The floorpans on my 68 coupe are resting on the rear of the frame connectors!.....Would or could this cause any banging problems while driving on a bumpy road?.....Should there be a clearance between the connectors and the floorpan?

C'mon man!....I'm waiting for an answer before I crawl under there!.....Would the frame connectors bang up against the floorboards when hitting bumps in the road??

C'mon man!....I'm waiting for an answer before I crawl under there!.....Would the frame connectors bang up against the floorboards when hitting bumps in the road??

Bolt in or weld in frame connectors Ron?

Dave, they are the bolt on, Competition Engineering I believe.

Mine are bolt on as well, but I have 1" clearance all the way back...

Ron,
I have weld in frame connectors on my '69.Since the majority of the floor pans in my Camaro have been removed due to the wheel tubs,the sheetmetal that replaced them sits right on top of the rear frame. It is very possible that the bolt in frame connector will exhibit flexing under load.Road conditions will determine if my car will make any noises from the suspension or stiffness of the frame connectors but I do notice some slight "banging" at times.

Mine are bolt on as well, but I have 1" clearance all the way back...


Mary, I know you're not on the road yet but do you think it's possible for the connectors to bang up against the floorboards when hitting bumps in the road?....The floorpans on my car are resting on the frame connectors at the rear and I'm getting an annoying banging noise somewhere back there when driving over a bumpy pavement!

Ron,
I have weld in frame connectors on my '69.Since the majority of the floor pans in my Camaro have been removed due to the wheel tubs,the sheetmetal that replaced them sits right on top of the rear frame. It is very possible that the bolt in frame connector will exhibit flexing under load.Road conditions will determine if my car will make any noises from the suspension or stiffness of the frame connectors but I do notice some slight "banging" at times.


Dave, I never did like the fact that the floorpans are resting on those connectors....I kind of figured that this would create a problem due to flexing of the connectors!....MaryBeth stated she has 1" clearance from front to rear on her car....I'm just trying to figure out the best way to relieve the floorpan to connector interference.....Thanks Dave!:thumbsup:

Dave, I never did like the fact that the floorpans are resting on those connectors....I kind of figured that this would create a problem due to flexing of the connectors!....MaryBeth stated she has 1" clearance from front to rear on her car....I'm just trying to figure out the best way to relieve the floorpan to connector interference.....Thanks Dave!:thumbsup:

No problem Ron!!! I kinda thought that my situation might not be the same thing that you are dealing with(aftermarket rear frame for me,stock rear subframe for you).I bet if you can get that 1" clearance on the frame connectors like MaryBeth has, the banging should stop.Anyway here's a cold one(Corona w/lime wedges:D) for ya' on me friend :beers:.

I have the same CE connectors on my 68......When I first installed them they butted up against the dip in floorpans....so I removed them and cut about a 4 inch long with 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep notch in the connectors. The notch was diectly under where the dip in the floor pans are. I rewelded pieces of metal to fill the open spaces in the connector which resulted from the notch cutting......and thus restoring the structural integrity of the connectors.

My bolt on CE connectors are very close to the floorpans as well in one spot. Havent looked at em close in a while but it way less than an inch of clearence. Ive never had a problem. I really dont think those things are flexing that much.

Badbird,
How old are your subframe body bushings? If they are wore and settled, the connectors with be at an angle to hit the floor. Think of it this way, you are spacing the subframe from the body, therefore more gap between the two.

I had this problem and putting new body bushings in gave me some clearance. I'm using the jegs brand connectors.

Badbird,
How old are your subframe body bushings? If they are wore and settled, the connectors with be at an angle to hit the floor. Think of it this way, you are spacing the subframe from the body, therefore more gap between the two.

I had this problem and putting new body bushings in gave me some clearance. I'm using the jegs brand connectors.


TC, this car is a frame off with all new body bushings (stock rubber).....The floorpans appear to have been replaced with aftermarket pans and they may be lower than originals thus causing them to rest on the tops of the connectors, at the rear of the connectors.

