On a uni body frame, when you seam weld it what is actually done and what seams are welded?

 

all the seams under neath the car that you cant really see cause it's got that tar on it, there are beams that meet flat metal and thats what's stiffened up like where you jack it up, that rail get's welded to the frame also.

 

where do you go do this? will a chassis shop be willing to do this?

 

it's a very tedious task...I believe one of my magazines said in the neighborhood of 1600 individual welds...but that's on a full race car.

 

yeah I know, but who would flip their car over in the backyard, scrape foff the tar and weld it up? certainly not me

 

Is body rigidity gained from seam welding, worth the time and extra weight from all the welds?

 

Really up to you. Are you running for Dial Ins or Heads Up. And really how much flex are you getting. If you are running with bolt ons, then you dont have enough flex to worry with it. If you are running over 300hp to the wheels perhaps then I would consider trac bars and wheelie bars. The flex will still be minimal, but if you run over 400hp then you might start getting some flex on a unibody. Keep in mind you are not running a front engine rear drive like a Camaro.

Watch a Camaro launch, The body will get major flex on a car not setup with proper stiffened body. When the wheels leave the ground it gets major flex.

On FWD cars flex is not that major of a problem, and wont really do much for you. If you are running a RWD import, as long as the wheels are not leaving the ground I wouldnt worry bout it.

 

yep you really don't need seam welding for a fwd car for drag racing... if you were going to autox or roadrace thats another story

oh and seam welding isn't cheap a hookup price would be 1000 dollars. A complete job would have to take a whole lot of hours and will ususally take a week.

 

If anyone is thinking of doing this. Weld an inch then skip down about a foot and weld another inch keep doing untill your done. Weld to long of a bead at one time the metal will warp