Boxing the LCA - '69 Charger

[Shakey]

As some of you may know I am in the process of rebuilding my front suspension.  I have read about boxing the LCA's, aka - adding the stiffening plates that are available from a few different vendors, to tighten up the play in the LCA's.  I thought I'd share with you the process as well as some photos.

Started by sandblasting the LCA's to remove the paint & rust.

Then I ran the edge that the plate was to be welded to along the wire wheel to clean it down to bare metal.

Then we clamped the plates in place by using numerous pairs of vice grips and a c-clamp to pull the two sides of the LCA a bit closer together.

Some tack welds on the corners and then a bead along each side.

After it cooled, a minute or so on the grinding wheel to take off the major chunks and the a sanding disc on an angle grinder to get things smoothed out.

Back to the sandblaster to clean things up a bit and scuff the edges.

A blast with the air chuck to get rid of excess sand, a coat of Eastwood's Pre and a wipe down with a clean rag.  A couple of coats of Eastwood's Self Etching primer and then a generous coat of Eastwood's Gold Cad.  I'll add another coat this coming weekend.

I ended up going with the Eastwood's Gold Cad, despite being told that it is not the same as the cosmoline treatment.  I looked at some photos and realized it was "close enough" and figured that after a while, it will darken a bit with dirt and debris from the road. Thanks to those that offered the advice.

All in all we were quite pleased with the results and figured the only way someone will really see the LCA's up close is if I run them over.   

Here are some photos of the progress.

[Shakey]

Some more

[Shakey]

even more

[Blown70]

looks good.

Tom

[Wakko]

Wow...great welding job.  Where did you get the LCA Boxing kit?

[Shakey]

Thanks fellas.

I bought the two plates from Mancini Racing - $23.00 USD for the pair.

BTW - that's my Father-in-Law that took care of the welding.  In my eyes, he is brilliant. 

[tan top]

looks nice (Shakey)  good job  ,  i done the same to mine also ,but only painted them black , but seeing yours painted that color , looking pretty much like the factory  finish,   i think  i will  probably do mine the same now

[terrible one]

Great job Shakey! Those look really good. I'm a big fan of your always informative threads like this one!

[andyf]

Looks great!  You guys did a nice job on those control arms.

I've been making those LCA plates for a number of years now and I'm alway happy to see guys like you who do such a professional job of installing t hem.

[Shakey]

Looks great!  You guys did a nice job on those control arms.

I've been making those LCA plates for a number of years now and I'm alway happy to see guys like you who do such a professional job of installing t hem.

I knew you had made plates like these, I just wasn't sure these were yours or not.  As mentioned, I got them via Mancini.  I take they are one of your distributors? 

I saw some others at Just Suspension, but for some reason I didn't like the star in the centre.

Thanks for the compliment.

[Shakey]

Great job Shakey! Those look really good. I'm a big fan of your always informative threads like this one!

Tan Top & Terrible One - thanks for the kudos.  I enjoy sharing my accomplishments with those who can appreciate them.

[andyf]

Yep, the ones that Mancini carries are the ones that I make.  You can also get my stuff from Mazzolini Racing, MagnumHP, Mayo Performance, etc.  I assume the ones that Just Suspension sells are a copy of my design with a star instead of a round hole. 

[Wakko]

andy, I need a pair for my car...can I get them direct or should I go through one of your vendors?

[firefighter3931]

andy, I need a pair for my car...can I get them direct or should I go through one of your vendors?

Ian, Magnum Hp is the closest distributor to you (Naples Fla.)...cheaper shipping 

http://magnumhp.com/


Ron


Ps. Nice work Shakey....those look great. I have a set of those on mine...got them from Greg Z at Magnum HP

[Wakko]

Wow..and $19.99 ta boot. 

[Silver R/T]

nice job

[Shakey]

I was amazed at how quickly I got the items I ordered from Mancini.  I ordered a bunch of stuff on Monday in the early AM and they arrived via UPS at the farm on Tuesday PM.  $25.00 USD for regular ground shipping and the items arrived next day - 

[BrianShaughnessy]

Very cool.    I've had those plates sitting in  the garage for about 3 years now waiting for me to get around to it.    I keep thinking about ripping the front end apart just so I can send the lower arms in and get them powdercoated gold after the plates are welded on...   otherwise I'd just slop some more black POR15 on them.
     

[andyf]

Wakko - GregZ at MagnumHP is close to you but based on your other post it looks like you need more of my stuff than just the LCA plates?  Maybe a good 13 inch Viper brake kit!  Seriously, if you want to beef up the K frame I make a whole bunch of parts to do that work.  I don't sell them direct though so the only place you can get them is from Dick Ross up at Firm Feel.  www.firmfeel.com is the address.  They'll have K frame boxing kits as well as anti-sway bars, K frame skid plates, etc.

[Mike DC]

 
The plates look great.  I did a set almost identically on my car a few years ago.

BTW for you guys thinking of making your own plates at home:  The holes in the plates need to be there for access to the various nuts & bolts inside the LCA.  (The big torsion bar adjuster bolt, the rubber bumpstop fastener, etc.)

 

[Blakcharger440]

Very nice Shakey! I wonder how much of a difference boxing them in does?
I guess every little bit of rigidity helps in the over all handling of the Charger.

[Wakko]

 
The plates look great.  I did a set almost identically on my car a few years ago.

BTW for you guys thinking of making your own plates at home:  The holes in the plates need to be there for access to the various nuts & bolts inside the LCA.  (The big torsion bar adjuster bolt, the rubber bumpstop fastener, etc.)

 

For $20 it hardly seems worth the time to make them yourself, unless you have the machine shop already set up and spare metal plate laying around.

[Mike DC]

At the time nobody was selling pre-made plates like they are now.