Better handling

[pontiacgp]

3XBrowncutty, some ,not all as far as I know. My first GP was a low option car, radio delete and all. It did not have the bar.

pontiacgp, still having a hard time with your explanation.

In a front end collision,the hinge is driven back until the "shoe" seats in the stud in the cowl. At that point, the built in "fold" point in the hood gives,the hood buckles up.

GM started doing this in the early 60s I believe.

I had some first hand experience of it on my 79 GP.

Also why would no other gbody need them?

Where did you hear that? Maybe I will learn something.

I was told about it from a friend who owns a wrecking yard and he builds some nice cars on the side.. You're right about "shoe" and these bars are there to help the hood fold. In my 86 GP the rod goes from about half way back on the fender to the header panel. It's the rod that has to be removed to remove the battery. I thought that bar was there to stiffen up the body but my friend corrected me on that and that info cost me a beer..Physics tell ya those bars do stiffen it up but they weren't placed there for that purpose..

 

[shotgun]

Sorry, still not buying it.

I was hoping there was something written to back it up. A guy at a juckyard does not hold alot of weight with me. He may be a great guy and well intentioned but I just don't see it.

Lower models, or stripped cars in the same model line did not have the bars. My 79 GP did not have them (short or long). I am pretty confident it never did being a 35000 mile "little old man" car.

Using your guys reasoning, GM did not care if people who bought cheaper cars got thier heads lopped off?

We may have to agree to disagree about this one. 😀

 

[pontiacgp]

Sorry, still not buying it.

I was hoping there was something written to back it up. A guy at a juckyard does not hold alot of weight with me. He may be a great guy and well intentioned but I just don't see it.

Lower models, or stripped cars in the same model line did not have the bars. My 79 GP did not have them (short or long). I am pretty confident it never did being a 35000 mile "little old man" car.

Using your guys reasoning, GM did not care if people who bought cheaper cars got thier heads lopped off?

We may have to agree to disagree about this one. 😀

I'm not trying to sell anything...and he's not just a guy at a scrapyard. He's built muscle cars and showcars and and he's known around town to be very knowledgeable about vehicles. I'm not going to bother to try to find something written to prove something I know is correct. As far as other vehicles I don't know what they were equipped with to react to collisions and I wasn't speaking of other vehicles. Also a 79 GP used a different sheet metal design than that if the newer G body GP and therefore what they designed in that year isn't relevant except of course if they discovered that the rods were needed due of the results of front end collisions of 79 GP's. If you think that the bars that are in the op's picture would add any significant structural strength to a vehicle then that's your choice.

 

[bs009]

I read somewhere that most GPs were built in Canada. Is this true? Maybe location could have something to do with it.

I doubt it. I do see "CANADA" on a lot of parts on mine, but the vin has a one on it.
I think that the GP was probably made to handle a little bit better since it is a Pontiac. Pontiac's sopposed to be the excitement division eh?

 

[shotgun]

We may have to agree to disagree about this one. Moving on.....



My thoughts are there a number of variables that goes into which car got what.

For the most part, the lower the model line, the less bracing.

It makes sense since the bracing stiffens the car as well as reducing NVH(noise).

The other variables would be tied to equipment ordered.Suspension packages , t-top vs non t-top, etc, etc.

I think we could go nuts trying to figure this one out!

Here is another one for everyone to ponder.

I have 2 sets of radiator X braces, one is steel and the other set is aluminum.

I "think" I got the aluminum set off a Grand Am that also had a aluminum radiator support.

 

[pontiacgp]

shotgun....take a look at the op's picture and look at the rod on the left and you'll see the bend in the brace. The bend is there in the other but with the angle of the picture it's hard to see. I think you'll agree that there is never a bend in a single brace that is to be used to secure something or to use to strengthen something. The purpose of that bend is so the rod will bend at that location when compressed.....I might add that I worked on the construction of aircraft for too many years and worked with quite a few structural engineers..

I think we could go nuts trying to figure this one out!

I got ya beat on that one....I was nuts long ago...lol

I did look up body braces and reinforcement for the G body and never came across any in the engine compartment, I found the common ones for the frame and back seat and one that you might be interested in....

http://www.buickgn.com/hrframebraces.htm

 

[supercrackerbox]

My thoughts are there a number of variables that goes into which car got what.

For the most part, the lower the model line, the less bracing.

Not to argue your point, but my Regal (a Limited model) has absolutely none of the bracing anywhere. Never paid that much attention to my old Regal, (a Sport Coupe) except I know it had the rear sway bar and the heavy duty front sway bar.

Luckily I had the foresight to keep those pieces, along with the turbo hood. 😉

 

[BrownGP83]

I was thinking about what shotgun said about lower models in the same line not getting the same bracing and i did some checking on my stuff. As i said above i have three 83 GPs. One is the base model with t-tops and a V6, one is an LJ, and the other is a Brogham, those 2 being 305 cars. All of them have the exact same bracing all the way through. None of them have rear sway bars. Maybe GM changed the way they built GPs between 79 and 83? Maybe it was the t-tops on the base car? I do not know, but i thought this info might help to try and figure out something. Has anyone looked at a diesel car to see if they had more bracing than a gas car?

 

[TBRtat2]

hey browngp83,
What factory was each of your cars built?
Where they all built in the same one?

As i stated above, I have a hunch that it may have more to do with where the car was built.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

My car came with the jounce bars, but no cross brace, and also had the radiator x brace too. It was a V6 Brougham with standard suspension. Basically, you really need to look at every g body in the junkyard to find stuff as it is hit or miss as to which car got what.