F41 and aftermarket bracing diagrams (MORE pics added)

Clone TIE Pilot

Comic Book Super Hero
Aug 14, 2011
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Galaxy far far away
Also helps stop the rear quarter roof seams from cracking.
 

Brother Al

Greasemonkey
Jan 26, 2010
243
12
18
Westfield, Mass
Here's a few more to add to this thread.. stuff I posted in the G Body Junkyard & Rarities thread quite awhile ago, along with a bunch of other stuff already mentioned in this thread.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=13366&start=30#.Un2_Fp0o4kI
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Reinforced Wheelwells:
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The Cutlass Supreme and Pontiac Grand Prix used a reinforced plastic wheelwell design that has built-in braces that stiffen them and support the fenders much better. I believe the GN's, Turbo Regals, and 307ci Regals did as well. The Monte Carlo used a flimsy design and if you compare the two side by side, you will see the difference. They do interchange, but it will require changing over to the Cutlass Supreme/Grand Prix radiator overflow and washer jug. A bit of mounting modification may be needed to bolt it to the fenders as well. I added them to my old '83 Monte with little difficulty.
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'82-'92 Camaro/Firebird T-Top Door Jamb Wedges:
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Found on all T-top equipped F-Body's, 4 pieces total, mounted on the upper part of the doorjambs & doors. Early years are metal & riveted in, later cars are cheap plastic & screwed in. GM used these to stiffen the door jambs area and reduce rattles on these cars. Some G-Body's did use these but they seem to have been used randomly by the various assembly plants.
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Trunk Bracing: These are the two lower braces shown above in malibu80's post
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On some G-Bodies, there were several braces added to support the rear trunk floor/rear body mounts to the tops of the trunk opening lip/rear edge of the quarter panels. All have at least one added to the pass-side to mount the spare tire. On some cars, there were 4 used. One on each side near the trunk lid hinges and two others further back, one mounting the spare and one on the opposite side. They require a bit of sawzall/die grinder work, but are worth adding.
 
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liquidh8

Comic Book Super Hero
Brother Al said:
Here's a few more to add to this thread.. stuff I posted in the G Body Junkyard & Rarities thread quite awhile ago, along with a bunch of other stuff already mentioned in this thread.
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=13366&start=30#.Un2_Fp0o4kI
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reinforced Wheelwells:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cutlass Supreme and Pontiac Grand Prix used a reinforced plastic wheelwell design that has built-in braces that stiffen them and support the fenders much better. I believe the GN's, Turbo Regals, and 307ci Regals did as well. The Monte Carlo used a flimsy design and if you compare the two side by side, you will see the difference. They do interchange, but it will require changing over to the Cutlass Supreme/Grand Prix radiator overflow and washer jug. A bit of mounting modification may be needed to bolt it to the fenders as well. I added them to my old '83 Monte with little difficulty.

I was wondering this, just posted in another thread regarding wheelwells. I have the reinforced Buick wheelwells for my wagon, but put cutlass fenders on it. So the wheelwells from the factory were different. I was going to try and modify them to get them to fit. Since you already did it, that is good to hear.
 
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Brother Al

Greasemonkey
Jan 26, 2010
243
12
18
Westfield, Mass
This was quite awhile ago thst I made the swap over, but they did fit with some minor drilling and grinding here and there for clearance... plus I had to swap all of the other parts over and the Cutlass antifreeze overflow and washer jug are larger/better IMHO. The Olds reinforced-version has a built-in battery tray on both sides, so it opens up some possibilities for swapping accessory locations/more room for a Turbo setup perhaps.
 
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thrasher

Greasemonkey
Nov 12, 2013
120
1
0
Kirban- Connecting Front Brace (GP Style)
722x480_connectingfrontbrace.jpg


Speed Tech Front End Brace
prd_210.jpg


Detroit Speed- Chassis Brace
034001-001-lg.jpg


UMI Performance Control Arm Reinforcements/Frame Braces Available in black.
UMI3028.jpg
 
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SRD art

G-Body Guru
Jun 16, 2011
550
442
63
St. George, UT
That Speedtech brace is super beefy. I've heard some "G Body experts" suggest that for serious abuse in cornering the factory front bars are a bit weak. I work at Speedtech, so if anyone has any questions about our g- feel free to ask. G body parts just ask.

On Pumkinator I found some fenbder to firewall braces on a 75 (?) El Camino. They fit perfectly, just needed to drill a couple holes in the cowl. I built my own front triangulation brace but for the money the Speedtech brace is a little heavier duty. The DSE bars are about the same price as the Speedtech but don't have the cross bar, something that makes sense that you should have.

Someone mentioned keeping the rear flimsy and beef up the front to control over steer. There is some truth to that, but there are lots of factors that can affect oversteer, so a lot of it is tuning your specific application. On my car I boxed the whole frame, welded custom brackets to put a trailer hitch between the rear frame rails, buit some other custom bracing for the back half and built a 6 point cage that extends towards the rear of the car. I found that with the factory wagon front sway bar and the Camaro F41 rear bar I was getting some oversteer as I'd lay into it coming out of a corner. I ended up unhooking the rear bar altogether and although I picked up a little more body roll it planted the outer rear tire and for the most part the oversteer went away. I then changed the front shock settings and the oversteer came back. So, again I say there's some tuning involved. The important thing is to start with matched bars. In my case when I first put the car together I tried to use a bunch of factory parts and the bars aren't matched. I haven't gotten to it yet but I will be putting Speedtech bars on it here soon.

Here's some links to how I tied the frame together...

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=29235&hilit=pumkinator&start=195 (scroll towards the bottom)

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=29235&hilit=pumkinator&start=210

Front engine bay bracing...

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=29235&hilit=pumkinator&start=270

Cage and trailer hitch pics...

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=29235&hilit=pumkinator&start=135
 
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Clone TIE Pilot

Comic Book Super Hero
Aug 14, 2011
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Galaxy far far away
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GuysMonteSS

Royal Smart Person
May 21, 2011
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skulledmonte84

Master Mechanic
Feb 7, 2014
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near Clearfield pa
Thought it wouldn't hurt to add a pic of my core support to fender braces,i got them off a gp or buick i cant remember,sanded them down an polished them up
 

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oranGekrate

Greasemonkey
Oct 25, 2012
199
109
28
Fredericksburg, VA
Really good thread...Was curious about price for the Speedtech brace, didn't find any info on the site. I'm sure I'll just combine the factory set up as others have done.
Sounds like the jury is still out on whether the hitch(rear)brace for a wagon is worth it or not as far as corner carving goes.
 

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