Purchased a Torque Dampner off of Ebay and got around to installing it this morning (Day off). Took it for a test drive and i am very impressed with the difference in engine response and shifter feel. Seems like when i am running through the gears the shifter just slides right into gear with a very VERY sturdy feel to it. Spent 75 bucks for it and i am very happy with that purchase. Its hard to describe how it feels other then saying that shifting and launching feel more sturdy. So if you have been debating on getting one or not, i would say go for it.

 

I've got the same .. only compaint is when its idiling and the motor misses or something theres a rattling noise. Over all I still miss 3rd sometimes tho hah

 

Is it something in the engine bay rattling or the brace itself?

 

get a B&M short shifter for $170 and never miss 3rd again.


Question: Ray @ PFS wonders if I may have a reman in already from a previous owner. The car has yet to reach him for the work so it is all just phone talk. He said something about the motor mounts being different if it is (also that these mounts often cause the infamous oil pan gasket leak because of how it sits, and I have that leak). My question is that I notice no motor rock or shift issues WITHOUT a torque damper. Think this would support his theory.

 

How difficult was installation? Do you need to cut or drill anything?

 

Can we get a pic?

 

You don't need to cut or drill anything. It fits right into the engine bay and takes about 5 min to install.

 

I redrilled the torque brace mount to keep it right side up instead of turning it upside down. I notice the rattle too but it is a minor problem.

 

heres a pic of the ebay one in my car

 

I did not know there was 2 different versions of the Ebay torque brace.. Mine is a FEED copy.

 

nopistons94 is more of a Torque BRACE.. Not a dampner.. looks as though there is no shock/dampner on it. This is why is see's more of a rattle more then likely.

 

It may, or it may just mean that you had your motor mounts replaced and oil pan resealed like I did, because the engine was still giving strong compression numbers.

 

True. This one is more of a damper : http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

 

If you "float" the mount you can eliminate most of the noise on the solid brace. Dense rubber on both sides, overdrill holes and use rubber tubing around the bolt to isolate all metal to metal contact. Quick fix if the vibration drives you nuts.

Oh, and somone buy my car.

 

I rock it cause im HARDCORE


heh.. I don't care about the noise it's faint if anything

 

Little bit off topic but to tell if you have a reman in there already is to look at the front cover... a little bit to the right of the front oil seal will have a blue and silver number plate. Look at the date on these piece, and if it doesnt really correlate with your cars year. then it is a reman. (example: i have a 93 touring and the plate had a date of 3-1998 on it. So that motor was assembled in march 98')

I also have the ebay torque brace and it didnt make a serious vibration/rattle to my car... not as much as the polyurethane motor mounts did

 

^ Did you notice how much smoother the shifts felt under WOT?

 

I have a FEED ETB and I still get some rattle when taking off or driving in reverse with low revs.

But the benefits of crispy shifts make it all worthwhile.

I got mine from Firtz

 

Had the same problem. It took a little messing with, but I adjusted the overall length of the dampner until it was about an 1/8" too short for the bolts to fit through and then pulled the top of the engine over slightly toward the passenger side. Seems to keep tension on the dampner now and I rarely hear the rattle.

 

I'm not certain which one you have, but I bought a used Gotham 'dampner' from this forum a while back, just to try. The ebay ones look to be similarly constructed. While it would appear to have a shock housing, it's really just a large nylon bushing. No 'dampner' in the traditional sense. Even so, I'm happy with it.

 

Exactly! It's NOT a damper folks. May look like one but its still just a big solid nylon bushing inside that tube. The only thing it's doing is dampening vibration (if that)

Yes indeed.

Your torque brace fender bracket is mounted upside down.
Why do I know...because I was the "original" designer of that brace

Regards,
Crispy

 

I tried it the other way and the bolts hit my hood

 

Nah....

Is it mounted like this?
http://reganrotaryracing.tripod.com/powrbar.htm
Closeup pics at the bottom of the page.

With the bracket flipped over did you still have the bar on the top? If so the bar needs to be mounted *under* the bracket Done this way it won't hit the hood.

FWIW
Crispy

Edit: for proper link

 

cool man i'll work on that tomo or something I have work till 9 tonight so prob won't get a chance to fix it. I have the rubber in there as well BTW