[DeTomaso] FW: Spreader Bar brace

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/5/11 8:40:37 AM, lotus0005 at hotmail.com writes:

> Does anyone have any pix - or ideas, to pass on, on how to modify where 
> the spreader bar attaches to each fender well?
> 
You don't exactly say what you want to do, so here are some general 
thoughts: The stock bar-brackets welded to the inner rear fender panels are part of 
the upper rear shock absorber brackets on the other side of the inner 
fender- arguably the ideal place for such a bar. The only problem ever found is 
trying to attach any spreader bar by means of the flimsy stock tabs- with 
slotted holes- that are part of the bracket. 
What works wonderfully well is a spreader bar with longer ends that jam 
back into the stock bracket openings, so loads go directly into the welded 
brackets and thus into the upper frame. The tabs and their sloppy holes then 
only restrain the bar from vibrating out of place. Hall's square steel bar was 
the only one I ever found that fits this way- ALL others attempt to bolt 
only to the flexy little slotted tabs and thus don't work any better than a 
stock bar, although they do have an adjusting clevis.
IMHO, to fix a prettier aluminum speader bar, about 2" of stock should be 
welded to both ends so they jam into the stock fender bracket openings the 
same way as the steel Hall bar. I've seen this done, and also the square steel 
Hall bar chrome plated for better looks. 
The heim-jointed single or double bars need heavy plates welded to the 
inner fenders to take side loads into other than the stock welded upper bracket 
area, and the inner fenders of all '71-'76 Panteras have a compound curve 
while the plates are flat, so either you spend a LOT of time contouring the 
plates with torch and sledgehammer, or you get really sloppy weld jobs where 
the thick plates touch the thin fender panels. Or you hammer and distort the 
inner fenders severely for a better fit to the flat plates. Many also 
install the plates without welding the bottoms to the main frame rails, because an 
installed ZF inhibits making good welds there. Finally, IMHO the double 
bars are incorrectly triangulated, and welds are needed to hook the two sets of 
bars together. So heim-joint bars probably don't stiffen any better than 
the much cheaper square steel Hall bar- with far more time and effort to 
correctly mount them. My 2¢- J DeRyke