Body Mounting - How do you do it?

[Keeper]

Okay after reading a thread in the lounge about an accident where the body of the t basically flopped off of the frame I got to wondering.

How do you mount your body? I do not think a 5/8 piece of plywood and some glass would hold that well.

The body I got with my project had the wood 'partially glassed' looks like one layer of glass on the bottom. It was also bolted right to the frame with some weld in nuts. Does not look very secure to me.

 

[donsrods]

This is one area where my opinion is different from that of Total Performance. They use "well nuts" to secure the body to the frame. These are the rubber, expandable plugs that you slip into a drilled hole, and when you tighten the bolt down the plugs swell up and grip into the hole. I came out of the marine industry, and we used them for securing things like windshields and rubrail, but IMO they are not strong enough to hold a body on.......at least I wouldn't trust them.

Instead, we weld a piece of 3/8 thick strap steel to the top of the 3/16 inch thick frame rail in each of the 6 spots where the body bolts will go. Then we drill clear through and tap 3/8 fine threads into all of it. We use fender washers on top of the floor on each bolt and cinch each one down. We do use a small rubber fender washer between the frame and body at each mounting spot.

In defense of the Total Performance well nuts, a lady I know, Megan, flipped her Total T at about 70 mph and the body never came loose. But I still like 6 grade 8 bolts better.

Don

 

[Tbucit]

I too are not crazy about the well nuts used by some but have to say that is most likely my overbuild mentality. I do like alot of people and make a weld on mount from tubing. Then I machine a threaded piece to go into the floor with a bolt from the bottom.

Randall

 

[tfeverfred]

As crazy at it seems, someone needs to crash test a T Bucket. Just don't use mine.

I used the "well nuts" that TP uses. I figure, if they are using them after all these years, they must be doing the intended job, but I still did some reasearch on them. What I found out was that they do work and the tensile strength was pretty good.

What I also figured was no matter how you attached the body to the frame, it was going to be pieces in any collision above 35MPH. At this point, my issue became piece of mind. Just what could I do to make me FEEL safe about the body mounting. The answer was to go with the "well nuts" and be as safe a driver as I could. I'm no daredevil, but I'm not going to live my life in a steel shell, either.

In my opinion, you have to do what feels right for you. What makes YOU feel good when you sit in one of these cars and decide to drive on a road or highway with cars that weigh at least twice as much as yours does.

 

[butch27]

I drilled through my floor AND all the way through the2x4 frame and used LONG bolts.

 

[HDWRENCH]

My T is a TP car. I wasn't very comfortable with the Well Nuts, so I machined replacements out of Steel Round Stock and welded these to the frame. I also used a rubber gasket 1/8" thick between the mount and bottom of the floor.

 

[LumenAl]

I have 6 body tabs of 1/4 plate steel welded to the frame... then 1/2 inch grade 8 bolts washers top and bottom, lock washers, and nuts. The floor is 3/4 plywood with three layers of glass top and bottom...

 

[tfeverfred]

I have 6 body tabs of 1/4 plate steel welded to the frame... then 1/2 inch grade 8 bolts washers top and bottom, lock washers, and nuts. The floor is 3/4 plywood with three layers of glass top and bottom...

Wow! Sounds like all it needs is a turrent and the name Sherman stenciled on the side!

 

[LumenAl]

Wow! Sounds like all it needs is a turrent and the name Sherman stenciled on the side!

If you saw what a POS this was when I got it, you'd see why I did what I did... but ya got me thinking about the turret.

 

[Brucer]

i used the well nuts..my body is steel though with steel floor pans and 3/16 mounting pads welded to the cross supports..

its pretty stout with the well nuts..

 

[blownt]

I got 3/4" plywood for the floor. I took some scrap 2x3 tubing and cut it in sorta pie shaped U bracket. Got 4 of them and welded to the side of the frame. Drilled and used 1/2" carriage bolts.