Chassis Stiffening Kit Installation?

Racer Chris · Post by **Racer Chris** » Sat Apr 27, 2002 6:44 pm

I have a Pelican Parts Chassis Stiffening Kit to install. There are six pieces to a side. Four of the pieces are pretty obvious even without a diagram. However, I can't figure out where the two pieces with a curved edge go. Any pictures available, or a good description of how they fit? The pieces aren't shaped like any area visible to me on the car, what gives?

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Chris F.

www.tangerineracing.com

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » Sun Apr 28, 2002 12:11 am

Chris, I can help you for once. I installed the kit two weeks ago. The cresent shape goes highest in the wheel well. The biggest piece goes just below and slightly overlaps the cresent. The little pie shape goes in front of the biggest towards the console at an angle. The dogleg goes at the end of the longitudinal in front of the console and behing the quater panel. Hard to get to upper welds with rear fender on (I was able to do it, but it's tough. The weird pistol shape goes on from the bottom starting from where the control arm bracket bolts up with three bolts and runs back under and at right angles to the biggest piece. The pistol is the toughest one as it has to form to the concave area above the control arm shaft. You need to beat it up in there with a ball pein and maybe a little heat. I tacked the edges of each piece and welded the holes up solid. Then I welded the entire perimeter a little at a time.

Rich Johnson is the vendor/manucfaturer of this kit. He gladly answers questions at (972) 398-9146 (TX) or [email protected]

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Milt 914 2.0 Race Car (under construction)

Racer Chris · Post by **Racer Chris** » Mon Apr 29, 2002 12:25 am

Thanks Zeke,

The quarter panels are off this car right now so access is real easy. I'm still at a loss for where the piece with the concave curve goes. It has an odd shape, tapered at the ends, and no holes for plug welds.
The car is getting the Brad Mayeur chassis kit at the same time and some other features, as well as my rear quarter panel flares. It's keeping me pretty busy right now.

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Chris F.

www.tangerineracing.com

Dave_Darling · Post by **Dave_Darling** » Mon Apr 29, 2002 4:37 pm

Drop Don an e-mail and he should be able to send you a URL to the instructions on line. [email protected]

--DD

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1974 VW-Porsche 914 2.0 (Type IV powered!)

Pelican Parts' 914 Tech Geek http://www.pelicanparts.com

maf 914 · Post by **maf 914** » Wed May 01, 2002 1:25 pm

Chris, Or others who have installed stiffening kits,

The kits consist of plates which are welded into place, with rosette welds through the holes in the plates and by perimeter welds around the plates. How do you treat the metal surfaces that will be covered by the plates when welded in place? Is there a rust preventative coating that will protect those? Or do you just live with the possibility or probability that rust will form in the voids between the body and panel?

Mike

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » Wed May 01, 2002 10:11 pm

Chris, I only got 5 pieces per side. What's up? Did you get the advice you needed?

Mike, the deal is this: Prepare the car for welding and paint with weld thru primer.

BUT, I didn't do it this way. i put the pieces up in place and sprayed a very light coat of yellow (works on all cars except yellow ones) over the part. Removed the piece to be welded and ground off the paint on the car just where the welds go including all the little round dots left by the holes in the plate. Where I couldn't grind, I used the sandblaster.

maf 914 · Post by **maf 914** » Thu May 02, 2002 7:45 am

Zeke, Thanks for the explanation.

Mike

Racer Chris · Post by **Racer Chris** » Thu May 02, 2002 8:11 am

Weld thru coating is a product made by 3M. Standard size spray cans are more than $20 each. I bought some at the recommendation of Brad Mayeur to install his longitudinal reinforcements. IMO it interferes with good MIG welds nearly as much as thin primer or a thin coat of paint. I think if the panels are being fully perimeter welded there's really no need for a coating in between. I still like Zeke's idea of coating then carefully cleaning the weld zone. It's hard to accept that weld thru coating is worth $20 a can, based on my limited experience. The can directions specify two thin coats. I had some trouble with one coat, and porous welds with two. WTF.
No one seems to know about the sixth piece. Seems strange. Don from PP sent diagrams for the first five. The crescent pieces I got are hardly worth putting in the wheel arch - the PP diagram shows them much larger, which would make sense. Rich Johnson hasn't replied to my email. I'm adding my own outer console reinforcement anyhow, so I'm not even using the small triangular piece or the front dogleg piece. At this point I can't say I'd buy one of these kits, or recommend it to anyone else, especially if I'm going to do the installation. At some point I may try making the big piece plus the crescent piece in one, with the appropriate step formed into it. That would be much better IMO. Personally I think the original chassis kit used by the factory was marginal at best and some sales oriented bozo grabbed the idea and perpetuated it. Certainly for a race car I can come up with more effective uses for the weight added.

