[JCRVETTE]

We have had several people ask for pics of our Adjustable IC Upper Torque Box installed so I thought I would do a build thread on a car we are building that we put them in. There are tons of pics all over the net of our Adjustable IC Mustang lower torque boxes so I wont go into to much detail on them. Feel free to ask questions if I omit something of importance.
Here is the car on the rotisserie getting some trimming done

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We pressure washed it and got ready to put it up on the jig table

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We have already put the lower boxes in while on the rotisserie since our design only allows the boxes to go in in one place and its much easier to do up there. For those who aren't familiar with them, they are completely tig welded and feature 1/4" chrome moly IC plates, and uses a 3/4" DOM sleeve to bush the rod end to size that allows us to use 1/2" bolts for finer adjustment, and makes the bolt virtually unbendable due to the bolt/DOM sleeve being the equivalent of 3/4" as an assembly.



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Since most of the cage/chassis is a design we have built/used before we were also able to fab up the lower tubing while we had it on the rotisserie and temporarily screwed it in place.

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We got the car on the jig table and marked the location of the OEM upper control arm hole and transferred it to the rail for comparison later. The boxes can definatly be put in on the shop floor if the car is leveled first, but we were going up on the table anyway so we did it there.

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We cut the spot welds and removed the OEM box


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We fabbed up a set of our upper boxes. They are completely tig welded chrome moly with 1/4" IC adjustment plates with 1/4" doublers (thats the equivalent of 3/4" mild steel for the IC plates), 11 holes with .300" hole spacing.




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Our interlocking design ensures they are completely welded inside and out, even the hard to get areas that some leave unwelded. There are several other places that interlock and weld too.

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The hardware for the uppers is 3/4 DOM also

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They weigh in at about 13.25 lbs inc hardware

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We set the upper boxes in the car for a quick mock up and to mark the areas that needed to be cleaned up for welding

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The boxes go up against the top of the rail and back against the floor (roughly only in one place/ self aligning) so we checked that too

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And confirmed the OEM hole location to our designated stock hole


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Our plated and gusseted design allows for increased weld surface area along the frame rail and allows the box to be trimmed to fit if there is damage to the OEM rails in the box mount area. The boxes are profiled and cut to size as delivered and typically fit as shown. In our mockup cars, they would hold themselves in place without clamps, but we clamped them just in case so it wouldn't fall out on my head lol.

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Thanks for your interest it is greatly appreciated!

 

[JCRVETTE]

We then fabed up some tie in tubes out of 1.5" x .065" CM. They will also be used as part of the rear framerail spec for the 25.3


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If we had done the floor tube inside the car, we would have simply went through the floor and tied in to it. If we didnt have any floor tube such as in a 8.50 cage or roll bar, we would have done a tube similar to this tube (below) and tied it into the main hoop like we would if we were reinforcing OEM upper boxes.

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More updates to follow
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[totalchaos]

very nice as usual

 

[DK91LX]

Great info and pics. Thanks for sharing

 

[DK91LX]

Great welding. They look amazing

 

[JCRVETTE]

Thx for the compliments guys

 

[JCRVETTE]

We got most of the tube put in the back and the upper boxes tied into the chassis using the lower diagonal uprights in the pic. Here is a couple pics of that. I will get some more pics together and keep the updates coming.


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[Lowwlife]

Wow!!! You're all business Paul.

I really like the, line them up, knock them out, way you build cars.

Fabrication and detail work is very impressive.

 

[TooFast98Cobra]

X2 wow!

 

[8T9GT]

Subscribing...

 

[JCRVETTE]

Wow!!! You're all business Paul.

I really like the, line them up, knock them out, way you build cars.

Fabrication and detail work is very impressive.

Thx Karl. Its probably not as fast as it might appear. We designed the upper torque box on this car (at the owners behest), and between the design, mockups, cad files, and revisions, that adds time to the build. And, our laser cutting shops' laser broke down for several weeks during the upper box project. When we get a car in and get going, it goes fast (as with most shops). Unfortunately, alot of times, there are complications arising from other suppliers, vendors, and sometimes the customer can hold things up. Then we (all shops) have existing jobs get added on to almost every time by the customer (hey while you have a spot in the shop and are there, you might as well get everything you want done right?) and thats always good, but it pushes things back some too. Some jobs get out of line because of the customers finances or (customers) unforseen scheduling etc, and have to be put back into the rotation so it doesn't affect the other jobs waiting. Its sometimes a unpopular and hard to make call. We have had to wait at times months for customers to pay a draw or bring parts. That makes them sit and alot of times get put at the back of the line. So, when cars DO sit around, (at shops) there is always a story that goes with it. Although there are shops that let them sit for no fault other than their own, most shops have the best intentions of knocking them out and getting paid and getting the next one done and gone too. It seems all too often a job gets going and something throws a wrench in it and adds (sometimes significant amounts) time to the build. Every one contemplating a build should know that this stuff isnt cut n dried and there WILL be unforseen delays. Even as a shop owner I know that "life happens" and customers may not be able to avoid causing delays in time or payment. Thats why we dont put our money into the builds. In my mind a customers mortgage should be paid before me if their life get tough. I cant let that keep me from paying mine though. The key is to pick a shop you trust, love their work and be patient, understanding and ride it out knowing the end result will be worth the emotional roller coaster ride. Not sure why I got into all that (lol). But as much as I would like to look like a hero, But just being transparent, the car has been here a couple months and is slightly behind the schedule I though we could keep. But now, we are making chips and sparks and life is good lol

 

[JCRVETTE]

And thx to all for the interest and compliments!

