GatorDog72 Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 28 minutes ago, Dtret said: I believe the width of the frames are basically the same, it’s the length that’s different. If you get an original Monte crossmember it should match in width. If I’m wrong I apologize. See, I thought the same thing! The way I understood it was all A-Body’s, whether Buick, Pontiac, olds, Chevelle, elcamino, etc. we’re all the same width frame with the only difference being the wheelbase and overall length. So, I go to order the g force crossmember and there’s two options for different widths. It said 72 elcamino and Monte Carlo were 1 1/2” wider. I’ll try to find the link but it has me totally confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dtret Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Try looking into different brands and look at all the dimensions. Back about 15 years ago when I put true duals on my 88 Monte I seem to remember something about different widths. I wonder if they got something mixed up on their site. Again I may be mistaken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cny first gen 71 Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Ryan your more than welcome to look under mine and take some measurements, of course mine is a 71 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragCat Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 On 9/5/2021 at 9:40 AM, DragCat said: I know I'm late to this party but thought I'd post this just because. Tom posted it originally and Joe pointed it out to me when I was checking my trans crossmember fitment. I'm just throwing this up again, When I was shopping for a new crossmember the measurements had me confused too. I contacted the company ( sorry I couldn't find my original thread this am) because my actual measurements didn't match their listed measurements. They responded that with my measurements their product would not fit. As Tom said, his bolted right up. Someone had suggested my frame may have been somehow "tweaked" in the past. I know that's probably NOT what you want to hear. I wasn't trying to correct any issues on mine, I was just looking for something with a drive shaft loop so I can't offer any help in that area. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 It seems my frame has to be tweaked somehow. I’m not sure where or how. Nothing makes sense on my car. Everything measures square, yet very wide. Almost a full inch wider than it should be, according to the measurements listed on the drawing. All the alignment holes for the body line up. The body mounts are like new. The spacing between the body and frame is equal on both sides. It also goes down the road straight. I’ve had it at 140 mph plus with no issues whatsoever. This is the exact crossmember I bought from summit, it was a summit brand not a gforce. If my frame measurements were exactly like the drawing, this part should fit. I’m thinking at this point to just cut the tabs off the ends and weld longer ones on to match my frame. That way, I can simply place the mount in the middle of the car no matter what the measurements are. Good idea? Or should I try to send it back and keep searching for the correct one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dtret Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 This probably doesn’t help but my 71SS has the rubber sleeves that go into the frame ( rubber mount?). But it still bolts through the cross member. See if a group member has an original one for your car that they can loan you Expensive paying shipping charges both ways but cheaper than a frame and you will at least get piece of mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 8 minutes ago, Dtret said: This probably doesn’t help but my 71SS has the rubber sleeves that go into the frame ( rubber mount?). But it still bolts through the cross member. See if a group member has an original one for your car that they can loan you Expensive paying shipping charges both ways but cheaper than a frame and you will at least get piece of mind. I wondered about this as well. The old crossmember that came out of the car had rubber mounts on either end. They look like this: I also noticed the middle portion of the crossmember looked like it was pulled out of this mount more on one side than on the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dtret Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Yep you’re right. The crossmember is not actually bolted, it floats in them mounts. Sorry been awhile. To put a hard mounted crossmember you’re probably going to have to drill holes in the frame correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dtret Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 I still think that original crossmember is bent up towards the floor. When I get my car back (hopefully this week) I can take measurements of the closest points to the floorboard if you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 I think the old one is definitely bent somehow. Looks that way. Here’s how the new one bolts up. You can see it’s way short. If it was off by a little, I could just slot the holes but it’s too far off. You would think if the frame was really that far off, it would be obvious something is bent or misaligned on the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorDog72 Posted November 14, 2021 Author Share Posted November 14, 2021 Upon closer inspection of this issue, I think I've found the problem. It looks to me like the spot on the frame where the crossmember bolts up is also a spot where someone may have put a jack under the car. It looks like the bottom of the C channel is bent up and outwards. I think I can fix it with a porta-power and a short ram. If that doesn't work, my other thought was to take a 5 ton come-along and try to pull that side back into shape. It makes complete sense now why everything lined up except the crossmember. It's just that one spot that's bent and its only the bottom part of the frame. Hopefully an easy fix. I'll let ya know if it worked or not. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC1of80 Posted November 14, 2021 Share Posted November 14, 2021 Good luck! Sounds like you found the issue! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.