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Chris F.

www.tangerineracing.com

Dave_Darling · Post by **Dave_Darling** » Thu May 02, 2002 10:49 am

Another "factory hack"... I get people saying "but the factory did it to their race cars" all the time. They don't understand just how "quick and dirty" the factory effort seems to have been! Running oil lines through the driver's footwell? Ugh!!!

Anyway, I believe that the sixth piece is specific to four-cylinder 914s, as it has something to do with the motor mount hanger area--which doesn't exist onn 914-6es. At least, that is what I have heard.

I haven't installed one of the kits myself, and I don't remember exactly what the ones I have seen already installed looked like. So my info on these is mostly hearsay...

Jeff Zwart did a long-distance rally in his Six, and he found that the chassis separated in the area where the GT reinforcements go. I think he even had the reinforcements installed already, but I'm not sure on that. Anyway, he had to get the area welded up partway through the (multiple-day) event due to the cracks.

That was from either the Panorama or the Excellence article on the rally.

--DD

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1974 VW-Porsche 914 2.0 (Type IV powered!)

Pelican Parts' 914 Tech Geek http://www.pelicanparts.com

Racer Chris · Post by **Racer Chris** » Thu May 02, 2002 11:34 am

Originally posted by Dave_Darling:
Anyway, I believe that the sixth piece is specific to four-cylinder 914s, as it has something to do with the motor mount hanger area--which doesn't exist onn 914-6es. At least, that is what I have heard.

Thanks Dave,

I'll focus my investigation on the inside of the frame rail. Actually, since you mention it, I remember seeing a picture or diagram somewhere showing what you describe.

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Chris F.

www.tangerineracing.com

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » Thu May 02, 2002 10:19 pm

After installing the kit, I have to agree with Chris to an extent. If you have the capability and know what the basic pieces look like, you can make them yourself. After I finished, I wasn't sure what good I'd done. I'm just one of those people that sees "chassis stiffening kit," oh, that must be a good thing, I'll get one of those.

And Dave, (and Chris), I didn't see anything about inside of console/longitudinal pieces. I wondered about that as well.

I'm lacking a little confidence about the whole thing now.

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Milt 914 2.0 Race Car (under construction)

Dave_Darling · Post by **Dave_Darling** » Fri May 03, 2002 11:25 am

The kit doesn't provide anything for the longitidunal, nor for the inner mounting ear for the suspension.

The longitudinal reinforcements/repair panels that we sell (I'm pretty sure we get them from Brad Mayeur in IL) do the former. For the suspension console/inner mounting ear, you have to do your own.

...As I said, the factory race effort came up with some real "hacks". Neglecting those two stressed areas, IMHO, is one of them.

--DD

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1974 VW-Porsche 914 2.0 (Type IV powered!)

Pelican Parts' 914 Tech Geek http://www.pelicanparts.com

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » Fri May 03, 2002 2:22 pm

Dave, my kit was drop shipped from Rich Johnson and purchased thru Pelican. Johnson's card was in the box. Date of invoice was within last 45 days.

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Milt 914 2.0 Race Car (under construction)

[This message has been edited by zeke27 (edited 05-03-2002).]

Dave_Darling · Post by **Dave_Darling** » Fri May 03, 2002 4:17 pm

Uhhhh... Thank you for supporting us... But I don't understand what you're getting at...

--

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1974 VW-Porsche 914 2.0 (Type IV powered!)

Pelican Parts' 914 Tech Geek http://www.pelicanparts.com

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » Fri May 03, 2002 7:36 pm

Sorry, after rereading your post I see where we are talking about different things. My fault. I'm confusing the longitudinal reinforcement with the stiffening kit. But I still don't see any info on a sixth piece. IMO, the roll cage I'm installing will add plenty of strength where the car was weak, i.e., under the doors. From the door back to the trans mounts is where we are trying to stop flex, right? I read on another thread that flared fenders actually bow in and out at the lip due to defection of the rear clip. I can only assume that is why I installed the kit.

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Milt 914 2.0 Race Car (under construction)