 

[8T9GT]

Thx Karl. Its probably not as fast as it might appear. We designed the upper torque box on this car (at the owners behest), and between the design, mockups, cad files, and revisions, that adds time to the build. And, our laser cutting shops' laser broke down for several weeks during the upper box project. When we get a car in and get going, it goes fast (as with most shops). Unfortunately, alot of times, there are complications arising from other suppliers, vendors, and sometimes the customer can hold things up. Then we (all shops) have existing jobs get added on to almost every time by the customer (hey while you have a spot in the shop and are there, you might as well get everything you want done right?) and thats always good, but it pushes things back some too. Some jobs get out of line because of the customers finances or (customers) unforseen scheduling etc, and have to be put back into the rotation so it doesn't affect the other jobs waiting. Its sometimes a unpopular and hard to make call. We have had to wait at times months for customers to pay a draw or bring parts. That makes them sit and alot of times get put at the back of the line. So, when cars DO sit around, (at shops) there is always a story that goes with it. Although there are shops that let them sit for no fault other than their own, most shops have the best intentions of knocking them out and getting paid and getting the next one done and gone too. It seems all too often a job gets going and something throws a wrench in it and adds (sometimes significant amounts) time to the build. Every one contemplating a build should know that this stuff isnt cut n dried and there WILL be unforseen delays. Even as a shop owner I know that "life happens" and customers may not be able to avoid causing delays in time or payment. Thats why we dont put our money into the builds. In my mind a customers mortgage should be paid before me if their life get tough. I cant let that keep me from paying mine though. The key is to pick a shop you trust, love their work and be patient, understanding and ride it out knowing the end result will be worth the emotional roller coaster ride. Not sure why I got into all that (lol). But as much as I would like to look like a hero, But just being transparent, the car has been here a couple months and is slightly behind the schedule I though we could keep. But now, we are making chips and sparks and life is good lol

I'm sure your customer completely understands everything that you just explained and if there is any frustration on the customer's end, it's the anticipation of the end and not frustration with you as a shop.

At least that's how I see it

 

[JCRVETTE]

I'm sure your customer completely understands everything that you just explained and if there is any frustration on the customer's end, it's the anticipation of the end and not frustration with you as a shop.

At least that's how I see it

You are an example of a great customer "I want to make sure I am not a cause for delays. Let me know what I need to do or bring and its done. I have the budget set aside for the build up to this level of completion, so when we get there we will reassess and continue appropriately" . If we could clone you, I could sell you to the shops as a perfect customer and be rich. lol You would get a cut of the action of course lol

 

[JCRVETTE]

My post wasnt directed at anyone or any thing, just trying to say I didnt get all the work shown done in a day
And, sometimes we have a car that sits a bit because of the "unforeseen" but it def isnt for the lack of trying on my or the car owners parts I would say.

 

[Lowwlife]

Your builds are kick ass Paul!!

That's all that matters.

 

[GTA matt]

Thanks for the pictures. I got my uppers last week, waiting for the weather to cool down before I tackle it. My stock uppers have been welded so I'm not looking forward to removal, but if they are anything like the lowers, the actual install should be a breeze. Workmanship on both the upper and lower boxes is top notch :smt023

 

[JCRVETTE]

Your builds are kick ass Paul!!

That's all that matters.

Thanks for the pictures. I got my uppers last week, waiting for the weather to cool down before I tackle it. My stock uppers have been welded so I'm not looking forward to removal, but if they are anything like the lowers, the actual install should be a breeze. Workmanship on both the upper and lower boxes is top notch :smt023

Thank you for your orders and compliments we greatly appreciate it!
The uppers go in real easy as they are pretty well self aligning. We do confirm the location of the old OEM hole though before welding. I think cutting the oem uppers out is easier than removing the oem lowers too. Yours being welded around the seams will take some more work, but the end result will be worth it for sure. Did you get a copy of the instructions? I know our first few uppers orders we were still working on the install guide. But now its done; there are several pages of notes and many many pics. Maybe even more detail that our lower install guide, if thats possible lol.
You will have to post pics of your install!

 

[JCRVETTE]

A few more update pics. Most of the rear tube is in. There are still a few pieces of spec tubes needed, and some x bracing, but getting there. As I said in the one post above, the laser cutters' machine being down set up back some, so we are doing some extra to make up for the inconvenience.

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We are working on the tube in front of the main hoop now. Then we will get it welded together instead of just tacked as it is currently. Will continue updates as I can. Thanks again for the interest and compliments!
We have another batch of laser cut parts coming in today to build more upper boxes (and lowers) if anyone needs them. Check our website for more info, and dont forget we offer package deals on upper/lower boxes if ordered together.

 

[Slow Pony]

Let me tell you guys this..... This car is turning out to be BAD ASS!!!!

Wait until Paul posts the updated pics. :supz: