So I got the monte carlo bar and installed it and got all the original bolts on except the top one on the driver side is still using a smaller bolt


Anyways the driver side fits flush down but the passenger side even with all 3 original bolts the 4th bolt hole does not even sit flush with the car.....

Did I just get some cheaply made monte carlo bar or is my car bent out of whack?

The hood will close but it is really a tight fit and scratching the underside of the hood.

 

sometimes MC bars require additional "persuading" to fit properly.

Over time front end geometry changes with age...its sags.

I was able to get my mc bar to fit after carefully beating the **** out of one side with a 3lb hammer until it fit flush. I have heard that jacking the front of the car off the ground and then carefully beating the **** out of the MC bar works well too.

make sure you only beat the **** out of the flange section on the MC bar...Do not beat directly on the bar or it will damage it.

Im sure others will provide solutions that worked well for them.

But YES both flanges on the MC bar must fit flush with inside fender.

Good luck

-Gun

 

I never mess around beating on the car. I go straight for the jugular- Port-A-Power.

 

Photo?

It sounds like it fits between the towers, you have 6 bolts in it (3 on each side) but some part of the bar is still sticking up and interfering with hood?

 

Here is some pictures

Driver side looks good although the top bolt is a skinnier bolt right now


Passenger side using all stock bolts scrapes the hood at the red arrows and is not flush


It looks like its not even possible for it to be flush like something is wrong with fender or bar itself....

 

How much did it cost? Now ask yourself why it doesn't fit and why everyone (myself included) had to "persuade" their MC bar into place.

Yes, the shock towers could have sagged over time, but unless you've been runing around without your shock tower to firewall braces for a long time, I think it is far more likely that the 12 year old in China that made the MC bar just ****ed it up.

Good luck...

 

^^^ I was thinking the same thing


Considering the scott drake export brace fit in without any effort whatsoever. Thing just dropped in.

This 17 dollar monte carlo bar feels very cheap and is not very firm in there I can bend it up and down from the welds while its in the engine bay. Guess i'll have to cough up the money and get a scott drake monte carlo

 

It looks like the towers need to be spread apart some to get it to lay flat.

I have been told that sometimes a rounded head carriage bolt must be used to get the the hood clearance so it does not hit the bolt head. Here is a picture of my 66 so you can see the difference in the way it fits

 

ohh yeah thats not good.

it looks to me like the mounting flange isnt square with the tube so it wound never fit flat.

Clearly beating the crap out of this one in its current state wont make it fit any better.

Mine was a snug fit but with some well calculated taps with the 3lb hammer it fit in very well and both flanges had good solid contact with the fender on all sides...NOT like yours.

I suspect the bar is at fault now.

Good luck

-Gun

 

Thanks guys going to look into a thicker bar which is better made

I believe I could brake the flanges off this bar if I tried hard enough lol