I'm having a problem with this rubbing on my polished M2 IC piping. I have put washers on the studs to raise it a little, but that makes my hood raised a bit when closed. Has anyone had this problem and how did you fix it? Perhaps I need a different strut tower brace? I don't remember the brand of my current one as I bought it back in '95. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

Just deal with it. Mine do the same thing. I actually had to force the Strut T bar down on to the IC pipng just to reconnect it.

 

I had the same problem...it was just a very slight rub so I filed down my strut bar a tiny bit...that seemed to help.

Later, I was doing some trouble-shooting and I remove my IC piping on the intake side...when I put it back, I gained a few millimeters of clearance and now there's no rubbing.

 

Allright dang it. someone better sticky this,as it is a problem for all the M2 installs I have seen, even the ones installed at M2. Do this. The problem is that the crossover pipe:1 now goes to a slightly lower spot under the hood as before it went to the middle and highest point. 2 the pipe is not bent sharply enough. As the stock one has a 90 deg. sharp bend in it. The pipe now sits higher due to the coupler getting in the way of putting the pipe down low enough to get the position that the stock one is in. You need to carefully cut the coupler at a bias so the front (under the bend) is shorter than the rear. Do it slowly and cut a little off then more as needed so you don't cut too much and have no coupler. Basically if you look at the coupler head on it is flat across the top. You want to cut it so it slants down from one side. Only cut the side that couples to the crossover pipe. You then put the coupler onto the crossover pipe and see how much there is when it stops sliding up. If it looks like about the right amount so that the turbo outlet will contact the M2 crossover when you put it together (about 1and1/2 inch or so +/-) you're in good shape. Now hold the coupler on the M2 pipe so the bottom is flat and put the clamp on so it is just above the rib on the pipe. This may take a few tries as the coupler wants to slide off the pipe and get crooked. When you get it on there now put the pipe onto the turbo outlet. the pipe should now set lower and clear the brace.

Make sure that the fan wires are not under the intercooler too as this will cause it to set up a bit and short your wires to boot.
This now should cure one problem but the rubbing on the hood will still happen untill you take a mallet and some wood and LIGHTLY bang the pipe a bit flatter where it is rubbing on the hood. this is with the stock rad. and fans so some may not have the secondary problem.Also I have some rubber under the intercooler that sets it up just a bit which may be causing this.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Not sure I want to get into the cutting aspect . My concern was that over time with the strut tower brace rubbing on the IC piping it would eventually wear a hole in it. I guess I'll just live with the hood slighltly raised.

 

Dude we are talking about cutting a $12 coupler versus ruining a $100+ pipe. What he's saying isnt a big deal, you just trim the front of the coupler so the pipe will seat lower. The top of the couples is hitting the bend in the pipe and not letting it seal low enough.

Its no big deal to trim it. If you screw it up but another, its on12

STEPHEN

 

Yeah! You're just cutting the rubber coupler a little. Do it with some long snips and it will be nice and clean. It's really easy. If you can butter bread you can do it.

 

Thanks guys, I'm going to give it a try.