I hate the fact that I can't even go outdoors and work on my car!.....It is so hot and humid out there and those mosquitos are sucking all the blood out of me!.....Typically those insects leave me alone if I have alcohol in my blood but this is not my drinking day and I really don't feel like lighting up a cigarette every now and then to smoke them away from me!:mad:

I'll look at it whe I get home tomorrow and post pics if I can. One of the things we did was but a shim 1/4" thick in each of the connectors where they meet the subframe under the seats. I had them cut to match the dimensions of the subframe connectors.

I'll look at it whe I get home tomorrow and post pics if I can. One of the things we did was but a shim 1/4" thick in each of the connectors where they meet the subframe under the seats. I had them cut to match the dimensions of the subframe connectors.


Marybeth, I have plenty of clearance at that point without shims....It's towards the rear of the connectors where the problem lies!.....Does your car have the original floorpans or aftermarket?

im in the middle of installing some comp. engineering type connectors. i know in my case the clearance issue is where the floor pan dips down. i went ahead and cut a notch in the connector. the steel these connectors are made out of is quite thick so i went ahead and box welded them and i dont think there will be a problem with strength. beats having to cut up the floor pan:yes:

im in the middle of installing some comp. engineering type connectors. i know in my case the clearance issue is where the floor pan dips down. i went ahead and cut a notch in the connector. the steel these connectors are made out of is quite thick so i went ahead and box welded them and i dont think there will be a problem with strength. beats having to cut up the floor pan:yes:


Yes, that's my problem area too!:yes:.....I was thinking of neatly relieving the floorpans with a floorjack and a piece of wood:yes:

Yes, that's my problem area too!.....I was thinking of neatly relieving the floorpans with a floorjack and a piece of wood

sounds like a good solution to me!

OK, I finally was able to get something done today!.....As I stated before, the rear floorpans were resting right on my frame connectors!.....I relieved both sides today and it was very easy with a floor jack and a piece of 2"x 4" wood.....I now have around 3/4" clearance on both sides!.....Sadly, I wasn't able to test drive the car today due to excessive blood/alcohol content caused from Corona w/lime slices and a few shots of Crown Royal!.....I'll report back the next time I drive it.

OK, relieving the floor pans didn't stop the annoying banging noise coming from the rear of the car!.....I tried 2 other things the other day, I replaced the rear shocks and noticed that the gas tank was lacking the anti-squeek insulation or padding!.....I was also wondering what that constant squeeking noise was while driving!.....I lowered the gas tank around 1/4"-1/2" and installed thick rubber padding on both top sides of the gas tank and test drove the car today.....I'm happy to report that whatever I done, be it the shock change or gas tank padding, that I have no more banging or squeeking noise coming from the rear of the car!.....I might add that I also fixed the speedometer, which had sheared teeth on the speedo gear!.....I installed the correct 21 tooth (red) gear and the speedometer works excellent now!

OK, relieving the floor pans didn't stop the annoying banging noise coming from the rear of the car!.....I tried 2 other things the other day, I replaced the rear shocks and noticed that the gas tank was lacking the anti-squeek insulation or padding!.....I was also wondering what that constant squeeking noise was while driving!.....I lowered the gas tank around 1/4"-1/2" and installed thick rubber padding on both top sides of the gas tank and test drove the car today.....I'm happy to report that whatever I done, be it the shock change or gas tank padding, that I have no more banging or squeeking noise coming from the rear of the car!.....I might add that I also fixed the speedometer, which had sheared teeth on the speedo gear!.....I installed the correct 21 tooth (red) gear and the speedometer works excellent now!

:cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:. Bet you're glad to finally fix that problem that's been buggin' ya':yes:

Now pick up all the Corona bottles and lime peels from the garage floor. :D

Thanks Dave and John!:thumbsup:.....I'm going to celebrate with you know what!:beers: and add some slices of you know what!:yes::thumbsup:

Not to much celebrating BadBird, or you'll be picking yourself off the garage floor. :wacko: