I've got a Cinq Sporting one on my Sei. After lots of buggering about I've come to the conclusion that the only "proper" way to mount the damn things is to remodel (or re-rabricate) the expansion tank mount and especially the ECU mount. Then weld the damn things on. Mind you, I've not got round to it yet and the ECU is held in place with duct tape!

kritip said:

Yeah, it is pretty well supported by the lower mount, so one side will prob be fine. Also cut out the inner brace mount in pictures 2 and 3...will look a bit rubbish though as I have no red paint. It seems to flake really easily anyway, so after a bit of use i may paint it black anyways lol.


Kristian

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I would advise not to cut the brace at all, but make the other none structural items work with it, as cutting it may weaken it and compromise its effect.

Yeah, a bit fiddly.

If i knew I would have to mess about like this, i would have got the spi one anyway as it is straighter, so less flex, and also cheaper...still, I doubt they would accept a return on it now lol.

Kristian

J333EVO said:

I would advise not to cut the brace at all, but make the other none structural items work with it, as cutting it may weaken it and compromise its effect.

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Its either cut/trim the brace or cut/trim the body work itself....I think the brace would be a better/safer bet and non permanent lol. It only a minor amount, but its not gonna go down flat without it.

Kristian

kritip said:

Its either cut/trim the brace or cut/trim the body work itself....I think the brace would be a better/safer bet and non permanent lol. It only a minor amount, but its not gonna go down flat without it.

Kristian

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Try putting that side on first and then the other side move the adjuster out a bit and even try slotting teh holes slightly to allow for some movement of the brace, i had to do this with my Eibach brace as its not adjustable and would not fit otherwise as it was some 5mm out on 4 out of six bolt holes.

yeah i would say cutting the holes out would be easier,no?
then washers under the nuts

Yeah, seem a few ways around it, just waiting to hear from the supplier about the problems before i start messing with it.

Cheers,


Kristian

I trimmed (SAWED) the coolant bracket in two which is perfect, & as for the APALLING fit of the strut itself I B*stard filed away a chunk out of the brace so that it fits over the lip at the top of the struts far more easily.

I will take a better look 2 make sure my advice is correct & then post pics ASAP as it sounds like people out there are having the same grief as I had & it was actually quite rewarding to complete the tweaks to a point where the fitting was perfect.

The plus side of all this is that it is completely reversible & if you spray the bottle mount & strut it shouldn't rust.

P.S: I reckon with what is actually V.little work it is now absolutely perfect for the job.

Anyone know how I can get my battery out without taking the strut off though? :-(

If not I'd welcome suggestions as to how to make this possible in situ or a really easy way to move the battery.

Well, looks like a stupid design flaw then if more than one person has the same problem! I take it yours was the 1879 MPI one as well?

I know the amount of work isn't too great, but i just feel it should not need that kind of work at all, they should make it fit in the first place lol.

Pics of yours would be great btw

Kristian

Anyone know how I can get my battery out without taking the strut off though? :-(

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Put it in the boot?

Why would you need to remove it often though? For normal use, I have removed mine onece, when it packed up and needed replacing....as long as i can get the +ve off to do work I never take it out. Maybe for different applications this is more important though??

K

as long as i can get the +ve off to do work I never take it out

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The orthodox view is to remove the -ve terminal, but I can't remember the logic at the moment.

The logic is that if you disconnect the +ve first and you ratchet, spanner, whatever touched and grounded cable or panel et. you get a big bang, spark, blow fuses and possibly, if you were dumb enough to walk away with a short, cause the battery to blow.

As long as one or the other is disconnected, it doesn't really matter, the car is at no risk, the -Ve is suggested purely for the problem described.

Saying that, i just find it easier to take the +ve off and am always super vigilant not to cause a short. With the strut brace there the risk increases again. Shame its not to easy to put the -Ve terminal at the front.

Kristian

as for removing the strut for battery removal the novitec brace is easier for this as the bar can be unbolted and tilted up without removing the base plate bolts

Here are my pix -
I did not have to do anything to my ECU mount other than unbolt it so I could re-fit it on top of the strut.

The plastic cover over the fuses is one from a 899 engine (if I remember correctly) that I found in the scrappy Fits perfectly & just needs the click-straps to keep it on.

Smiler121 said:

Here are my pix -
I did not have to do anything to my ECU mount other than unbolt it so I could re-fit it on top of the strut.

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Odd -- it's different from mine. Mine is a pressing, yours looks as though it's been welded up.

Smiler121 said:

The plastic cover over the fuses is one from a 899 engine (if I remember correctly) that I found in the scrappy Fits perfectly & just needs the click-straps to keep it on.

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Looks good. With that strutbrace you've even cleared the K&N!

You may notice that I fitted the brace on top of brackets for a couple of months & this caused cracks in the paint due to the strut bending. I would advise that anyone fitting it definately cuts the bracket & files the brace to fit properly over the strut-top lip.

Cheers smiler121, looks like you had exactly the same probs then..must be just a crap design! I'll get round to hacking and fitting it soon, once my brakes are sorted lol.

Kristian

That's cool, one thing I just thought of that I forgot to mention - with the standard airbox I got a bad knocking noise when pulling off, the brace fouled the top of the box as it moved with the engine.