Has anyone here installed one of Competition Engineering's rear frame kits? I'm going to attempt to install one within the next month on my 73 maverick. If anyone has any suggestions or tips on doing this please spread the wealth of knowledge! If you've done it or know of anyone that's done it (doesn't have to be on a maverick) I'd love to see some pictures... Anything to give me an idea of how to go about back halving my car lol Thanks!! David
here's a few photo's for starters. There's one picture of the front motor mounts. I'm expecting a new front end coil-over suspension kit within the next week as well. I know there's a few threads of how to install those. Anyway here's a few pictures and yes... I need to cut the grass underneath haha
I have not back-halved a car (yet ... ), so take this for what it is worth... Having the middle of the floor already cut out before doing the back-half makes me wonder if the body is going to sag if you cut out any more structure. Tack welding some cross bracing would be a good idea before cutting anything else out. I have been looking at building subframe connectors for mine, and stumbled across a guy that did his a bit different ... 1x2 run next to the rocker panels and tied to the torque boxes. Looks like an easy addition to what you have right there currently. Probably a good place to tie in a rollbar, too. If you are doing a Pro Street-type build, one thing that always occurred to me is that if you are going to have to stretch the wheelwells, I would mount the new rear axle a couple of inches further back. Then just stretch the rear of the wheelwell opening, leaving the front alone. I think that would make the car look better from the side. Stock rear axle looks like it was place a bit too far forward IMO.
I used Comp. Eng. rails and 4 link when I tubbed the Maverick "Pickup",I can't seem to find the pics at the moment,if you want give me a call at the shop,Action Race Products,I"ll PM you Jack
I have thought about the body sagging some after I've cut out more metal. The next time I get a chance I'm going to cut out the fender wells and what's left of the back seat area. When I finish with that I'm going to try to keep the body steady with something underneath the sides of the car. Hopefully this will keep it from sagging. Then I should be able to do any kind of measuring or cleaning that I need to do without having to bend over backwards around that stubborn back floor haha I happened to come across someone that installed a rear frame kit in a Camaro... doesn't seem too hard just a lot of measuring, welding, and more measuring. I'll add more pictures as I go along. Thanks for the help!
I have thought about doing that. On the other hand one interesting thing I found was the g-Bar rear suspension that I got really interested in, dont know much about it other than it is for the mustangs but it is pretty much a bolt on to the stock bracketry, I was thinking maybe it could be modded to work with our cars. They also say that they can custom make one to most cars http://www.totalcontrolproducts.com/download/datasheets/58XX-MX0_DS_WEB.pdf
It looks like it could work with out cars. The width would have to be right but from the looks of it a cross member could be attached in the front for those mounting points. I plan on installing a 4-link with coil overs in hopes of having good traction and handling.
The front mounting points are hooked to the front leaf spring brackets. The upper mount is mounted between the frame rails and bolted to the frame.
oh.. it makes sense lol. looks like it could be fabbed to fit on a maverick. For some reason I just don't like leaf springs lol
