X bracing Chassis... PLEASE HELP

[BlackTaco1450]

K, so this year at glamis during thanksgiving, I was givin a buggy, yes, givin, A dear freind of mine got a new rail a year ago, and decided to give me his old buggy as a complete roller, all he wanted was the tranny and motor from his rail and he let me have the rest, well, its based as a 76 buggy, yes he built the thing in Highschool and has had it every since. He decided instead of selling it into god knows what, He would give it to a person who would enjoy it, and think of it as a special gift. Well now its time to do some choppin and cutting. It has a corvair torsion in it, so that will be cut out and a aftermarket torsion housing will be going in. I will then use 3x3 trailing arms, with coil overs and bypasses, the front I will convert to a long travel warrior unit with coil overs as well, the end result i hope to have a 091 for tranny and a sti motor, but we will see. if nayone has a bus tranny 002 or 091 and want to help out a struggling college student, let me know LOL. the first picture is how it sits now, with previous owner, the second is my thoughts for a light bar, and X bracing

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[BlackTaco1450]

[BlackTaco1450]

The reason I want to stiffen up the chassis so much is the power will be atleast 300hp, with the long travel suspension iam also afraid i could break the frame because of the new stress it will incure with more travel and speed.

all help is appreciated,

the car is really designed to be a 2 seater, the only reason theres a bench in the back was for the little kids (under 4'8). it will be a two seater when completed

[MH20]

I don't know how much work you're willing to do but here are two really quick ideas. First one is minimal modification, second one is a little more drastic. Please forgive me if I have over built it, but 99% of sand cars scare the crap out of me, due to minimal roll protection.

[Bulldozer]

In the picture where you added the light bar/ tubes, you show that long tube you want to add going down the side and intersecting with a tube that has nothing on the other side of the intersection. This is called a "dead tube" and in a rollover would likely be a point of failure.

Keep in mind, triangles not squares

So, I would instead do something like this

[BlackTaco1450]

thanks guys!!! keep um comin lol, as for MH20, i thought about completely reduing the roll cage itself but I am not sure if i want to, but i do think it looks way better with that style roll cage then the old one, WHO knows lol time to go brainstorm

[MH20]

Yeah, thats why I made you two of them.

If it were my car and I planned to mount a coilover/bypass I would definitely cut off the roof, as its only six tubes. The old roof structure would take a lot of work to mount a coilover to, and the end result would be an ugly structure (IMO) with quite a few unnecessary tubes.

[NIKAL]

Personally what I would do is leave the car alone and run it like it is. Just put a good motor and bus box in it and be done. You said the car was built in 1976, so I would assume it must be built pretty good to last that long. It looks like a real nice cruiser buggy. Its really nice that your friend just gave you a car. If you want to build a mid travel car I would just run this car like it is. Then save up and start with a purpose built mid travel frame and continue to save and buy all the shocks and parts you need. Once you get a mid travel roller then you can take whatever parts off the current car that will work on your new car, and then pay it forward with this frame and give another guy a shot at a little buggy like your friend did for you.

[BlackTaco1450]

that thought has crossed my mind as well, thanks bro!!!

[Beat98TJ]

Run it as is until you have the money to start over, or you destroy it.

I have a few friends with early 70's rails. They are a blast if you remember what they are built to do. Most of the modified ones don't last too long as they require signifiacant rework to go fast.