RoninRX7

Hey guys so i have a Cusco strut bar on my 90 Vert and when i close the hood the drivers side front corner right behind the headlight lid the hood sticks up about 1/4 inch. What im wondering is if anyone else has run into this same problem and if so what did you guys do to fix it? It helps quite a bit and looks SOOO sick under there I really dont wanna have to remove it. Thanks!

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

First thing, are you sure the hood is making contact with the bar? There should be plenty of space to clear the bar unless I would think it is installed upside down. I haven't put one on my 7 these are just suggestions out the top of my head.

You would hear the bar making contact with the hood when you shut it, is this what you hear? I am thinking your hood stops are set too high and this is causing the hood to close too high.

Check the rubber stops (located several parts on the engine bay), there is a bolt or nut that adjusts them and you just spin them to lower them down, if you see it you know what I am talking about.

RoninRX7

well I cant physically see it, but when i pull the bar off and close it the hood closes flush. I have tried to close it with the rubber caps off too and it still hits. The passenger side is good, but not drivers side. the car still have the factory underhood padding too. The hood stops are not hitting for sure because they are non adjustable and it only has that big gap when the bar is in there.

Black Knight RX7 FC3S

iTrader: (7)

put some washable paint onthe bar and close the hood again, if it transfer to the hood, then yea, its hitting.

RotaryWeaponSE7EN

iTrader: (6)

It shouldn't be that close to the bar.

SpikeDerailed

iTrader: (7)

Does the aluminum hood from the verts have some extra bracing by chance?

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

Check under the hood closely as you close it and like suggested above mark it with paint or grease or whatever will show you a spot where it is making contact when closed.

This shouldn't be making contact though, but if you are sure it is installed right and it is making contact with the HOOD SUPPORT then I would carefully make an indent on the support brace or cut it with a dremel. do not attempt this if its making contact with the actual main body of the hood.

Something is wrong here though as it should not be hitting the hood unless the vert has different braces on the hood than other models? Be sure it is installed correctly once again.... Can you post some pictures up?

I found some info on the threads where a guy had a similar problem, his bar was warped and was hitting the hood and another where it hits the alternator:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...strut+bar+hood

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...strut+bar+hood

Post a picture though, it will better help us to help you.

RoninRX7

yea here ya go. I think the hood might be different slightly on the vert. The bar is not hitting, its the feet that bolt to the top of the strut towers because the bolts have made slight indents in the padding on the underside of the hood. The bar is installed correctly for sure and the bar is BRAND new, it was shipped to me directly from japan.

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

Ok from what I understand, the long bolt that connect that "bar" section to the "feet" is making the indent on your hood insulation correct? Did you notice anything else such as the actual "feet frame (blue section of your bar)" making an indent on the hood? Is it a deep indent?

I would look into removing the insulation and checking to see how that makes the hood fitment work out for you, the reason I asked how deep the indent was is because I don't want to tell you to do this and the bar starts hitting your hood without the insulation.

I will check the hood on my vert tomorrow to get a better understanding of what you are saying, but I just wanted to make sure I understood exactly which part is touching the bar.

Hopefully someone with a strut bar on an s5 vert can chime in too.....

raindog

iTrader: (1)

turn the bolts around?

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

^ it shouldn't make a difference since either way the bolts will still be the same length... it looks like the actual "feet" will hit before those bolts in this case... maybe i am thinking of the wrong bolts? Anyway I will check my hood tomorrow I am sure I will be able to tell you whats going on...

rx7_FREAKKK

iTrader: (1)

Do these bars make a noticable difference in turns or Just being on the freeway?

cmanns

for me steering is tighter but street driving is more pita, like going into a parking lot driveway with the tires are 35psi, **** it feels like somethings gonna break, and any bump transfers all over the car. It also seems to cause some turning issues that the body twisting/whatever its called seemed to be fine for.

If you take turns like pro from what I notice its decent, I got a ebay cheapo though, that'd only mean it would be less stiff soo I couldn't imagine a good strut bar

and to the op, wow thats odd, maybe your body is bent if I read correctly the bolts are making indents in the insulation? The bar only would raise them like 1/3rd a cm,

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

I checked the hood and I see the foam you are talking about, it seems like it would be pushing against the bar for sure, there also seems to be a big space left between the insulation and the actual hood. I would try to remove it carefully and see how that works.

I am sure this should fix the problem as there isn't a "reinforcement" behind that I could feel, its all insulation.

RoninRX7

yea, im gonna try to pull the insulation off. the only problem is that i dont wanna break it, and I dont wanna scratch the paint on the underside of the hood. The bolts that are hitting the hood underside dont appear to be the bar to feet bolts, rather the 4 bolts that are on the top of either shock tower that are hitting. Ill try to pull it off today or tomorrow.

Grip

iTrader: (9)

flip the bolts around, the nuts are a little larger than the head of the bolt (not by a lot, but by a few mm)

also, try adding a little white grease to where you think its hitting the hood, see if the grease transfer's to the underside of the hood.

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

If this doesn't work out for you I don't know what else to say. Those four bolts that attach to the strut shouldn't be hitting the hood. You can use the rubber cover that goes over them after you take off the insulation so the hood doesn't scratch while you are trying to see if it will solve your problem.

Measure the thickness of the strut bar feed, this will tell you how much "material" you need to remove in order to clear the hood since the feet are acting like spacers for the bolts. I am sure it is only few mm think if anything so hopefully removing the insulation will compensate for it.

Use one of those interior fastener removal tools (looks like a flathead screwdriver with a slot in the center for the fastener) to remove the insulation. This way you don't break it.

If not, try removing the rubber feet instead of the insulation, this should compensate for the new thickness the bar added.

Good luck.

Grip

iTrader: (9)

its called a "crows foot" or a "body clip removal tool"

i still don't see how raising the nuts on the top of the strut 4-5mm would cause the hood not to close....seems strange....there should be more than enough clearance in that area.

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

I did check on my vert, and that insulation is taking up a lot of room in that area, enough to cause it to interfere, but we will see if this works out for the OP.

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

By the way, what method are you using to install the bar? Are you jacking the front of the car up and then installing? Or are you installing it fully on the ground?

RoninRX7

i was installing it on the ground because i didnt wanna have the car in the air and remove all the bolts holding the struts in, there by dropping the struts and slightly fudging the alignment.

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

so did you ever get it to clear the hood?