop Fabricates suspension components for street rods and the boss is intrigued with doing  coil over's  front and rear, at my expense of course.  As always, we'll take lots of pictures, both successes and failures.  We still do this kind of thing in house but no longer sell or distribute; too many rights to step on and we found when we were selling turnkey cars the liability insurance is a killer.

[MGB-FV8]

Graham, I do own one and yes, ii's an engineering beauty.  If I could only figure out how to reformat the seize of my photos then I could post some pics.  Curtis, do you know how?

[mowog1]

Jacques...I use Freeware called Irfanview to resize/edit photos....you can download it here:  

http://www.irfanview.net/

[MGBV8]

I use Photoshop, but 's not cheap. My dad & brother are artists, so I sort of have a copy.

It's great that Graham is showing the way here, cause I have seen a couple of ford conversions with waaaaay too much cut out of the crossmember. If you are not gonna buy Ted's fine crossmember, don't cut any more than needed from the stock one.

[MGB-FV8]

Thanks Rick and Carl, it worked.  Here's a photo of Ted's front end on my car.  What you see hanging in front of it is my engine oil cooler.  It came off a 2003 Police Interceptor Crown Victoria 4.6L

[pspeaks]

Thanks Jacques, Ted has engineered a thing of beauty that we won't attempt to improve on, but as an old retired country gentleman it's a little more than I can afford right now.  Ok, I'm not a gentleman and live in the city, but I am old, still a fun project.  At the present time I don't plan to take it out for "Track Day" but our biggest concern is not engineering bump steering into it.

[MGB-FV8]

Paul, I don't know how much time you have but Bill Guzman is working on a neat coil over/balljoint kit.  He claims that it will be out soon.  That would be a real nice enhencement for the ones that can't affoard the whole front end.  Follow this link, I hope it works, you may have to copy and paste it:  http://www.classicconversionseng.com/front_end_kit.htm

[pspeaks]

Thanks Jacques, I went to the site and it looks pretty impressive.  We don't plan on doing anything with the front end anytime soon and by the time we do it might be available.  As I said, we are a fabrication facility and a few years ago the company built gas powered bar stools for the Shriners.  The owner still has the prototype and it's being upgraded with a larger electric start motor with way more horsepower; as if a bar stool needed more horsepower, it's hurt everyone who has ridden it.  We also have a Lotus 7 race car project in the planning stage, so my little pet projects tend to come when the boss doesn't have anything to do on a Saturday afternoon and there's shop space available.

[jbarila]

Another Thread I posted awhile ago.

http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?6,5209