monte carlo bar ?

I know this is a simple task, but I just bought a straight monte carlo bar from the classic stang place here. Got it home and of course I had to lay it in there to see how it would fit. I am sure the fact that it lacks about 3/4 of an inch to fitting in is due to the 480 springs I got from NPD, but I have my engine out and it looks like a lot to me. I am not sure i will use this bar just yet as I have the valve cover with the large tube coming up about three inches from the breather hole and I have one of those large chrome breathers. I am thinking if I have to place a straight mc bar too close to the towers it will interfere with my breather cap.....and I happen to be quite partial to it... Do they make a curved one that will allow me to keep it? And, are those things suppose to be that much longer that you have to force them in place? I looked at previous posts and the one picture of a straight bar I could find put the brace flanges right up against the shock tower bolts...is that right?

The bar actually utilizes some existing bolts that run down the inner fender at the front of the shock towers so it should be pretty obvious right where it fits. As far as it being too long, it is generally the case that what you are seeing is the amount that your shock towers have sagged inwards over the years. Jacking up your car from the center crossmember under the engine bay and letting the suspension hang free will usually spread the towers out 1/4 - 1/2 " and allow you to fit the bar in. Some people have to use a jack to spread them a little fiurther to get the bar in, but many people find jacking it up is enough.

On that note - does anyone know what that dimension is? Can anyone that has a bar installed pick a common fastener and post the result?

Thanks, Ric.

what year is your car...and what car is it?

my 68 bar fit nicely....but my fender had sagged.

use the existing holes....some of the bolts from the inner shock tower cover are used...if that is what you are asking

chaz

if i ever fix my camers, I will take some pix

Actually I would like to design something myself but I would like to get it right. What I am asking for are the dimensions from shock tower to shock tower. Pick a common feature of the frame, which could be used to position the towers at the proper distance from one another.

Thanks, Ric.

does anyone know the proper distance anymore?

most people have sagged to one degree or another..i think it would depend on OUR car and vary per car...

chaz

sorry I couldnt help

This may help, maybe not...I just went out and measured the one I got from MPO that's Mustang Parts of Oklahoma and at the widest point flange to flange it measures 40 & 1/4. And at the shortest point at the bottom of the flange it is 38 & 1/4....If you follow me, that is-- the distance gets shorter down the shock towers where it bolts up on the inside. Also, my car is a 65 coupe and you have a different model...66 right? But, this straight chrome bar is going to get in the way of my breather, so I am going back tomorrow and get a black curved bar and then take it and get some aluminum coating put on it....not as shiny as chrome but that's fine with me... : This one is about $25.00 and I can get it coated at Airborn coatings for about $20.00 or a little less....Not a bad deal in my opinion, when the chrome curved bar sells for 50 anyway. .

Well, went back to the stang place here and got the curved mc bar...It's not chrome but black, but looks good to me. Anyway as I was admiring and daydreaming about how this will look with my engine in---the thought ocurred to me, "won't the curved mc be inclined to bend at the curve over time?" I mean it doesn't feel that heavy to me, just wonderin'. :roll:

Your right, under enough force the curved bar would be easier to bend than a straight one. But it doesn’t take that much force to keep the towers in the correct position. In most cases by jacking up the front of the car from the center at the crossbar the weight of the frame will be enough to install the bar. Once the bar is installed and the car back on the ground the force on the bar is in compression. Or another way to look at it, the bar would end up bending into a smaller curve not straightening out.

If the curved one is the one that fit's it is still quite an improvement over not having one.

Have fun and be sure to take some pic's, Ric.