Fitting a strut brace to valver/willy

[rockport]

Anyone here ever tried fixing a strut brace to there williams/16v themselves? Ive just finished colour coding mine and its almost ready to be fitted. Question is, im not sure i have enough room to get my hand around the strut to push through the bolts to hold the brace in place. Dont wont to start drilling until i know what im doing.

Can anyone give me a quick "how to" if they have done this before?

Cheers peeps!

 

[Adams_16v]

id like to know also! think i know but wanna know for sure thanks!

 

[william]

In my case we had to take out the whole suspension package, and then drilled two holes (each side) to strut tower tops. Im not sure is there enough room to put your hand under the tower (in my case there werent any)... it may depend what suspension you are running. Take the wheel out and try?

Make sure you drill the holes to points where bolts cannot interrupt top mount/spring/damper operation. And do not use too long "screws"/bolts...

And my brace was OMP made for willy/16v

 

[BenR]

Yup, you gotta take the struts out and turn the coil upside down.

 

[DeanRSi]

why not just use self tappers? ok, its not as good as fitting bolts etc. if you get an adaptor you dont need to turn the coil upside down, OMP ones usually come with them

 

[Fred@BTM]

coil upside down????? explain???

 

[rockport]

Quote: Originally posted by BenR on 15 May 2004

Yup, you gotta take the struts out and turn the coil upside down.

feck it!!!

 

[BenR]

its 2 bolts people!!!

you need to run it over otherwise the HT lead off it will touch the strutbar.

 

[Lunner]

Surley if you used a very long extension bar, or conbination of extension bars you could do it without disrupting the suspension?

Get someone with reallt small hands/arms to do it

 

[2 live]

or u could use riv-nuts

drill the holes, riv-nut em...........simple



btw riv-nuts are like rivetts but have a nut on the end, kinda makin it lik a captive nut.......

turn coil upside down n file away some of the alloy so it slots nicely over the brace, get a nice flush/flat fit then too

 

[DeanRSi]

http://premium.uploadit.org/Deano16V/adaptor.jpghttp://premium.uploadit.org/Deano16V/adaptor.jpg

thats what an adaptor plate looks like. it means you dont need to turn the coil upside down, it just moves it down to fit under the brace.

 

[rockport]

switching the coil over is not a problem - 5min job, no need for an adapter plate. I dont really like the sound of the rivit nut idea, tho thanks for the advise 2 live. Think ill nutnbolt to ensure its secure and done correctly when i have my coilovers fitted. I just wanted to know if i could have fitted it before hand.

cheers all.

 

[2 live]

lol theres nowt wrong wi rivets mate........they held ships together for fukkin years ffs lol

nah seriously tho they are no weaker than nut n bolt

hope ur ready for ur roof creasin at the back of the sunroof tho...........if it hasnt started already

 

[peterh2]

Why do you say that 2 live? This a common problem if you make the rest of the chassis to stiff?

 

[Snufty]

I have fitted a strut brace to mine i done it in the snow its not really hard.

1 remove coil

2 remove map sensor and bracket

3 place strut brace into engine bay between the 2 struts might be a bit tight

4 centre punch holes

5 remove the strut brace drill the holes

6 use som rustoleom paint or something on the holes

7 fit strut brace into place

8 jack front of car up remove the front wheels

9 using a extensions you can get to the nuts past the springs but not your hand up there

10 re-fit coil upside down and re-fit map sensor and bracket

Its quite easy to do really i fitted it in the snow and taken me less than 40 minutes

 

[rockport]

lol @ 2live - spose rivits are going to be better then papermache & super glue that reno use to put our clio together But seriously nothing beats a goodold old school nut and bolt

Snufty, im going out to the car later on and have a quick feel of the struts! - just to see if theres enough room. I think all strut braces have different mount points, so even tho things work out ok on yours, mine may space different? Ill check anyway - thanks for the advise.

 

[2 live]

Quote: Originally posted by peterh2 on 16 May 2004

Why do you say that 2 live? This a common problem if you make the rest of the chassis to stiff?

yes mate it is quite a common problem.............you can always tell the ones that have been stiffened up in some way then thrashed.....tell tale sign lol

the chassis will flex at its weakest point....the more u stiffen the weakest point , it will then find the next weakest point.......the place where theres a great fukkin hole cut in the roof will do lol

 

[BenR]

Quote: Originally posted by DeanRSi on 15 May 2004


http://premium.uploadit.org/Deano16V/adaptor.jpghttp://premium.uploadit.org/Deano16V/adaptor.jpg

thats what an adaptor plate looks like. it means you dont need to turn the coil upside down, it just moves it down to fit under the brace.

EH!!!

make an adaptor so that you dont have to turn it over...so youve actually got more to do....its still the same bolts your undoing.

 

[DeanRSi]

i didnt make it, lol (far too lazy for that). it came with my brace.