Heartbreak-broken rear shock mount

As Luis mentioned, the welder will start the pool on the thicker piece and bring it down onto the thinner piece. The strength of the weld will be the same regardless of the thickness of the top piece. The thicker top piece though will be less apt to tear and the welder I'm sure will do a good job securing the 2 pieces. It would be great to have him (or her) weld all the way around but I can tell you that from my experience it is quite difficult to get around the front side of the tube but again, I was welding to the base of the tube and not 2/3 of the way up. Either way though I'm sure you will be fine. Please take lots of shots, this is a topic that will come up again and again unfortunately.
 
Pieces finished

Here's what I have settled on:

5mm side wall width
Top section stepped from 8mm to 3.75mm
Hole is 25mm
Width is 98mm
Height is 40mm
Top and bottom edges are beveled slightly.
Cost was $100 for the pair

I went to 5mm down from 10mm on the wall at the recomendation of the machinest and the welder for weld quality and ease, it could be done thicker but preferably not want to fool with it. They just barely slide in. Being welded in tomorrow on top and 3 plug welds on the sides.

The piece is incredibly strong and feels like it belongs on an F-16. A couple pics of inside, top and side:
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Steve,

looks like you've just set up your new cottage industry. these look beautifully made. looking forward to seeing the installed pics
 
This is one venture I am not intersted in pursuing. But dimensions posted and am happy to help with experiences so far.

If you want the piece more snug, 98.5mm might do it, might not...

rsporsche said:
Steve,

looks like you've just set up your new cottage industry. these look beautifully made. looking forward to seeing the installed pics
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i can totally understand the avoidance of the prolonging of one's least favorite coupe experience
 
"The piece is incredibly strong and feels like it belongs on an F-16."

LOOKS like it belongs in an F-16!

And Chris O- Yes, I did weld them in, pictures on the thread I have going, I think either option will produce the same results if they don't break through! :)

Don't you just love these cars!
 
This might be a dumb question but is there a way to find out if you have metal fatigue/cracks in your towers before going though this process?
Thanks
 
How do you determine how far to push them into the tower base/hole? In other words how are you ensuring the tower height is correct?
 
I suppose you could take the shock and the rubber bushing out and have a close look for any small cracks. But you'd better have new bushings because I am not sure you'd get the old ones back in.

Having closely looked at the tower construction, the piece is stamped out, curved top and all, the center hole area is folded back on itself to create the 4mm area where the rubber bushing fits in. This 180 degree bend can't be very strong after this procedure. So with that and the remaining 2mm of metal to take the beating for 40+ years = fatigue. Mine looked perfect when I put the Bilsteins in a couple years ago.

tmason said:
This might be a dumb question but is there a way to find out if you have metal fatigue/cracks in your towers before going though this process?
Thanks
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Fixed

Picked her up today from the welder and it looks rock solid. Weld around the top and 3 plug welds on the sides of the tower. It's not going anywhere or ever breaking again. Primed and seam sealed up inside the tower and primed over the top metal, I will paint some polaris on there later. It turned out better than I expected and now I can move on. Celebrating by retrofitting modern speakers into my original Becker grills and dropping an amp under the back seat while the interiror is apart.

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That's some peace of mind.

Upon investigating my rear shock mounts at VSR, Mario found one of my mounts had been repaired at some point in the past.
 
looks great Steve, i presume you did both sides while you were there. look forward to seeing it at amelia
 
What about that mustard I see splotched all around the work area? I hate when mechanics eat while working.

Looks strong.

Stevehose said:
Picked her up today from the welder and it looks rock solid. Weld around the top and 3 plug welds on the sides of the tower. It's not going anywhere or ever breaking again. Primed and seam sealed up inside the tower and primed over the top metal, I will paint some polaris on there later. It turned out better than I expected and now I can move on. Celebrating by retrofitting modern speakers into my original Becker grills and dropping an amp under the back seat while the interiror is apart.

IMG_1429.JPG
Click to expand...
 
That is a good looking garage right there.

I'm still torn about whether to try to do something preventative on my car. I probably am going to have to push it off a while; I really want to get the 5 speed and webers installed.
 
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