[mkuchere]

After realizing that I was one of the only people who didn´t have a strut bar underneath my hood at the last Ontario Escort Meeting, I decided to take it upon myself to build my very own brace. Some square tubing, and about half an hour of your time, and there you have it....

 

[Skuce]

and it doesn´t flex with all those bends in it???????????

 

[PPC-Racing]

nice home made job, but do yourself a favor now that you´ve got it mostly done.. add in supports for all the bends you´ve made, you´ve lost a tonne of structural strength by bending the tube rather then cutting it and then rewelding it to the proper angle. Also your mount is too small your going to get point source loading and it´s going to flex and possibly dent your tower. Add in either a welded to tower secondary support or make a ring that you can affix to the tower . also add in at least one or better still two X beaces that mount to the fire wall..

as an after thuought IF you want to bring it my way i can wrap that in a carbon fiber sock that will stiffen it a tonne. take two days, mainly for drying time..

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[ Edited by PPC-Racing On Date 10-03-2002 ]

 

[mkuchere]

Believe it or not, that bar doesn´t flex at all. The only way I could get that stupid thing to bend in the first place was to heat the joints, and after it cooled there´s no way it would bend back. I probably will eventually weld in some cross braces, but for now it´s doing it´s job. There is a noticable difference.

 

[KevinACrider]

How did you make the ends where it ataches to the tower?

 

[mkuchere]

I used a flat piece of steel that was about 1" wide, and bent it into the shape of a U. At the bottom of the U I drilled a hole to fit over the bolt that holds the strut. Once everything was fitted, I stuck the square tubing between the U and welded it in place.

 

[PPC-Racing]

dude, as an engineer, trust me, it bends.. every single point strut brace bends, no matter who makes it.. yours will just end up bending 10x as much as a structurally sound bar.. also did you reheat treat the bar after you heated it to bend it?? or was it heat treated in the first place? if not then it´s a mild steel no stronger then conduit tubing..

glad to hear it stiffens up your car imagine how much better it would be if you finished the job.. remember that phrase , " do a good job or don´t do it at all " ?

 

[mkuchere]

To be quite honest, I´m probably the cheapest and laziest person you´ll ever meet. lol
I think I´m going to have to remove that strut bar anyways once I get my new Intake kit on that beast.
This was just an experimental prototype I guess. The next bar I make will actually be structually sound.
I just wanted to see what impact (if any) that strut bar would have on my car.

 

[James92Scort]

Ah...to have a carburetor again...i miss my Geo Metro...hehe

Hey, it may flex, it may only do half what it could, but i must say good job and have fun with your bar.

Red 92 EGT

 

[MadBrad]

Since there´s only one bolt at the end then it can pivot there, so it doesn´t stop the towers from moving fore and aft relative to each other, if they do that anyway. Tou say you´re lazy - well I am so lazy I BOUGHT one!

 

[rascal]

Hell, I wish I could buy one for my 1st Gen. They don´t even make one for our Gen Scort at all. I would love to get a front and a rear strut tower brace, but I´m not an engineer or a welder so I gues I´ll have to wait.

 

[CASPER]

Hey Rascal check out www.streetbeatonline.com they have front and rear braces for the 89.
Good Luck
CASPER

 

[rascal]

Casper: Thanks for the insight but the Ractive/Tucan strut tower braces do not work with our 1st Gens. I purchased one from DriverFX.com and it was the same way..claimed to fit 89,90,91,92,93 Escorts..but doesn´t. The round plates are too big in diameter for our strut towers. They will fit the 2nd Gen Scorts and Mazda Proteges with no problem.

 

[TheBlade]

Hey to let you guys save on rip off shipping rates (if there can be anything saved from them) Street Beat is down in Phx. Seeing as how I´m scortless for awhile I can´t help by I´m sure Matt or Justin could swing by sometime for you 1G guys.