Different Engine torque brace
 

I have recently noticed in a few old super street mags that I have that a few of the FD's actually have a torque brace running from the old airpump holder thing (that usaully just sits there looking out of place) to their stut tower braces or somewhere else on the fender wall. Anybody have any thoughts on these? Do they work better/same/worse than the ones that go from the uim to the fender wall. Anyone know where to purchase one like that? I actually already have the first batch of parts for the Garfinkle one but I really don't like the way that part that used to hold the airpump is just sitting out there in no man's land, serving no purpose other than annoying me. Thanks

have luck getting to that hole. . .

paul

I wouldn't attach one there(the front of the motor) on account of the fact that you will be transfering torque(stress) through the front of the block/housings. In my opinion the ideal location is at the rear where the stress is better distributed/disbursed between the motormounts, PPF, and Rear end mounts. If you tie in at the front of the motor, to transmit the stress to the mount you are torqing/twisting the motor.

JT-imports has a new one to me. http://www.jt-imports.com/JT-Imports...Accesories.htm ( it is the lower one that connects to the factory strut bar. So the above argument of front engine stress may still be made., However I don't agree as the whole engine twists anyways when you DON"T have a torque brace, And the tensioner bolts thru the block will be MORE than up to the task of holding the plates together.) Just my opinion though. Let me know your thoughts of the brace.

I bet, if you had both the tower bar brace and the one in the rear the issue of load would be set to rest because they would both carry load and reduce the stress any one part would have. This would most likely eliminate the pulling and cracking of the body some people have noted when using the rear style torque brace. I think it's interesting though that for all the discussion and argument of using and placing these braces, the only damage I have read of is the stress on the body frame. This should be noted as most discussions center around the header being strong enough to endure the push and pull of hard driving. Like many opinions, I think until something bad really happens to someone using one of these things, one should just us them if they feel like it and be happy.

AHHH, the American way...If one is good TWO has to be better!!! Haha. Good point though about use both and relieve the arguments. And as well as the point about the rear style breaking the body mounting points. My personal preference is NONE. I feel that with GOOD engine mounts that I have no problems. I have only missed 3rd gear 1or 2 times and it was when i first got the car. ( Basically i feel that braces are a "Band-Aid" fix for a bigger problem allowing excessive flex.

if you had good engine mounts plus a tranny brace that would also help control the drivetrain movement. probably more than an engine torque brace.

Be carefully guys w/ETB!
 

Don't forget to check your differencial mounts. Bad diff mounts and engine torque brace = bad for LIM. I should know because I have a slight leak of air where the LIM joins the engine. When I noticed my engine slowly loosing vacuum, I grabbed some carb cleaner and sprayed above the 2nd turbo where the LIM joins the engine to check for leaks. Sure enough the engine stumbled while idleing. :mad: My leakage is a direct cause of bad diff mounts and horrnedous wheel hop. With bad diff mounts and a ETB all the force is diverted to the torque brace putting alot more stress on the LIM.

On the flip side, my engine still runs great but it really bugs be that I'm loosing some performance.