Oddball brace, goes from hood hinge to cowl??
 

Does anyone have bracing from their hood hinge to the cowl? I bought that 82-92 Camaro Performance book, by David Shelby, and one of the cars has them. (That's the only thing I picked up from the book... it's more of a good book for beginners.) I haven't seen an f-body with those braces yet! For those that don't have 'em, here's what I'm talking about:

Notice on the bottom part of the hood hinges, towards the engine, there's a piece of the hinge that curves out, and there's a hole there. Well, in the picture, there's a thin bar that bolts here. The bolt goes backward at an angle to a matching hole on the lip of the cowl, above the firewall.

The metal looks too small to be of structural help, so what's it for, and why haven't I seen it until now? Was it an early model piece that GM stopped using? Or am I looking at cars that had the pieces removed by previous owners??


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

The brace is on my 85 IROC and on an 88 RS parts car that I have.

JamesC

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My 85 Z28 and my 92 Z28 vert have it as well...

Some have it, some don't. My '89 Formula 350 did not have it when I bought it 7 years ago w/25K miles. My friend had a '91 Formula 350 that had it.

I see them in the junkyard every so often. I do not think they really do anything.

I got those too, seem pretty weak though to me

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90 IROC 5.7l (L98)
ram air, K&N's, air foil,Flows

LIKE A ROC

My 87 RS didn't have it and my new (to me) 86 Z does, go figure.

Thanks for the stats! If I ever see them in a junkyard, I might grab them for kicks. https://www.thirdgen.org/messgboard/smile.gif


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

I made my own from some aluminum extrusion my company had on hand.

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90 RS Convertible
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