A-body frame reinforcement

[derekf]

My El Camino has over 500,000 miles on it (what can I say, for many years it was my only car and everything was hundreds of miles away).

Over the past 20 years, the rear mount for the front LCAs has torn free on both sides. In both cases, I've taken the car up to a frame shop and they've welded the mount back where it should be.. but I can't help but think that grippy tires and improved handling will do nothing but put even more stress on those brackets.

The thought that I was having was to use 1/8" plate to create gussets to connect the mounts to the frame both ahead and behind the mount on the bottom, and maybe some on the top as well.

However, I am not an engineer; some things that seem to make perfect sense to me probably don't actually work that way. So... good idea? Bad idea?

[shizzy]

do you have the round or oval lower rear bushings on the arms?

[derekf]

I believe they're the round, but I'd have to check. If they're not, I'd need to find a new set of LCAs; the new bushings are round.

[shizzy]

didnt GM use the oval bushing because it had a little more fore-aft "give" over the round design? My 72 Cutlass has the round bushing and in 13 years I have never seen any cracking in mine

either way im sure a couple of simple gussets would be a good idea

[Tiger]

I'd gusset it but if it has been professionally welded it shouldnt come loose, it was the gm welders that were drunk in the sixties.

If you have ovals and dont want to change the a-arms I'd just make a post here searching for them, when I bought my energy suspension bushing kit it came with both ovals and round.
I used my ovals to make a torque bar mount for my vette rear otherwise you could have had mine.