I have the GMS single bar and the Ford factory plenum cover and it works fine, there was clearence but I did move the nut to the top of the plenum to gain a little more and I think it looks better that way too. It lowers the plenum cover about an 1/8 " or so. No issues at all, been on about a year.
Nice part for the price.

 

The STB is bolted to the studs which have a tight fit to the strut tower. As the strut tower/studs move (by a small amount), they're going to shift around in the wide holes of the STB. I looked at some of your competitor's STB's and the mounting holes were not elongated/widened like the GMS single STB. You can see the elongated holes in the pics you've posted of the single STB. Blkstang06 also posted pics of his GMS single STB. I am not sure why the holes were elongated in the first place. Strange Dev, Edelbrock, FRPP, BMR, Agent 47, and other manufacturers don't seem to use elongated holes for the STB mounts.

 

Just by the bmr strut tower brace, no modifications needed. Can even have it powder coated red for a few more bucks. Love mine. Sorry dont have any pics handy right now.

 

You make a very good point but it really does not work that way. The stud is captured by the strut tower and the brace is sandwiched between the nut and the strut tower itself. We have raced the holy-heck out of these cars and I have never seen a single brace that moved. With that said if the holes were tighter (not elongated) it would be impossible to get it on both sides with dropping the struts down below the shock tower - since the studs face each other at a 26% angle

 

I just measured the Edlebrock bar and the holes are .505 in diameter. the stud is .380 - that may be the reason they do not elongate the slots -t hey make the hole so darn big it makes up for the difference

 

I'm just using that as an example JR.. As I really don't know for certain, just how far the engine moves up or down, or from side to side.

So once again, I was just assuming

 

Is there also enough space to clear the hood supports ?

 

Interesting find. I looked at Steeda's bar and saw the elongated holes. I guess none of the STBs are really made for a tight fit and depend on the friction between the bar and painted shock tower for load bearing.

 

just enjoying a friendly convo

 

YES - please stop worrying - it is perfect

 

If you guys look closely at the towers you will not they face each other. That means you either need to drop the struts out to get the bolts flush or do it the same way Steeda, Edelbrock and GMS do it.

 

Likewise

 

Just out of curiosity JR...With the stock hydro mounts still in place..

Approx how far does the engine move up or down / side to side ?

 

I've had the single Granatelli stut bar brace and it clears perfectly. The aount of clearnace between the plenum cover and and the brade was tight so just to be on the safe die, I lowered the plenum cover by removing the two grommets in the rear of the cover and removed the studs on the rear of the plenum, then I installed the cover and re-installed the two studs. Now the clearance between the strutbar and the plenum cover is over 1/2" . There are no problems at all between the hood and the brace.

 

odiaz: How much clearance is there between the rear of the plenum cover and the intake manifold when you lowered it? Are there any rubbing marks on the intake manifold from the lowered plenum cover?

 

Well at first. I also thought the GT500 bar cleared fine, until I closed the hood, and noticed 2 slight bulges on both sides of the hood.

Needless to say, that was all it took, in convincing me to uninstall it..

That being said ! I strongly recommend, you take a good look at both sides of your hood for bulges..

 

There is about a half inch of clearance between the strut bar and the manifold cover. There are no marks on the manifold cover at all. I don't know if there are any marks on the manifold as a result of the lowered cover. I've never removed it since I installed it over a year ago. When I installed the manifold cover, it did not appear to make contact with the manifold at all. There are no marks on the hood blanket from the strut bar so the hood clearance is also good.

 

How secure are your fuel rails?

 

Ford says up to .600 is within spec - that mean like a tick over 1/2 inch but way less then 3/4 of an inch.

Engine should not move side to side

 

So it's pretty safe to assume, that once the plenum cover is lowered..We should have approx, a half inch of clearance between the STB, and plenum cover