[67 Swedish Convertible]

Couple of questions I hope you can help me with:

1. Pictures of a ragtop with headers and an American Thunder system mounted. Does anyone have any pics on how they solved the Xbrace? Do I need to alter anything? Shim down the brace? Re-route the pipes? I will use the Flowtech Afterburner headers.

2. I am about to go and pick up my new engine. However, before sinking it in my 67, I was planning on mounting the headers. Would that be a good thing to do or should I wait and install the headers until after the engine is in place? Will I have enough room to lower the engine in place with the headers mounted?

Thanks for your help.:beers:

 

[JimM]

Hey cool, another excuse to put up pics of my reworked exhaust!!!

To get up in the tunnel, the pipes need to come both in and up off the headers. The primary interference point is the H or X pipe to the driveshaft severely limits how high you can go.

The verticle angle between the headers and the pipes back thru the tunnel is fixed on the flow system, and puts the pipes right thru the middle of the stock X brace.

This time around, I used the Hotchkiss brace. It fits like it was made for this exhaust system!

 

[67 Swedish Convertible]

Thanks a lot, Jim.


Love your car.....wish mine looked as good as that.

You don't happen to have any pics taken from underneath the vehicle or from an angle looking, from the front, backwards under the car? That way, I could see how the pipes bend and go up in the tunnel. I looket at your photos but could not find any other pics.
Also, did you have any ideas, suggestions or comments on fitting the headers before i put the engine in.

 

[BPOS]

I took a slightly different approach - a few years before the Hotchkis piece was available.

I made my own X-brace. A couple of 2" x 3" pieces of angle iron and a piece of 1/4" plate. I made it so that the brace goes up into the tunnnel, and the exhaust system hangs below it like it would on any coupe. Works great and cost about $10 to make. It only utilizes the front two bolt holes on each side. I used the original X-brace as a template.

 

[JimM]

I'll look in my pc tonight and see if I have pics from those anlgles. I think I took one from the front showing the whole system, possible it didn't come out good tho, it's a tough pic to get, dark under there.

As for the headers, the pass side is easy, you could basically throw it at the car from 10 feet away and it would fall right in from the top (assuming you don't have A/C!)

The drivers side is another story. My hooker comps will go in from underneath if you take off the oil filter and clutch linkage, but it is VERY tight. They have to go straight UP, so the car has to be VERY high.

If you have the option, lay it in place before you put the motor in and wire it to the hood hinges or fender bolts to hold it in place while the motor goes in.

 

[macdon]

When i dropped the 454 into the 69 vert the X Brace was already missing. I am running 3in custom bend pipes all the way back from collectors & 2in headers. The clearance issue was solved by installing sub frame connectors rather than a new X Brace. No sags, doors line up great and no rattles on the track .

 

[67 Swedish Convertible]

Lot's of good advice here, guys. Thanks a lot for that. I especially liked the "home made" version of the brace. Sweet! You wouldn't happen to have a drawing (in metric..) for it (just kidding).
Hanging the headers i place before lowering the engine sounds lika a good idea. Think I'll try that.

However, please keep the pics coming. I love watching your cars and see the way you've solved the problems. :thumbsup:

 

[JimM]

here's the other 3 pics I have. The one from the side shows how the pipes exit the hotchkiss brace and how the mufflers tuck up to the floor. The front and rear don't show much, the system is tucked all the way up and you can't really see it.

 

[67 Swedish Convertible]

Sweett pics Jim. I really love the way the pipes are tucked away. Looks really clean.
The thing I hate the most when I look at cars is to see oversized mufflers hanging half way between the floor panels and the road. Just can't stand it. But yours looked great. Real neat.

BPOS: How come you're only utilising the front 2 holes? Why not all 4? Doesn't the body flex more with only 2 of them fastened?

 

[67 Swedish Convertible]

Managed to crawl under the car today for a closer look at what I've got....something strange underneath the car....Not an x-brace, but some kind of...brace...or support. Haven't got any pics since it's dark and lack of space where the car is sitting today.

The guy that replaced my original gearbox with an automatic dito also replaced, or removed, the Xbrace....What I have now is a support which is about 5" wide, made of a 6mm steel plate, running very close to the rear end of the gearbox, from one side of the sub-frame to the other. It looks like it is fastened in the sub-frame, using the 2 most forward holes of the original xbrace fastening points (did that make sence?). I'm sure it's doing the job but it doesn't look a bit like the xbrace's you guys've been showing me. Any ideas of what it might be? Is it only a tranny "cover" from a newer car? Is it a xbrace from a newer ragtop, or what?
I could still see the rear holes from where the original xbrace was fastened.

Maybe I am wrong, but there are 2 holes on each side of the sub-frame, where this support is fastened. The rear holes are still un-used.
To me, it looks like I should be able to fit both headers and exhaust system without changing anything since this "support" is so close to the gearbox!!

BUT - Has anyone got any clue as to what this is??