sbrimer

I have seen this done on several vehicles, but I'm not real sure the method used. I have a two bar strut brace and I recently purchased painted strut tower covers from Midwest auto parts. I want to use both of these items at the same time. The strut tower covers are not cut to go over the strut brace and fit properly. I am assuming I am going to have the slowly cut out out the area for the strut brace with a dremel. Has anyone done this and can give me some do's and don'ts?

I know I'm gonna have to slow and dremel a little at time. Any other suggestions?

ShaneM

The ones i have seen online say to specify when you order to get the ones that fit the bar. I guess you coudl mod them yourself. If you just bought them you might want to just return them and get the ones for the strut bar.

sbrimer

Their site says they no longer make them for strut bars and you must modify them youself.

Another company probably makes them modified to fit though.

NJBLK07GT

I modified mine. All you have to do is take your time. It's alot of take off a little, go and fit it...... take off a little more and go and fit it. I used a bench grinder and went very lightly. Used a small file for the finishing work. Then just used a little touch up paint on the bare surfaces when I was done. Just remember one thing while doing this.... don't rush! You can always take more off the covers but you can't put it back on.

Hope that helps,

sbrimer

I kinda figured it would be a slow process. I won't use a bench grider, I'll stick with the Dremel.

Thanks,

TPony

How about you lets us know how it went? Pics would be great too..

Misbehavin

Using a Dremel, I modified my covers to fit my brace in about 20 to 30 minutes. Its not difficult, just take your time and grind in small amounts. You can always remove a little more, but you can't put any back on.

FWIW, I used the cylinder sander attachment. It worked great.

sbrimer

Good idea. I think I'll do that today.

sbrimer

Today I sat down and modified the new strut covers that I bought from Midwest Auto parts. I was more than a little reluctant to cut perfectly good ABs plastic, but I had to. It was a really easy project, but anything is with the right tools. Total time was about 1 hour. The key here was slow and easy. Cut a little and check fit. Over and over again until you get it right. Although the cuts are not perfect, I really like the finished product. The pictures make the cuts look a little worse than the human eye does. For the most part, they look good.

This was done on a 08, Grabber Orange, GT.

Here is the before picture.



I then placed each cover where they should go. I lined up the "GT" on top of the cover so the writing was in line with the strut tower brace. I then held the cover in place with one hand and put a mark on the cover with a permanent marker.



I got all the tools ready......



Then I made the first two cuts.



I made the cuts a little at a time. My Dremel has a variable speed adjustment from 2 to 10, so I made the cuts on 6. Remember, slow and easy. I did discover that after I made the cuts, some of the paint did not cut. DO NOT rub the paint off towards the outside of the cover. I simply pushed or rubbed it towards the inside (the cut area) because I noticed that it would peel. After I got the correct fit, I put a SMALL amount of clear fingernail polish just over the lip of the cut all the way around.

The first one I did was not that great when it is viewed with a camera and flash.



After I got a correct fit, I lower the speed of the Dremel to 2, and slowly rounded the cut.



The left side. Ignore my daughter in the picture. She wanted to help, but got bored with the slow progress and ended up in the pool.



The finished product. It looks 100% better than the exposed rusty bolts.

Misbehavin

Nice job! You had one advantage over me. My Dremel is screwed up and is either wide open or off! I would just bump the sander against the plastic quickly as I opened mine up for the brace.