Solidifying the flimsy factory platform is a smart first step in building any high-performance Fox Mustang project. As with any aging vehicle, however, there are usually surprises in store. When Fox Body Junkie tackled the underbelly of his latest race car project, he discovered serious corrosion trapped behind the old box-tube chassis bracing. Fixing that mess required stripping everything down and welding in a fresh set of Team Z Mustang Subframe Connectors.
The original setup created a massive headache because the previous installer left the metal completely bare. “You leave one little pin hole or something, water gets in there, and it’s just a bad time,” he noted.
Getting the floorpan cleaned up was only half the battle. Before installing the new hardware, he dropped the parts off at a powder coater for chemical stripping. Removing the factory wrinkle finish allowed him to prep the metal for a slick base-coat/clear-coat finish. Bolt-on parts rarely fit perfectly right out of the box.
Because of the years on the vehicle and the usual factory production tolerances, installing the Team Z Mustang Subframe Connectors to sit flush against the floor required custom trimming on the front brackets. After cutting the plates, he used a floor jack and a wood block to push the metal tight against the frame rails.
“I went ahead and took a jack with a block of wood and just kind of jacked this up as high as I could because this is going to be probably the lowest point of the car, and I don’t want them hanging down super low,” He explained. With them tucked away securely, he ran solid welds along the edges and filled the plug weld holes.
The reinforced chassis is finally ready to handle some massive horsepower. With the underside fully welded, he bolted up a temporary front suspension to get the car rolling into a trailer. The chassis now heads straight to the fabrication shop for a major roll cage upgrade to handle sub-eight-second passes. Tying everything together with the Team Z Mustang Subframe Connectors gives this lightweight race car the exact structural foundation to sustain big-power launches at the track.
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