21st century SFC's

[cudaman]

Anybody use the subframe connectors for 1st gen camaros from these guys? I'm looking for some feedback before buying in the next couple of days. They are a little more money, but I liked the low profile and not having to hack into the floor.

[Steve1968LS2]

I have a set but have not installed them yet. I do like how tight they mount to the floor and in fact you could tack weld them to the floor if you wanted it even stiffer. They are a very interesting design but I won't know how they fit for a couple weeks.

[bretcopsey]

Anyone have a link, or picture?

[TitoJones]

They look pretty cool. Remember when doing a set of SFC's to replace your body bushings with solid body mounts to eliminate flex.

Tyler

[Steve1968LS2]

They look pretty cool. Remember when doing a set of SFC's to replace your body bushings with solid body mounts to eliminate flex.

Tyler

I am just worried that they will want to attach to my rear frame right where my lower links mount..

Here is a link to them...
http://www.21stcenturystreetmachines.com/products.php?item=subframe_connectors

[cudaman]

They look pretty cool. Remember when doing a set of SFC's to replace your body bushings with solid body mounts to eliminate flex.

Tyler
The flexing has popped the paint loose at the roof/quarter junction, so new solid mounts are certainly part of the plan. It looks like I'm going to get GW's solid mounts. Having to reuse half of the old mount, ala Competition Engineering, isn't too appealing. Anyone with GW mounts have any feedback?

[Rick Dorion]

I love them. Standard height, no issues.

[bbnova]

I was wondering about brake/fuel line routing? Doesn't look like there would be much room in the factory locations.

*back to lurk mode* LOL.

[rattus]

Interesting...does anyone have pics of the 21st SFC's installed?

[Steve1968LS2]

How about this? :)

Note: pic of them installed

[Damn True]

I'm guessing that in terms of rigidity those reside between a bolt on SFC and a DSE or CarlC configuration? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Seems you would also lose the ability to integrate the SFC into a cage.

A nice option though for some.

[Mean 69]

I'm guessing that in terms of rigidity those reside between a bolt on SFC and a DSE or CarlC configuration? Correct me if I'm wrong.


I would agree that you are correct.


Seems you would also lose the ability to integrate the SFC into a cage

Maybe, but maybe not. You could augment the stringers with some form of outrigger going back to the subframe structure, it'd help tie things together even better and offer a mounting pad for the main hoop, etc.

Nice looking stuff though, well thought out. Hard to beat the through floor SFC's for overall rigidity, both bending (which isn't that difficult), and more so, in torsion. When you weld the tubes directly to the floor pans, etc, the whole unit-body sheetmetal stamping becomes a kind of shear/bending resistance/structure thing. Still for those not wanting or willing to cut the floor up these appear to be the best out there that I have seen.

Mark

[rattus]

"...in terms of rigidity"

Yeah, it seems that the longer moment arms (produced by locating the bars more laterally) would tend to compromise the torsional rigidity. Bending rigidity would be slightly reduced by the use of round vs. square tubing.

[bbnova]

I still love the design of these, kind of a "Why didn't I think of that?" Very stealthy.

[cudaman]

As an update, I went with the DSE's and am very happy with them. They were a lot of work, but I would have trouble believing that anything short of a cage would make a camaro any stiffer. The difference is truly like night and day with the sfc's and the solid GW mounts. Money well spent. Thank you to GW and DSE for such outstanding pieces.

By way of comparison, my neighbor installed the 21st century pieces on his '67 (which was getting paint anyway) and he loves them. They literally installed in about 15 minutes, look beautiful, and are nearly impossible to see without crawling under the car. Everything was cut perfectly and fit the first time without trimming, etc. They also allow the use of side-exit exhaust, which I'm trying to talk him into. His car hasn't been on the road yet, so no subjective driving feedback.

[ItDoRun]

Is there a way to bolt the back section of these connectors to the framerail? It appears that the leaf spring perch could cause a problem.

[Steve1968LS2]

I wanted to use them but my modified rear frame rails killed that idea :(

They have a very cool design and could litterally be weld all along the floor.

The weld to the rear framerail, not bolt :)

[wendell]

as far as connectors go my money is on CarlC's. I think if they came in a nice box and cost more everybody would run them.

[cudaman]

If memory serves, I don't think there's any conflict with the spring perch. My buddy wouldn't have used them because we discussed different types of connectors before I turned him onto the 21st century pieces, and spring dropping was a concern for him.