Classic Mustangs List Archive

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Mail From: Lionel Gibbons (email redacted)

Do any of you have some experience with export brace installation? I bought
an export brace (Pro Products Inc.) for my 66GT FB, and it doesn't quite
fit. I removed the shock tower caps, and got the brace to lay on the shock
towers and line up the bolts just fine.

The problem is, when it's in place on the towers, the holes intended to
attach it to the firewall flange are way off -- the bar it too long. It
just barely stays inside the engine compartment, touching the back of the
opening. But the holes in the firewall flange are about an 3/4 to a full
inch (I didn't measure) too far forward. It's as if the brace is too long
(or my engine compartment is too short).

I could drill new holes in the flange to align with the brace, but I don't
really want to do that. Has anyone else had a similar problem? How'd you
fix it.

It occurred to me that I might have the wrong part. Are there different
braces for different years? The wrapper my bar came in says:
Pro No: 646004
Desc: 64-0 EXPRT BRACE CHRM

BTW, the Monte Carlo bar from the same vendor fits like a charm.

Thanks
Lionel

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Mail From: Lev Lvovsky (email redacted)


you might want to jack up the car from underneaht the radiator (on the
support, not the radiator , so that it spreads out the towers a bit.
This is all caused by sag, inherent to the design. YOu might also want to
un-bolt the monte carlo bar when doing this.

Hope this helps.




|URL: www.smartlink.net/~levl289/ = Lev Lvovsky
|FTP: ftp.smartlink.net/pub/users/lev
|Most cherished possesion: '66 Ford Mustang (modified)
|"There is no race with a franchise on misery"--MR. KFI AM 640
|Q:"What do you think about American Culture?"
|A:"I think it's a good Idea."

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: R. Hasson (email redacted)

On Sun, 10 Nov 1996, Lionel Gibbons wrote:

> Do any of you have some experience with export brace installation? I bought
> an export brace (Pro Products Inc.) for my 66GT FB, and it doesn't quite
> fit. I removed the shock tower caps, and got the brace to lay on the shock
> towers and line up the bolts just fine.
>
> The problem is, when it's in place on the towers, the holes intended to
> attach it to the firewall flange are way off -- the bar it too long. It

Hello,
Yup, I had that same problem, except my export brace didn't even line up
between the shock towers. I knew something was funny since the Monte carlo
brace fit perfectly. I reasoned that the shock towers must not have
collapsed in very much if the MC brace fit so well. Anyway, the local Ford
dealer ordered a genuine Ford export brace for the car. It's thicker than
the repro, looked to have been stamped better, and fit MUCH better.
The whole "export brace not fitting" dilemma has come up a couple times
on this list. It's usually a combination of bent cars(either from just
years of fighting gravity and/or previous wrecks) or poorly dimensioned
export braces. In my case, it was probably both.

Hope this helps,
Randy

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: John Dettori (email redacted)

On Sun, 10 Nov 1996 15:10:55, "Lionel Gibbons" <(email redacted)> wrote:
>
> Do any of you have some experience with export brace installation? I bought
> an export brace (Pro Products Inc.) for my 66GT FB, and it doesn't quite
> fit. [...] But the holes in the firewall flange are about an 3/4 to a full
> inch (I didn't measure) too far forward. It's as if the brace is too long
> (or my engine compartment is too short) [...]
>
> It occurred to me that I might have the wrong part. Are there different
> braces for different years? The wrapper my bar came in says:
> Pro No: 646004
> Desc: 64-0 EXPRT BRACE CHRM
>
> BTW, the Monte Carlo bar from the same vendor fits like a charm.

I've been told by others, that the export brace & Monte Carlo bars are
the correct size, but a 30+ year old Mustang's shock towers, inner fenders,
etc. may not be exactly where the factory put them anymore. It's possible
you have the wrong part, but I thought most of the 64.5-68 parts were ident-
ical.

There are numerous articles over the last 10-15 years about installing these
in Mustangs. Most that I read give exact measurements. I'd measure my car,
then measure a few other cars to be sure, and check that against a reference.

Just my $0.02.

==============================================================================
John Dettori 86 SVO
VP, Securities Lending Systems 70 Mach I
Bear Stearns & Co., Inc 67 GT Convertible
(email redacted) no parts cars, right?
212 272 6717 <reserved 4 67 GT500>



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This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: Columbo Ron (email redacted)


On Sun, 10 Nov 1996 15:10:55, "Lionel Gibbons" <(email redacted)> wrote:
>>
>> Do any of you have some experience with export brace installation? I
bought
>> an export brace (Pro Products Inc.) for my 66GT FB, and it doesn't quite
>> fit. [...] But the holes in the firewall flange are about an 3/4 to a
full
>> inch (I didn't measure) too far forward. It's as if the brace is too long
>> (or my engine compartment is too short) [...]
>>
>> It occurred to me that I might have the wrong part. Are there different
>> braces for different years? The wrapper my bar came in says:
>> Pro No: 646004
>> Desc: 64-0 EXPRT BRACE CHRM
>>
>> BTW, the Monte Carlo bar from the same vendor fits like a charm.
>
Lionel,

IMHO, I think you may have the wrong part. If the Monte Carlo bar fit, then
I can't really believe the shock towers can be as far off as the misfit of
the Export Brace.

Ron Columbo 64-1/2 Conv
65 GT FB
65 FB
70 Mach I