Thread: so who would be interested

i have a buddy that does metal fab and he is great at it. makes a few auto parts such as trans mounts for speed 3 mazdas and a few other things. i was trying to convince him that if he made some diag braces, and maybe some dog bones that werent crappy stamped steel but soild quality and flashy type such as billet that he'd have a gold mine on his hands as long as they were affordable. so heres the question: how many people would be interested in something like that? and what price would you want to pay for them? also, any other parts you think he should be make that could turn him a buck and make us happy?

The dog bones, well idk how much they would be worth..depends on manufacture costs and materials prices.

I would fork out 50 60 bucks for some soild lookin dog bones. Maybe 150 or so for dog bones with the part that connects to the front of the bay as well. Tryin to get a ball park of what people would be willing to spend so he can figure out if its worth his time or not

I'd be very surprised if your getting machined aluminum dogbones for $50.

He's got similar pieces for around that. But that's the idea of this thread

aluminum 3800 engine block???

front and rear tower braces. for the v6 gp's and the gxp's. the gxp's need a different front brace to clear the alternator. and if he wants some bigger money start making headers for the ls4. only one company makes them right now and they are almost a grand.

Originally Posted by matt5112

I have to ask: why only replace existing bracing?

are you talking to me? if so im adding more to the current bracing. just unsure who the comment was directed at.

ahh cool

I don't think there is a problem with the stock dogbones. We need better diagonal braces and STBs.

Well...I can understand STB's since the GP's didn't get them stock (LOL, Regals did)

However.. everyone talks up a big game about aluminum coolant elbows and yet ..they'd probably break the timing cover.

How about it.. aluminum coolant elbows?

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

Well...I can understand STB's since the GP's didn't get them stock (LOL, Regals did)

However.. everyone talks up a big game about aluminum coolant elbows and yet ..they'd probably break the timing cover.

How about it.. aluminum coolant elbows?

STBs stock on Regals , I'm the 3rd owner of my 98 Regal GS and I don't have STBs. The 2 previous owners weren't the type to make changes to the car. The few Regals I've seen in the junkyard didn't have them either.

And I don't get what you guys do with the coolant elbows. Maybe I'm just lucky, but 200k and mine never leaked. When I had the timing cover off at 200k, I did replace mine just to be safe. Maybe the Grand Prixs got lower quality elbows, lol. I think my Regal was built in Canada and the Prix was built in Kansas so Canada vs Mexico parts maybe. My Prix has less than 130k on it and I don't know the history of it enough to know if the elbow was changed, but while I've had it, it hasn't.

GS..I've only had one coolant elbow issue and that was pressure and heat related.

On the Regal STB. 97/98 never got it. 99 I think most of the year, 00+ was oddly hit/miss on if it came equipped.

I would perfer dog bones and diag brace that just look better. But that's why I asked what you guys would want. He's willing and able to make about anything as long as there is some kind of market for it

how hard is it to tap and put a fitting on each and then bend your own small section of pipe for that? i was thinking the same thing a couple days ago when my friend busted his coolant elbow wide open.