I just got my Global West SFC's in last week, and will be getting them welded in after Christmas.

I did a test fit just holding them up in place, and it looks like on the drivers side in the front there will be a gap betweeen the plate on the end of the connector and the front subframe when the connector is properly butted up. My question is, should a qualified welder have any problems bending the endplate slightly (about 3/4") upward (when installed) without ruining the connector altogether. The end plate that welds to the front subframe appears to be slightly notched so as to make bending the plate easier, but I wasn't sure.

Also, is wrapping the fuel lines in that location in several layers of aluminum foil sufficient protection from the welding heat?

Any help or experience with a similar situation would be appreciated, thanks.

 

i would disconnet the fuel lines if i were you.

 

Do you mean disconncting the plastic tab that holds them to the car, or should I try to remove them more completely.

Odds are that I'm going to have a shop that has done this before do it, so stuff like setting the car on fire won't happen, I asked about the foil solution in case someone told me that any hack at a muffler shop could take care of the fitment issue and then I would need to take care of these details, considering I could get it done for considerably less.

Thanks for the input, I think it's definitely advisable to keep welding heat and rubber/plastic with combustibles inside as far apart as possible.

Still wondering about the gap though.

 

I've never seen Global West SFCs so I can't say. What is keeping the front plate from reaching the subframe? What is the difference from the other side?
On my BMRs we had to do a bit of grinding to make them line up perfectly. Not a big deal for a properly equipped shop.

 

Any decent shop should be able to fix you up.
The shop I had install my DDs also did my friends 3rd gen with tubular SFCs and mine went smooth but his needed a little persuasion.

 

On my Edelbrock connectors, I didn't feel like totally removing the bolt that holds the LCA's on so I notched the connectors to fit around the bolts. Other than that, those were the best fitting connectors that I've ever used.

 

Sounds like a good way to melt the bushings. Removing the bolts takes what, one minute?

 

The Global West units are similar in design to the other tubular SFC's out there, I think what's causing the issue is what looks lie some slight damage from hamfisted use of a frame lift by someone the previous owner had working on the car. The front subframe is bent upward about 3/4" right where the plate on the SFC welds up.

One shop I talked to said that they had some fabrication capabilities, so I'm sure that they can make it work, it's just a question of $ now.

Thanks again for the input.

 

Ok, well, the shop I was going to get to do it will not be open until after the first of the year, so I'm going to a muffler shop that said they could do it.

Should these guys have the tools to disconnect the fuel lines, or should I get that myself before, just to be sure?

I've read the horror stories of people's cars going up in flames, and I am determined to keep that from happening.

I was under there looking at the routing of the lines yesterday, and to me it looks like where the lines run forward toward the engine there is no way to get them farther than a few inches away from where the welding needs to be done.

Can anyone tell me specifically what they did with the fuel lines during (and after for that matter) the install.

Thanks again

 

Nah, you won't melt the bushings. With most SFC's you simply loosen those bolts and slide them out just a bit and the SFC's slide into place. Edelbrock SFC's are made so you have to take those bolts completely out. Well, that's a pain in the butt since you have to support everything. But, if you notch the SFC's just a bit, you can put them on and not take the bolt completely out.