Just wanted to share my recent experience performing these mods to my '87 GTA.

I purchased the Alston Racing SFC and TDS Steering Brace (aka Wonderbar) from Top-DownSolutions.com. Lon was excellent to deal with, definitely an A+ on customer service. I purchased the BMR Fabrication three point STB directly from bmrfabrication.com. Customer service was good, I think I might have been shorted two bolts for the third point bracket that you attach to the firewall, but I'm not certain on that, I might have misplaced them myself, no big deal, I had some bolts on hand anyway.

On ease of installation I would have to recommend that anyone considering doing these mods do them in the following order:

1) Steering Brace (aka Wonderbar), truly a 30 min install, (and that's taking your time.) No drilling or welding involved, just remove six bolts, slide the part in place and reinstall the bolts. You're done.
2) STB. This will require some drilling of holes before you can bolt on. Since I installed a three point STB, I had to drill holes on the strut towers and the lip of the firewall. Drilling the holes in the strut towers was very easy, plenty of room to get the drill in, you don't have to remove anything to drill the holes, (just use care that you don't slip and drill into your tire.) Drilling the holes in the firewall was another story. Even with the hood all the way up, the back edge of the hood is still in the way to get a straight shot with your drill. I ended up using a drill with a 90 degree attachment to drill the 1/8 pilot hole. Then, even with the 90 degree attachment, I had to angle the 5/16 drill to finish the hole. If I didn't have the 90 degree drill, I probably would have ended up removing the hood to drill these holes. Total install time was probably 2 - 3 hours (I took my time doing this and if it would have been a two point brace, it probably would have been a 1 hour job.)
3) SFC. This will require drilling holes and welding (if you opt for weld-in SFC vs. just bolt in SFC that is.) I thought I could get by with just welding the SFC in place and skip the bolts, WRONG. Although the fit of the Alston Racing SFC was pretty good, you are going to need to bolt them in place first to draw the mounting plates in tight to the subframe on the vehicle. The worst fit was the front pass side point, (just due to the shape of the subframe.) If you don't bolt the SFC in first, you will probably end up having to bridge up to a 3/16 - 1/4 gap in some places between the SFC and subframe (not very fun thing when you are doing an overhead weld on the thin subframe sheet metal.) Maybe, just maybe, if you had some good welding clamps, you might be able to clamp the SFC in place and then weld the SFC in place, thus saving you the pain in the butt of drilling the holes for the bolts. Also, since you are welding, you need to be certain to lift the carpet off the floor of the car. For me, I found this step to be rather time consuming. Total install time was probably around 12 hours (again, I took my time including painting and rust proofing the areas I welded.)


On cost of mod, I would have to recommend that anyone considering doing these mods do them in the following order:

1) TDS Steering Brace (aka Wonderbar), $50 + S/H. Very simple DIY install
2) BMR STB, (three point) $160 + S/H. Simple DIY install. FYI: Due to ease of installation and cost, I would probably opt for the two point STB ($110) if I were to do this mod again.
3) Alston Racing SFC, $184 + S/H, plus installation costs. Many people are not going to have the skills/tools necessary to completely perform this install themselves. Expect to pay $50 - $250 (depending on how much of the install you can perform yourself) to have these installed.


It is difficult for me to give a 'Bang for the Buck' rating on these mods since I did the Steering Brace and SFC at the same time. I can say that there was a noticeable difference after installing just these two items. I then added the STB about a week or two later and have only driven the car a couple times since installing. It is hard for me to say how much the STB helped since I have not really driven the car hard since installing it and the Steering Brace and SFC made such a big difference already. My mother drove the car today for the first time since these three mods have been performed and she actually commented about how much nicer the car rides with these mods installed.

 

I just installed the Edelbrock STB on my car, and I don't feel a big improvement either. I already installed 36mm and 24mm sways, wonderbar, and Alston SFCs that have been welded in. So I don't think that the STB did much at all. It was a pain in the butt to install too. I did remove my hood to drill the holes in the firewall lip. I do like it however like it for the look of it in the engine bay with my open element. But I should have used the money to get adj. LCAs and panhard bar. I guess those are next after new tires and struts.

If I were to do it again, I would get the wonderbar 1st because it's so cheap and easy to install. Next or at the same time, I would weld in SFCs. Then I would hold off on the STB untill you get the rear suspension up to par.

EDIT: I would prob do the sways after the SFCs and before the STB.

 

I'm definitely glad to hear what you guys have to say about the STB. I've been planning on trying to fab one up myself that would add at least some bracing to the front of the car, & still work with the HSR intake I have. Now I can move that project back a few notches.

Regarding the SFCs & wonderbar - I agree with the SFCs making a difference, after getting mine installed the car definitely felt different. I had to think about it a bit before realizing that it felt like the front & rear suspensions were finally working together...

I've just gotten a wonderbar from one of the guys in our local F-body group, it was a junkyard find off of an IROC. Between the price that he sold it to me for, & the cost of getting it sandblasted & powdercoated, I'm at about $50 for it, which I guess isn't too bad. Haven't had a chance to drive the car since installing it, but at least that part was real easy...

 

im definately looking into the wonderbar,a nd subframe connectors too, looking to have them ont he car withina month, with an adj. tq. arm too..

just a quick question about the alston sfc's...

do they hang low? will tehy clear a simple 3" hooker Cat back exhaust single cat... .. my car is lowered 2" up front, and i've heard some SFC's are lower than others

i think i like alston ones because they are bolt-in,a nd i want bolt in, so i can bolt them in, then weld the bolt heads on, and sfc's on too

so would the alston ones work with a car lowered only up front?

--also, thanks for ur awesome guide to putting these parts in, cost, and value, i learned a bunch

 

Check this thread for all kinds of pics of the SFCs
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/afte...ston-sfcs.html
I would be concerned with how you run the 3in exhuast. It can be tight, but I think if you hang it right, you won't have any problems.

They pretty much follow the floorpans, so imagine the bars running from the front subframe to the rear subframe.

 

STB is more for the looks IMO,
it gives a nice look on ur engine bay,
but to be honest, I felt close to no difference on my car after puttin it in.
i no longer have the stb in my car but i did like how it looked on my car though

 

i recently installed TDS subframe connector a wonder bar and a custom fabbed STB and i do have to say that i do notice a stifness in the front when turning that i didnt have before also a bunch of the annoying squeeks dissapeared. some of the best money i ever spent. i have full 3" exhaust and the only fitment issue i had was over where the cat should be, i had to dent up the floor pan a bit to get the bar to fit