Bought a new chrome export brace for my 70. How hard is it to change - any tips would be appreciated. thanks

 

i put one in my 69 fastback about a week ago. it wasnt easy! but i started the nuts on the shock towers first . it had it lifted a little against the firewall, but with a little help from a clamp i got it done. but its really worth the trouble. it took out all the road walking out of the steering. the best 85 buck ive spent on the car!

 

on my 66 coupe it is really straightforward. Unbolt 4 bolts on each side then bolt in the new one.

 

While we are on this subject, can anyone tell me why a solid piece export brace is superior to the three piece shock tower to firewall brace that I have on my 65. In other words, what advantage do I gain with the expenditure of funds for an export brace over the same metal that just happens to be in three pieces instead of one?

 

This is one the chopping block for me as well. Doing Upper/Lower control arms, all tie rod ends and alignment this week! I've the same 66' coupe, it should be just a simple unbolt-bolt on exchange.

The only thing I can think is that there will be some flexing when the old one comes off and possible alignment issues when installing the new one. In that case it may take some tweaking one way or the other to get them to align.

As far as differences on a one piece compared to 3 pieces - Unless there's a huge stress point in the 3 piece ( I can't think of any reason other than sloppy hole patterns ) there should'nt be any diff at all other than asthetics. If there is an issue w/ hole patterns, you could drill them out to the next size bolt pattern and take care of that.

 

I just ordered a TCP one. It's adjustable, so it should be a snap to put on.

 

when i did one in a friends we got a steel strip and re-inforced the part on the fire wall and i only use Grade 8 bolts too an that steel strip really made a difference but since i now have my mustang i am wondering what kind to get myself and a rear sway bar make a HUGE diff (i wish i had money like my friend)

 

Soaring, the solid(one-piece) export brace is made of much thicker metal when compared to the original two-piece setup. Also, the one-piece design allows for the shock towers to be more "uniform," meaning that the towers act more as one piece, or together, instead of two independent parts. I was amazed at how thin the factory braces were and surprised at the weight and thickness of the new one-piece design...the car definately steers and handles better. From the factory, the front ends on Mustangs are weak and flex a lot. To really help things out, the straight Monte Carlo bar also helps when paired with the one-piece export brace; the curved Monte Carlo did not impressed me that much.

 

Please except that first and foremost that I am not that I'm an expert on anything and I am always a little apprehensive on posting technical info I have learned. As we all know, some of out Mustangs have a tendency for the shock towers to move inward, product of early unibody, I have seen some so bad that the hood will not close properly. Part of the reason is that with the three peice export you have more joints that can flex, there in slowly, depending on how much you abuse the front end they allow just enough distortion and metal fatigue to allow the towers to settle toward the center of the weight of the engine compartment. The one peice export is a much heaver guage and has less places to flex. I think it is also advisable to add the heavy duty fire wall support as the export brace ties into the firewall which is only sheet metalI had an unabused I6, and even with the motor out, I had to set the car on the cross member and let it set over knight to be able to get the new export installed. I have seen a couple that require a powetr ram to spread the towers apart enough to do the installation. Based upon what I have seen and read over the past few months, the ones like TCP that are adjustable are even better at nailing down the front end, but if you are into concours showing, the adjustables might bring down your score..

 

like i said, the thing took all the roadwalk out of this 69. its alot stronger and just tied the whole front end together. i did put a monte carlo bar on too. just spend the 85 or so for them. you wont regret it!