Has Anyone on here used the speedway motors front clip? Im looking into this one because its fairly cheap($600) and then i can piece together the other parts to my likeing. I have searched around to see what people thought of it but could find anyone using it.
Also i want to use my 67 nova wagon as a street strip car. will there be any problem with this not having good suspension travel for wieght transfer?
Here is a shot of my speedway motors clip and i also used thier 5/8" shorter a-arms and complete suspension and brake set up. Everything fit really well and went together without issue. The clip and suspension kit comes only with very limited instructions.
The narrower a-arms gave me more tire clearence. The clip also located the wheel center line a 1/2" closer to the fire wall and this also helped with tire clearence. you will have to fabricate your own motor mounts with this clip. I run a small block and hooker supercomp headers fit great and steering linkage fabrication was simple as well. I used a flaming river 30" column. Not sure how the suspension will react at the track, yet i am very close. I have had the car out on the street for a couple shake down runs. So far the entire set up has performed very well. There are alot of good set ups out there and alot of guys here have good things to say about all. The car is a solid street car and should perform well on the drag strip. Hopefully the high speed wable is a thing of the past.
looks like a MustangII clip... i saw the thread earlier and thought you were referring to the Speedway Straightaxle clip.
Heidt's, maybe TCI too, sells just the bare frame and it can be pieced together. (i believe) Heidt's used to sell a weld in cross member kit too where you retain your stock frame rails...
before you spend, research all the brands... i don't know the quality of the Speedway unit and am not commenting on its quality one way or the other... just suggesting you research everything before buying
They did many years ago. I have one in my 64. I don't think they make/sell that particular crossmember kit anymore since the prefabed bolt in front clips have now become the standard now. They do have a "universal" weld in crossmember but I'm not sure what the difference is compaired to the application specific weld in unit that I have. They don't list the older 1st/2nd gen Nova weld in crossmember on their website anymore that I can tell.
Personally, I like the weld in type better. It requires more skill/ work to get in but the finished install looks more factory. I just never really liked the look of those frame to firewall bars and flat aftermarket side inner panels.
Boosted64SS did a good job at retaining the factory upper inner panels to tie the factory core support and hood hinges together.
I agree...do your home work and ask questions. Ultimately you have to decide the level of performance and then what your budget will allow. I was very happy with the quality, service and fit. The complete setup, clip, suspension and brakes came in at under 2k. I know there are alot of guys on this site that have alot of experience and knowledge to share. This clip will require some fabrication as mentioned earlier as well as fender/hood mounts and inner fenders. Some of the other manufacturers will provide you with a more complete set up if you wish to go that route. This has worked for me and any upgrades to the factory set up is a step in the right direction to improving safety and performance. The DSE set up is REALLY cool though! Maybe next time...
Yea the only thing that scares me is welding in my own motor mounts. I can weld, im just not very good at it yet. But i do love the idea of piecing together my own front end and it looks like i can do it for around $1500-$1700.
Is your car lowered 2" im still debating wether i want 2" drop spindles or not.
Sorry i havent replied sooner, work has me traveling farther and farther from home. Contractor... Anyway first you asked if the car was lowered. No, I went with the stock spindle configuration. 2" droppped spindles in my car would make oil pan drag asphalt.
I made the motor mounts from a set of truck leafspring lowering shackel from my local pepboys. i just used moroso solid motor mount to the block. The shalckel has uerathane bushing. I took about 1/16" off each side to fit the motor mount the shackel. Mocked up the motor a few times and trimmed the shackels to fit, welded the in and added a short piece of 1" tubing for added support. Steering and header fitment was issue free.
I got the speedway motors front end and pieced it all together with parts i wanted all for under 2k. Chassis works sells fender and hood hinge mounts soo thats what im going with. Got the original front end off today and wondering if it is worth anything it is way to big for me to keep.
Dude, you have one of the coolest gasser novas on this site! CLEAN...I read your thread a few times. That was an ultra nice car you started with. Nice Nice.
Bolted up the subframe kit. And got my motor mounts welded in today. Its all coming back out to paint all the front end. Def moving along but i bought a trans crossmember that i dont think is going to work.
Sounds good. I was able to re-use the factory trans crossmember, just had to grind the flange on the front leading edge to clear the tranny pan. Just curious how everything on your speedway clip aligned? Mine was square and everything aligned first try. All the mounting points and down bars were spot on. I read a couple of posts on this site from guys having difficulty with the down bar alignment on some of the clips manufactured by other companies. I attributed much of thier alignment issues to common issues with most of these cars (drag raced most of its life, previous accident damage or the fact that the tolerances these cars were constructed to were not really that close to begin with). How did you build your motor mounts? Like I said, going this direction worked for me and I was pleased with fit and finish and the overall cost. If my car was going to be more of a corner carver I may have went a different route. I am looking to add a splined anti roll bar. Maybe something on the lines of the one offered by Hot Rods to Hell or DSE.
I am also using my stock crossmember now. I also had to grind off the front lip and a little on the side to clear my 700r4 trans pan. Every on the main part aligned really well, the passenger side support bar went pretty easy, drivers side had to use some muscle to get the bolts to line up perfect but it wasnt bad. I bought universal weld in motor mounts from speedway motors and just cut to fit them and had a buddy weld them in(i can weld im just not very good yet). So far i am very happy with the setup and this is going to be my street/strip crusier. Ill get some pics up soon.
Bringing back from dead. Starting budget 67 build for my 16 year old and have no front end components. Looking for the least expensive front clip that works for general daily driver. Had pretty much decided on Checked but they don't return my phone calls.
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