I here that some one makes 4-5 inch long floor braces for the 56 Ford car.  Who might that be? Has any one out there used these and do you have to cut out  part of the bad braces.  A couple of mine are starting to go bad.Do these new ones slip over the old braces? I'm also looking for a very solid used  or maybe a new front cross member out there that a y-blocker isn't using. Thanks

I've only seen adds for the full length ones and they are not cheap - ($70 - $80) each. My brother in law made his own for a '54 Meteor and said it was easy lol. He owns a machine shop!



Thanks

Mark

1956 Mercury M100
1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan
Delta, British Columbia

For the Floor braces try EMS Automotive, Cleveland, or Concours Parts. Someone recently advertised replacement crossmembers, but I can't recall who. Sorry..

Paul

Mac's and Ford Road Parts Store (frps.com) sell the short replacement floor brace ends for $89 or thereabouts. You need to cut out the rusted section. The kit is for all braces, ie 10 pieces from memory and all are different. They make a neat repair when done. If you are replacing floors it may be better to replace the whole brace - Mac's sell these individually, though they are about $80 each.

For the front crossmember you would have to go a long way to get a better replacement than the ones that Goodell Fabrications, Coweta, OK ph.918-486-6498 manufacture and sell direct. Nominate to them what car you have as they have different front mounts. They fit a treat though it is probably easier to take the whole front clip off the car in one piece. They cost something around $300. Similar units without the front mounts attached cost $400+ from Carpenters.

You'll be much happier (and safer) once you have completed the repairs.

Regards

Rick - West Australia
Do Y Blocks Downunder run upside down? Gravity Sucks!!

Hi   If you can tackle replacing them, you can fairly easily make your own braces.  He's what works for me....bend a 5/8ths to 3/4 inch flange on some 18 ga. cold rolled, make a pattern of the side profile of the gusset ( remember a LH & a RH when you cut up the metal) Band saw works well for that. You'll now have two pieces of the gusset, with the third piece being just a flat strip that you weld between the side profiles. Clamp the sides to a flat table, lay the center strip in place , tack it all together,finish weld it all, a little grinding to smooth it off and it should look like this. I can post more pics step by step if you like. Barry

Can you send me some pics of how you made your braces or post them here.

I'll take some new pics and try to make a how-to...give me a few days. Barry

Thank you

Hi   I took a few more pics of the two ways I make floor braces. The first is the type mentioned in my previous post, a profile template of each side of the brace; some are symmetrical , but others have different forward and rear sides. Then a flat strip is welded between them.
The lower brace is of this type.

Hi   the second method is to make the part that attaches to the inner rocker  and weld that to a preformed hat section. The upper brace in the last pic was made that way, less welding. Hope these pics help. B