When I installed the headers on the 302 the driver's side is touching the shock tower. I checked the engine mounts and they are in good shape. I'm thinking maybe the shock towers have moved inward over time. Anyone know what the factory distance is between the towers? If they have moved inward I'm assuming I can install a bar between them to hold them apart. Anyone else have any experience with this? Jim
do you still have the factory braces in place? they should have been enough. nobody said headers would be perfect anyway. in most cases the use of a hammer is part of the instilation process
Mine touch on the passenger side, just barely. Maybe they don't...but they are close enough that when the engine revs I know they do hit. I wouldn't worry about it. I have a good 1" clearance on the driver side, even with an extra header flange in there for a spacer (for spark plug clearance on GT40P heads).
I took the tower braces off my car (the 75) for a short period in the early 90s. I didn't know better. I have since found that they cannot be taken off for any extended period. Even sitting... My towers moved in 2", and it wasn't noticable until I went to put the tower braces back on. I had to porta-power the towers back apart. It has been some time ago now, so I don't remember the stock measurements. Edit: I pushed them apart further than stock. They relaxed right back when I took pressure off. So I just let them relax to the point that I slid the braces on and tightened them in place. Took a minute or so for them to relax. Not long.
You can buy a Monte Carlo bar for an early Mustang. If I knew the right dimension for a Mav, I could fab one. They are commonly used to tie the shock towers together to stiffen the front suspension structure.
The Stang versions don't fit the Mav. They can be modded to fit though. The aftermarket ones range from cheap and flimsy, to heavy/stout and expensive. The Monte Carlo bars mount on the sides of the engine bay near the towers, but not directly supporting them. They often interfere with distributors, carbs, and air cleaners. Mavs have shorter (grille to firewall) bays than Stangs, so interference seems to be more acute. That's what I know on the subject. Learned it from my uncle's experimenting with Stang bars on his 70 Mav.
Got it. That's why I'm asking if anyone knows what the factory distance between the shock towers is so I can fab some.
Do you mean that you need to make tower braces? Or do you have tower braces and want to make a MC bar? If you have tower braces, all you have to do is make sure those fit right, then measure the distance to make your MC bar. If you don't have tower braces, you need to get those first, spread the towers so they fit, then make the MC bar. You don't want to go without tower braces, even with the MC bar.
I'm going to make a MC bar. I'm asking if anyone knows the distance from one side of the engine bay to the other, shocktower to shock tower, fender edge to fender edge, or some other reference point.
All I was getting at is that if your braces go on and off without issue, then your measurement is correct.
PM fan2488...he has made a couple sets of MC bars and would probably give you the dimensions for them...
A body alignment shop should have a chart with that dimension, if they keep 'em that old. They need to take measurements like that to see if a unibody has been tweaked out of tolerance.
oh crap, I've had my tower braces off for about 2 months.... but, the engine and trans are out. D'yall think it's warped inward my now?
No. With the car just sitting there and no engine or trans in it, the towers will not sag. Now if you had a 302 in there and were out nailing pot holes for the last two months, that would be a diffrent story.
