Ok, I KNOW I'm going to get a strut tower brace. I'm trying to hold out for the spohn piece, but lately the hotchkis one has been growing on me. Alright, here's the question/issue. Do you guys have your hood liner still? How much clearence do you have? I put in some generic liner thing that is cut to fit, and it hangs down some. I think it touches my intake too(TPI), it leaves some dust or something on it, and I know the STB's go just above the TPI, so if it's hanging that low I'm wondering if I'm gonna have to pull it off. It's just a small thing that's been irking me. I got brand new paint, that's why I put the liner in, I was thinking it'd shield the hood's paint from the engine bay heat...

Just something that's been bothering me, any comments/suggestions welcome....

 

i have the factory insulation on my car and it rubs the STB in a few spots. nothing to worryabout though.

 

Removing the liner will do nothing to the paint.

 

The liner will rub on the STB and leave dust all over it. I went ahead and pulled my liner out. No problems.

 

The STB leave a indentation in the liner, but no other problems.

 

I have the kenny brown brace and it doesn't rub the liner. I had to build two 3/8" spacers though to get some clearance between my intake and brace. Other than that it is a nice solid piece. Other thing to note is on my fathers Z28 the bar had decent clearance between it and the intake. Neither car has been wrecked, so we figured it was due to the fact that mine has way less miles(80,000) and is a hardtop his has 140k or so and t-tops. If you want I can send a pic to your mail.

 

i have an Edelbrock STB and it rubs the insulation leaving some dust. Personally i dont know why everybody gets hotchkis STB, it costs more and its not a 3 point.

 

How can you get dust off youir hoodliner?? Unless its pretty dirty, never had any dust /dirt from mine. You do have to check the clearance over the intake. Shims may be required on whichever STB you get.

 

i cant imagine you dont have any dust unless you have an ultra low mile car. I have under 50k and never been winter driven or stored outside, and that hoodliner is dusty as hell.

 

IMHO, the 3 point STB's don't offer much advantage. They attach to the thin metal ledge coming off the the top of the firewall. There's no real extra upport gained by doing this. If it were ever severly stressed that piece would bend easily. Plus, under hard cornering the strut towers tend to flex in toward the engine, not toward the front or rear of the engine compartment.

 

Smurfn
Check the picture I posted, no dust or dirt. I just don't drive on dustry roads.
And I agree the three point brace does not do much being tied into the thin sheet metal at the firewall. All that third bar does is get in the way. My opinion.

 

not to be a troll or anything, but that doesnt show the hood liner my engine compartment isnt dusty, just the liner. oh, and that "thin" peice of steel in the back of the engine bay where the 3rd point connects is alot stronger than you might think. have you ever drilled through it? Its decieving. just my 2 cents.

 

What it is is that silver looking lining I put on mine. It leaves this grey powdery stuff on what it touches. Thanks guys. Just gotta hold out and see what the spohn one looks like, then decide hotchkis or spohn...

 

 

The Edelbrock brace comes with a thick peice of steel that bolts under the cowl bars, strength to this area. I the towers do flex towards the cowl/windshield. Triangulating the towers is the best way.

 

It all depends, Im just using a cheap Jamex bar but I can tell you it made one hell of a difference. no more of that squish feeling where you feel like you want to pump the wheel and correct in a sharp turn, now it just turns and where i point it it goes.

also I just got a 2.8 but with my ram air I had to move the bar from the top too the side of the strut plate
[still on the double thick metal] and I had to turn the bar so it was up right and titled towards the front.


Id like to get my hands on another $20 jamex bar or a few of them. put one on the rear shock tower.

 

thats a weird looking air intake!! i guess what ever works right..

 

well there is only so much room under the hood and that is the only way so none of them are pinched off by the strut brace. Now when I didn't have a brace, it was a bit cleaner looking.

I got dual 68-69 bird scoops in the hood.
you can see the piece of old wood by the front, I put that across the top of the alt and strut brace, so the alt don't chew into my hood ducting when Im getting on it.

 

I'd have to agree with him, i think some people need to go look at that "thin stamped piece of metal" some more before deeming it a thin piece of metal stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

BMR brace kicks ***

 

He is right and after so many years, that sucker is more of a fire hazzard than anything. First thin I remove, unless it is like new and clean.

 

If you look at how the suspension works, the force is applied up and in. Not forward or backward. Also, take a look at the pics posted here. ALL the STB's use large tubing between the towers and small tubing to the firewall.

It doesn't hurt having the added bracing, but I don't feel there is any performance gain to be had.

 

Ive got the BMR 3 point brace and I like it. It puts an indention on my hood insulation but just a little one you can barley see it. My hood insulation doesnt get dust all over my engine or my STB....I did get a new one from GM about a year ago though...maybe thats why.

But anyway the BMR 3 point braces rocks and where you attach the third points,,,,,that metal is a ***** to drill threw so its not just some flimsy metal lip...

 

it doesnt sit that high off the plenum on a TPI..

 

How Much better a 3 point is over a tower/tower brace. I dont really know for sure. Ive been really happy with the Edelbrock brace I have though.

The bars that bolt to the cowl on the Edelbrock brace are larger in diameter then other brands ive seen. They are pretty beefy if you get a good look at them.

Ive only read a few things on the subject, so IM no expert...but...they all say the towers do flex towards the base of the windshield at the cowl. Thats the reason for the cowl to tower braces.

Who knows.....