lalojamesliz 56 Report post Posted July 23, 2021 I bought a scott drake export brace for my 69 and I've seen some stories of people having to use screw drivers to align the holes but my shock tower holes are no where near where I need them. These bottom plates need to be re drilled or removed and repositioned. Is that a common problem? The export brace kinda lines up wit the holes on the shock towers but it's the bottom plates causing the problem. My mustang has been hit on the passenger side front end but the driver side has the same issue so it can't be that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
det0326 179 Report post Posted July 23, 2021 Is the engine in the car? The reason I ask is because weight will change that some and how the car is supported will change it also. Needs to be on wheels on ground has it would be normally. After the above is done and still not lined up sometimes the shock towers will move in or out with stress over time. Some where on line there is a dia. with measurements to check to see if shock towers are where they are suppose to be. If I can find it I will post it. Another thing is the fender gaps lining up ok. If so and u can line export brace up with minimum pressure I would not worry about it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lalojamesliz 56 Report post Posted July 23, 2021 I understand what your saying but the lower plates don't line up at all with the export brace. It looks as they just spot welded them on without lining up the holes from the shock towers and plates as long as the shock mounting hats lined up with the shock. The engine is not in the car yet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ridge Runner 1,113 Report post Posted July 23, 2021 Actually the lower plates do not matter ,they only hold the carriage bolt in place,keep it from dropping through ,the bolt slides in through the big opening in the top of the tower and locks into the smaller slot ,leave all the bolts loose and set the brace in place then tighten them up . The cheaper braces do not fit well but i have not had a problem with the thick stampings Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ridge Runner 1,113 Report post Posted July 23, 2021 1 1 Mach1 Driver and lalojamesliz reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Conway 264 Report post Posted July 23, 2021 + Ridge Runner. The lower plate has nothing to do with installing the export brace. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lalojamesliz 56 Report post Posted July 23, 2021 Well I feel stupid x2 Thanks for pointing that out guys. The other reason I feel dumb is because I started to look at the instructions for my SOT coilovers and it says I need to drill through the bottom plate to get the export brace to line up Thanks for clearing that up for me guys. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969_Mach1 333 Report post Posted July 23, 2021 3 hours ago, lalojamesliz said: I bought a scott drake export brace for my 69 and I've seen some stories of people having to use screw drivers to align the holes but my shock tower holes are no where near where I need them. These bottom plates need to be re drilled or removed and repositioned. Is that a common problem? The export brace kinda lines up wit the holes on the shock towers but it's the bottom plates causing the problem. My mustang has been hit on the passenger side front end but the driver side has the same issue so it can't be that. Am I correct, the top of the shock towers need to move outward a little? If so, I had that issue on my 69 Mach 1, but, it was a completed car. What I did was loosen all the top fender bolts except the front and rear bolt. Then with two floor jacks and blocks of wood lift the front of the car a little where the lower control arms attach to the front subframe. This will move the top of the shock towers outward and everything easily lines up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
