Export Brace Fit

[Protowrxs 111]

Just got my cheapo export brace to bolt in before starting any final work on the front end and it is obviously not going to fit. It's about 1/2" off fitting the shock towers bolts.

 

Anyone else have problems fitting or do I have more work to do. :?

 

I know they say each car is different but for the record the distance between my shock towers at the very top is 27 1/2".

 

Anyone else have a number to compare to?

 

 

I suppose I could jack the towers apart if needed but would like some input before doing so.

 

Thanks!

-Stephen

[stangme 105]

Are you 27 1/2" edge of tower to edge? I'm going to be working on my car tomorrow night and I will be happy to double check that dimension, sorry I can't do it tonight. If you can, give me a center of bolt to center of bolt and I'll check that also.

[Protowrxs 111]

Yes that is an inside measurement from right at the top where it transitions out in the center from front to back. Not too exact to communicate I guess.

 

It's a little hard to get a solid measurements on bolts since the bolts are not tightened down and slid in but from the inside shock mount BOLT to inside bolt centers I have 29 1/2" when they are positioned in the end of the notch like they would normally be on install.

 

From the inside of the of the shock mount itself on each side I have 31 3/4.

http://www.Protowrxs.com/Nolen/Stang/ShockMount.jpg (large image on my home server so it may load slow) for a view of how I measured that.

 

No big rush. I'd really appreciate a comparison.

 

Thanks!

-Stephen

 

EDIT: Looks like this is not unusual but mine is already unloaded so I guess I'll be jacking them apart some.

http://www.fly-ford.com/MM0105-How_To_Install_an_Export_Brace_and_a_Monte_Carlo_Bar.html

[dlinebar 2]

Hey glad you posted that, I am going to put those on but was going to wait until AFTER I installed shock tower, I will nto do it before so I dont have to fight with it. I was using the supports as a guide to get the new shock towers in place, you saved me some work..

[buening 63]

Yep, mine was that far off too! Sorry i don't have any measurements, but they are a huge PIA to install :evil: I wish you luck getting it installed without messing up a nice engine bay paint job. I had mine all perfected until i went to install this darn thing. The back edge where the 4 bolts are for the firewall scraped my paint on the firewall cause it is touching. Some people claim that if you put the front on jack stands and make sure the suspension is hanging that it will relax the shock towers and will spread them apart. Didn't help me much but may for you. Here's how i installed mine. Install all 6 carriage bolts on the shock towers. Install the export brace on one shock tower only and put the nuts on two of the shock tower brace bolts but only thread them a couple threads. No you have to work on the other shock tower which is the pain to get on. What i did was pull the brace as high as possible on the side that has the nuts partially threaded. Once it is as high as it will go, i took a screwdriver and used it as a pry bar to guide the brace to the carriage bolts. I used the same hole that the outer carriage bolt uses for the end of the screwdriver and just pushed the screwdriver towards the other shocktower while tapping the brace down with a rubber mallet. The brace is very stiff and will take some muscles. Once you have both sides of the brace down but the nuts on all 6 bolts and then install the bolts at the firewall. Hope this helps.

[Protowrxs 111]

Thanks for all the input. I made it work.

 

Took a small hydraulic jack, some pipe and another short piece of pipe to cover the connection of the two and keep them together and jacked the towers apart. It really didn’t take much, maybe one half inch for the brace to drop down on the tower bolts. Be sure and use a piece of board on the pipe side to keep from dimpling the tower. If you had a motor in though it would be much harder to do.

 

Yes Dan I would get the brace before you finalize the shock tower as they are much stronger than the factory braces and would be a good guide to use on the top side.

 

The car has sat for several years, no engine but no braces either which I’m sure has contributed to the problem.

 

Anyhow thanks all.. guess I'll get a monte carlo bar and make sure it works as well before doing the shock tower reinforcement.

 

-Stephen

[dlinebar 2]

Ok so now that you have convinced me that I need to do the export brace and monty carlo bar now should I go Chrome or Black??? I have a stock 302 no fancy anything not even valve covers, I want to dress it up but not go to gaudy....what do ya think??

[JC69Stang 0]

Go chrome, it always looks good IMO.

 

Check my cardomain site and look at mine, I don't think it is too much 8)

[dlinebar 2]

Yea that looks nice, with a stock 302 and air cleaner I guess I will just want the straight bar though right? Also I really like the guages you put in looks sharp and not like an after thought...

[Protowrxs 111]

My personal opinion is that if the engine bay is going to be restored/stock, the black looks better. If there's any updates/mods or one has a great looking engine bay like JC's then the chrome can add to that. Just my opinion though.

 

The straight bar should work fine I would think. I am going with the curved bar since I want to use a later model, wide cap distributer and also don't want to have to pull the bar to take the distributer cap off.

 

Edit: Here's the fit. A little spreading and it dropped right in.

 

 

-Stephen

[stangme 105]

well, better late than never I guess. Finally got in and measured mine, I have 33 1/2" center of shock bolt to center etc. I too will probably be jacking mine apart to put an export brace on and I have been kicking around the same question of chrome or black for the brace and bar. I think I will go black as I plan on painting the block aluminum, but if I end up doing chrome valve covers then I think chrome braces might look better.

[bnickel 10,004]

mine is black, i have very little chrome under the hood of my car. master cylinder cap, radiator cap, dipstick handle, air cleaner wingnut and for the moment a chrome thermostat housing that i will eventually change to a repro plain aluminum early car housing that doesn't have the boss for the ported vacuum switch. pretty much everything else is blue, black or natural aluminum.

[JC69Stang 0]

My personal opinion is that if the engine bay is going to be restored/stock, the black looks better. If there's any updates/mods or one has a great looking engine bay like JC's then the chrome can add to that. Just my opinion though.

 

The straight bar should work fine I would think. I am going with the curved bar since I want to use a later model, wide cap distributer and also don't want to have to pull the bar to take the distributer cap off.

 

-Stephen

 

I agree on the distributor cap as well. Also the comment on modified vs stock is a good one, personal preference there. I guess I am a little old school liking all the neat shiny stuff under there!

If I remember right, I had to do some work to get it to fit as well, also when I added the monte carlo bar, I could tell it helped stiffen things up in the front.