May 19, 2000
Some basics: Strut tower braces keep the front suspension geometry intact under hard cornering or braking loads. The fox chassis is made from sheetmetal and fatigues over time. This brace is now factory installed on new mustangs. Now follow along as I tell you how to build this one.
List of Materials:
10' 1" x .080 or .120 wall round tubing
2' 1.5" x .125" flat stock
2 8" x 8" peices of 3/16" (10ga) sheetmetal
11 1.5" x 3/8" grade 8 bolts
19 Sheetmetal 3/8" washers
11 Nylok locknuts
How to build your own strut tower brace
Ok, had to get that out of my system. Follow along and see how easy it is to build a $120 brace for almost $20.
1.Cut the 2' peice of 1/8" flatstock in half for the cowl brace..
2. Drill three 1/2" holes in both peices at the same time. Mark both peices front and top so you can't mix their orientation up later.
3. Weld three bolts though one of the bars from the back so the front has nothing but threads. This will be the inner brace. Paint it now.
4. Remove the plastic cowl cover from the car. several phillips screws hold it in the front and spring clips hold the rear down.
5. Take the other bar and place it on the engine bay side of the cowl oriented up and front. You may have to move some stuff around to make room for the brace. Mark the holes on the cowl, remove the bar and drill the holes.
6. Now put the inner cowl brace through the holes from inside the cowl. Tack weld the brace from the front through the bolt holes. Being careful not to build up too much weld. This will hold the inner brace on if you ever have to remove the brace to work on the engine. Paint any areas where you welded.
7. Put the cowl cover back on.
8. Now attach the outer cowl brace to the cowl and take a five minute break.
9. Breaks over. There is no easy way to describe this so look at the pictures and your car to figure out how to bend and cut the 3/16" peices of metal so they fit the contour of the strut towers and inner fender to make the strut tower mounts.
10. Easiest way is to bend the metal 90 degrees so you have a 5" leg and a 3" leg. Put in the fold so 3" sticks above the strut towers top lip.
11. Scribe the strut brace so you can cut the 3" x 5" leg that stuck above the tower off. Bend the other 3" x 3" leg down and make a cap to the other leg. Cut it flush and weld the seam.
12. Ok, now figure out how to da a mirror image for the other side.
13. Now drill one 1/2" hole in the fender leg and three 1/2" holes in the strut tower side of the brace mount.
14. Lay the mounts out, mark and drill the holes on the tower and inner fender. Bolt them on using a two washers for each bolt. Take a break.
15. Now comes the fun part. Cut the 1" tube about 6' long. you'll only end up spanning 43.5" across the towers, but the extra will help with the bends and allow you to shift it left or right before final fitting.
16. On my carb installation I only had to make one bend. The goal is to get the crosspeice as high as the hood will allow and far enough forward that it'll clear the intake or air cleaner in my case. Your on your own here. You may want to bend a peice of clothes hanger as a guide. Take you time with the bends because this tubing will collapse if too much force is applied to it. spread out the bend over several inches for the strongest peice.
17. Once you have the bar positioned so the bends are where you want them cut one of the legs off to fit. Then doublecheck the other leg before trimming it off. It took be several cuts before it fit between the towers mounts correctly.
18. Tack weld the crosspeice in place once you are tripple sure it in the correct position and the hood will still close. (forgot that didn't ya) Time for a break.
19. Using another coat hanger figure out the diagonal brace bend and cut them long. Then final cut and finally file the crosspeice contour into the ends.
20. Finally tack weld the diagonals securely. Remove your new brace, finish welding the bars on and paint it your favorite color. I chose flat black for a factory look.
The Finished Product
