Got the monte carlo bar. Apparently the easiest thing I can install on my car.
Won't fit. The bar is about 1/2 inch too wide (actually, my shock towers are obviously bent in 1/2 inch too much ).
Tried brute force. No success. Have up after 45 minutes.
Research indicates I should Jack the car up at the "LCA pivot points" and let it "rest to sag" for a couple of days.
Can someone send me a photo of where exactly I should place my Jack stands so I don't cause more damage than necessary?
Photos 1&2 are of the bar.
Photo 3 is where I think I should Jack it up, but it doesn't make sense to me.
use that bar/tube that goes under the oil pan ,jack it up with that and let it hang. Be careful not to get the center link of the suspension that is behind it.
If that doesn't work ,loosen but don't remove the bolts in cowl brace bars
Got the export brace. Tried to remove the shock tower caps. 3 of the bolts just spun freely with the nuts. Tried everything (PB Blaster, screwdriver as a wedge).
If I cut the bolts off, how hard is it top install new ones? I don't have ant equipment to compress the shocks if I remove them.
Nothing is easy when it comes to installing anything that attaches at or near the shock towers of a 50+ year old car! Your going to need some 5/16 x 1" carriage bolts for the top. Good luck!
? Mine uses regular fender style bolts at the top and sides ?
Edit I do see the square holes in the top of the OP's mine are round ,,wonder whats up with that ?
FYI...the Export brace does way more than the Monte Carlo bar. Remove the mostly useless cowl to shock tower braces completely. Grind off the remaining brackets on the shock towers. Jack up the car and support it under the LCA frame connections with jack stands. Order a Scott Drake HD Export Brace. By the time it arrives, your shock towers will most likely have relaxed enough to everything fall into place.
Same here. No doubt being a rust free California car helped too. "Dropped in" may have been a bit of an exaggeration, but nothing a little persuading at the fire wall with a round screwdriver could not align.
I just installed an export brace and Monte Carlo bar this weekend on my 66. See Uncle Buck's 66 thread.
My towers were 5/8" in.
This is what I did. It wasn't easy.
First I installed the export brace loosely on the cowl and laid it on the towers. Even after jacking up the car in various locations I had no luck. Initially I thought there was no way the export brace was going to fit. It just seemed way too far out.
I then disconnected it at the cowl and installed it at one of the towers. It still didn't fit the other tower. I then jack up the car at cross member under the engine. That didn't help much. I then placed stands beside the lca connection points. I think I was actually on the bottom side of the engine mounts. This seemed to help move the towers. I used a ractchet strap to give the loose end of the export brace a bit of a squeeze.
After a bit of forcing, I did get it to drop onto the second tower.
At this point I decided to install the MC bar. It was tight but went on ok.
Unfortunately, the holes in the export brace at the cowl didn't line up now. They were good left to right but were behind the cowl holes about one full hole width.
I then set stands at the rear of the front rails and let the car sit that way overnight.
In the morning I could see a bit of the hole so used an alignment punch to force better alignment. I then used a few longer bolts, started on a bit of an angle to pull it into place. Once I had the longer bolts in place I swapped then one at a time for the correct bolts and tighten them all down at the cowl.
At this point I snugged up the shock cap bolts to spec and had a victory beer.
Lol. Just waiting for the new shock tower cap bolts and I'll step into that project! Got new wheels, windshield washer pump and tail light bezels installed today, and readjusted the hood alignment (monte carlo bar installation threw it way out!). Ready as it is going to be for the NRA car show tomorrow.
Export brace installed. New shocks coming on Tuesday (maybe I should have waited and done it all at once).
Next is replacing the exhaust donut - just have to find a way to get to those damn nuts, borrowed an impact drill, but can't get it under there, and can't seem to get any leverage under there to use a wrench
They're and odd size, 11/16" I believe, and I sprayed mine with PB Blaster a couple days before then used a universal joint on the socket and a long extension to get 'em .
11/16 is correct. I'll try the universal joint and extension before I start the car, otherwise I plan on taking it in to the workshop on Tt Belvoir next week and seeing if they can help.
5/8" is the standard size hex for a 7/16" bolt and nut but Ford 7/16" bolts and nuts have an 11/16" hex. If the exhaust manifold studs have steel nuts on them replace them with brass nuts to prevent the rust problem in the future.
Or just put some anti-seize on them. An impact style ball swivel is best on a long extension with an impact. This is what most if not all exhaust shops use.
It is the one that came with the Classic Auto Air Daily Driver kit I purchased (through CJ's, but came directly freon the manufacturer). I will have a closer look and see if there are any part details either on the bracket, in the instruction manual, or on the invoice.
I had to take about 3/8" out of mine. I tried everything to get it to fit, but had to cut and weld it to get it to fit.
With the tolerances these cars had and the life they led, I should be happy with only having to cut 3/8" out!
Ive read through several of these threads the past week as I was getting ready to install the braces and bars in both my 65 and 67.
My 65 uses 5/16-24 bolts for the shock cap.
My 67 uses 3/8-16 bolts for the shock cap.
"Uses" means that is what is on the car and they loon oem to me.
I could have squeezed the 3/8 bolts on the 65 but I would have had to grind the head flatter and file the shoulders down a bit.
I used the oem bolts on the 65 and Im not happy with them. After adding the STB, I think I need a 3/4" long bolt vice the 1/2" long bolt, so this winter Im changing them out.
In have a TC export brace coming on Thursday. Hoping I do not have to much trouble getting it on.....I think it will go in fine. Can be adjusted I will look to the monte bar next.
I cut mine one third of the way across.
After cutting the bar, I drilled three holes equidistant (120 degrees apart)through the bar on each side of the cut.
I then placed an an appropriate piece of tubing(tight fit) 4" long inside of the bar.
I plug welded the holes and then welded the cut. The inserted tubing helps to keep the bar straight.
If I wanted to do it the aircraft way, I could have cut the tube on a diagonal. No way was I going to all that trouble!
What about cutting it off at the end where it meets the plate and then re-welding it to the plate. That way you'd preserve the strength across the length of the bar, no?
This is the best way to do it. Wiseguy method of adding a plug inside the tube works well too, just more labor lol
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