Upper Control Arms hitting, cut a hole?

[GTRON]

Hey Guys, so I put on ingalls adjustable ball joints on my front ucas, and now I'm hitting the upper ball joints on the metal above, pretty badly. I'm seriously considering cutting a hole for more clearance, but I don't really want to.

Will a hole really make a (significant) structural issue? I'm thinking a circular drill bit, instead of doing a sloppy square with a grinder. If I cut a hole, I'd eventually want to get some covers welded on or something.

I mean the car is kinda low, but I've seen a lot of CBs lower than I am, and I would like the clearance to go lower if I ever want to (for a meet up or something).





my photo upload

[Raf99]

wow, can't believe no-one replied to this yet.

I hit, you hit, everyone hits! You'll have to cut it to fix the problem. Some use a hammer to bang the metal up. I tried this but it just started to get messy. From what i read there is no structural issues with cutting a hole, but I could see hair line cracks starting over time. Best to weld a cap on there. I've been dying to do this for a long long time.

[GTRON]

I hit, you hit, everyone hits!

Hahaha. I'm cutting then, I don't see any other way around it. I noticed some previous marks from just the stock arm hitting, that's probably why highway bumps have been so brutal, I wasn't getting full suspension travel... Now with these adjustable ball joints it's ridiculous.

I'm going to use a big circular drill bit, so It cuts it nice and clean, and hopefully makes it a bit stronger (than just cutting a sloppy square hole). Eventually I want to get a cover welded on it.

[accordlove]

after you drill that hole, id primer and paint it to prevent rust....

rust scares me when it comes to these cars

[GTRON]

after you drill that hole, id primer and paint it to prevent rust....

rust scares me when it comes to these cars

For sure!

[buzz11]

I had the same issue when i lowered mine. LOTS of banging (pun intended) to the upper fenderwell will help out. Heated up the metal, then bangbangbang. repeat til satisfied

[GTRON]

Ok guys, here's the carnage...





Good news is, it worked great! No more bottoming out at all. Plus, really easy access to my adjustable ball joints (I honestly don't know how else you would adjust them without taking the entire control arm off the car). I need to put some primer on it for the time being to keep it from rusting out. I've also been thinking about ways to cover the hole (if need be, I don't know how much crap is gonna come through these holes yet).

My engine bay needs some love...

[BreckAConner]

Ok guys, here's the carnage...





Good news is, it worked great! No more bottoming out at all. Plus, really easy access to my adjustable ball joints (I honestly don't know how else you would adjust them without taking the entire control arm off the car). I need to put some primer on it for the time being to keep it from rusting out. I've also been thinking about ways to cover the hole (if need be, I don't know how much crap is gonna come through these holes yet).

My engine bay needs some love...

You ruined it! :P

[Raf99]

You could of went with a smaller hole and I forgot about the sandwich metal. My concern would be getting water down in between the two pieces of metal. Especially when you drive in the rain, there will be a lot coming out of these holes. You should see if you can take the pieces you cut out, hammer them into a convex shape, see if someone will weld them back on. But looking at this now, they'd have to weld in two spots as there is two pieces of metal there. If they welded just the top then water still gets in between the sheet metal. Hmmm.... not sure if I want to do this idea anymore. But I guess someone could weld those seams shut too.

So the piece you took out, it was two pieces of sheet metal. Did they come apart once you got the piece out?

[apalileo]

Quite bold GTRON! So long as it remedied your issue, then it wasn't in vain. Raf is right about sealing up that gap in the layers. Water finding its way between them is just asking for rust. Take your car to a welder and see if they can close up that gap and then fab up something to cover the hole that allows for some vertical clearance (that also allows the hood to close properly). You don't want debris from the road being whipped up into the engine bay from the tires.

[GTRON]

For now, I'm going to throw some primer on it, and probably put some sealant or something in there... It works great though, even though I haven't driven through rain yet! Haha

[GTRON]

You could of went with a smaller hole and I forgot about the sandwich metal. My concern would be getting water down in between the two pieces of metal. Especially when you drive in the rain, there will be a lot coming out of these holes. You should see if you can take the pieces you cut out, hammer them into a convex shape, see if someone will weld them back on. But looking at this now, they'd have to weld in two spots as there is two pieces of metal there. If they welded just the top then water still gets in between the sheet metal. Hmmm.... not sure if I want to do this idea anymore. But I guess someone could weld those seams shut too.

So the piece you took out, it was two pieces of sheet metal. Did they come apart once you got the piece out?

I was not expecting two layers of metal!
But It came out two different pieces of metal. I'm sure someone could weld something together, I want to find another temporary solution for the time being.

[GTRON]

Quite bold GTRON! So long as it remedied your issue, then it wasn't in vain. Raf is right about sealing up that gap in the layers. Water finding its way between them is just asking for rust. Take your car to a welder and see if they can close up that gap and then fab up something to cover the hole that allows for some vertical clearance (that also allows the hood to close properly). You don't want debris from the road being whipped up into the engine bay from the tires.

The thing is, I want it covered, but I want easy access to the balljoint, because it's impossible to get to it, even with the car jacked up and the tire off!

[Raf99]

The thing is, I want it covered, but I want easy access to the balljoint, because it's impossible to get to it, even with the car jacked up and the tire off!

There are tools that will allow you access to that bolt when jacked up. I know because i had the same problem but when i took it to get aligned they had no issues getting to it with the tire on! (but they have a in-floor lift w/ alignment jacks). You could also use bondo/mesh to cover the seam too, that would be better than the spray foam, etc.

It would suck to get rocks/rain in between those layers though. Especially if it filled up with water which i suspect would happen if you drove in the rain. wow.... that would be a mess!

[Corweena]

You probably could have avoided this altogether with an anchor bolt style camber kit, instead of the ball joints. The balljoint style are so much taller, and thus make the UCA sit much closer to the inner fender.