rorymonsta

Righto fellow humans. After a crapload of me being lazy and generally rubbish I decided to whack the remaining braces on my Blue-ish Beast.

They are the front and rear 4pt lower braces. So here we go.

E. Front 4pt

1. Get the car up on a hoist/stands/ramps. I got some axle stands especially for this. Then my rookie as nature couldn't figure out where they were to be placed to safely hold the car up . So I borrowed a couple of ramps and got under it (obviously a second person is needed to guide you on ramps, I hate it sooo much. I'm always afraid of giving it too much gas and ruining everything. It feels unnatural having the front end go up so high)

2. Once under the car locate the 4 points where the brace will be bolted on. I grabbed the brace and moved it around until things lined up quite nicely. Narrow two up front. Wide two just beyond the sway bar.

[IMG] DSCF0575 by rorymonster, on Flickr[/IMG]

3. Undo the four bolts, place the brace on and bolt it up. Will be easier with a second person since holding the brace, bolts and screwing them in is a bit of a challenge. You will now find that in true bolt on fashion it in fact doesn't bolt on perfectly (needless to say, I was shocked).

Back two

[IMG] DSCF0573 by rorymonster, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] DSCF0572 by rorymonster, on Flickr[/IMG]

Front two

[IMG] DSCF0570 by rorymonster, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] DSCF0569 by rorymonster, on Flickr[/IMG]

4. Unbolt it all and grab a circular file and get down to business extending the holes the bolts go into (everyone will have a different experience when it comes to this but for me only two of the 4pts needed extending)

[IMG] DSCF0576 by rorymonster, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] DSCF0580 by rorymonster, on Flickr[/IMG]

Repeat 3 and 4 until it goes on nice and tightly

[IMG] DSCF0578 by rorymonster, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] DSCF0577 by rorymonster, on Flickr[/IMG]


F. Rear 4pt

1. It doesn't fit on my car. Where my exhaust divides into two is crosses part of the brace (as it probably will for all Torneo owners, even stock) This section of the exhaust is quite wide and would be forever knocking or at least be putting massive pressure on the brace. That coupled with the exhaust heat is not an ideal situation for your performance bracing to be in. It could deform. Which could compromise it's bracing ability or catch on the ground.

2. Doesn't look like it would fit if you were running a stock exhaust either (I still have mine in the garage and to me it looks like it would be near impossible to fit regardless of your exhaust set up). It's beyond me what they were thinking when they designed this particular brace.

3. I may have a word to Speedfactor in a bit to see what can be done. But I've read in a thread recently the rear 4pts get dangerously low, too low for normal road use so I'm unsure as to whether it's worth the hassle.



That said I'm on the whole quite happy with how this has gone (because it's done).

Which brings me to the end of this part of my blog. I say blog, more like a story. In any case I hope you enjoyed reading and learned something or will refer to this later when it comes to your turn to brace up your cars.

Keep your eyes peeled for more. Future plans include (in no particular order):

Shocks
Rims (Enkei RPF1, RPF1 type II, RSM-9)
Seats (For weight savings and my drivers is munted)
Brakes (Not Brembo, their prices are craptacular)
Light panels (Carbon, Fibreglass)
Intake, properly (Cold box, Inlet mani, Throttle Body)
Tune with Greddy Emanage Ultimate
Engine (cams,valves,retainers blah blah) <----- VERY OUTSIDE CHANCE

Cambelt,waterpump etc (housekeeping sort of things)


I would appreciate some input or comments.
However I would like to stress that not everything on this list will happen. There is a real chance much of it will be ignored. These are ideas for a situation in which money was readily available (which is never the case)

I will also do a very healthy name drop at the start of each entry to those who have provided their expertise I don't mean it to be a contest in any way, just giving the credit where it's due.