Transmission cross members

[Bar50]

I have G-force in my daily driver 80.

I have the Iceman light weight in my grudge car.

My beater Buick Regal with 350 Buick/TH350 has the Jegster.

My take, for what its worth, G-force is ultra heavy duty, great for a car without a cage to add stiffness. The Jegster is okay, but, the humps do not align with big block header collectors. The Iceman will clear 4 inch that I know of.

 

[Longroof79]

I have modified my original cross member by notching out the driver side to clear the additional exhaust pipe. It's held up nicely for the past 25 yrs.
I also have an old style Iceman unit(with frame extension) that is actually a copy of the G-Force member. It's for a 200-4R, and that will be going in when I get the 200-4R built. I've only had it for the past 10 yrs...but it will eventually get used.

 

[565bbchevy]

I also modified my original by notching it and used 1/4' plate to fill it and also welded a mount on for the th400 and have plenty of clearance to fit my tucked up 4.5" exhaust.
I also used 3/8" plate to replace the rubber end bushings where it mounts to the frame since everything on my car is rigid mounted.

 

[ssn696]

The advantage to fabbing your own is that you can compensate for the loss of clearance due to sagging body bushings. The Jeg's 200-4R crossmember did not work out for me, and I will have to modify it anyway. I made drawings, but have not built it yet. Meanwhile, here are some images I collected over the years to help you plot and scheme.

 

[Mike buttafuoco]

Here's mine I made for my T56. Patterned after the G force unit, but more symmetrical.
After these pics were taken, I also incorporated a front two piece driveshaft safety loop into it as well.

View attachment 57843

View attachment 57844

View attachment 57845

HTH.
Donovan

Now that's what I'm talking about!!! You do very nice work my friend!

 

[Mike buttafuoco]

The advantage to fabbing your own is that you can compensate for the loss of clearance due to sagging body bushings. The Jeg's 200-4R crossmember did not work out for me, and I will have to modify it anyway. I made drawings, but have not built it yet. Meanwhile, here are some images I collected over the years to help you plot and scheme.

Thank you!!!

 

[Rktpwrd]

Now that's what I'm talking about!!! You do very nice work my friend!

Thank you!

 

[Ribbedroof]

Here's mine I made for my T56. Patterned after the G force unit, but more symmetrical.
After these pics were taken, I also incorporated a front two piece driveshaft safety loop into it as well.

View attachment 57843

View attachment 57844

View attachment 57845

HTH.
Donovan

Beautiful piece, but I do have a question/comment

With no apparent adjustment for width, are you concerned that after the body is on, removing the crossmember and reinstallation might have a problem getting the throughbolts aligned? I would be concerned that the frame might spread just a little when the crossmember is removed.

Just a thought....

 

[Rktpwrd]

Beautiful piece, but I do have a question/comment

With no apparent adjustment for width, are you concerned that after the body is on, removing the crossmember and reinstallation might have a problem getting the throughbolts aligned? I would be concerned that the frame might spread just a little when the crossmember is removed.

Just a thought....

Thanks for your concern/comment.

While the crossmember in that pic was still in the mockup stage (frame mount only tack welded in place), I have since completed the fabrication and install.

Yes, your are correct, at first it took a bit of finagling to get the bolts installed through the brackets. I made it a bit easier by opening up the bracket holes slightly oversize. A short aligning bar through the bracket and into the crossmember helped move it into place more still.

The framerails had spread slightly after boxing in the sides, but I pulled them back into place with a 3" heavy duty ratchet strap wrapped around the rails while the body was still off. I pulled them together slightly more than was needed, then when I released the tension and the rails relaxed, the crossmember aligned perfectly and the bolts slid right in.

The body is currently back on the frame and all the body mount bolts are installed and snugged down again, so I know the alignment between the body and frame is still within spec.

I'm not too concerned about having any difficulty removing or reinstalling the crossmember in the future with the body on as I can't see the framerails spreading much while they're bolted to the body. The center body mount bolts are within about 6" of the crossmember mounting points, so this should help to keep things anchored in place.

If you look close in this pic, you can see part of the driveshaft safety loop that I incorporated into the crossmember. It's a two piece design, allowing me to unbolt the upper portion to make transmission/driveshaft/crossmember removal and installation easier as well.

In this one, you can see the mount has been shortened, finalized, and welded in permanent. Don't mind the maze of tubing, they're all mockup pieces when I was planning out the fuel delivery and return system and the airline to the front air spring.
It's a very busy piece of real estate!

I'm happy to report that everything fits, clears the body and works beautifully together.


Thanks for your interest and comments/concerns!

Donovan

 

[SoFloG]

Thanks for sharing. I am building one in my head right now. I miss the days when the junk yard was full of this stuff!!!

Thanks Obama and cash for clunkers!
Jegster here, And had to modify the collectors to align with the provisions.