Strutbar from FS-DE @ ZM .. please help

TStar · Jul 6, 2004

hi i transfered the thread to here because i hope i can get more support

the scratching only happens when in rear gear...

i don't know..what would you suggest me to do ???
i mean for the 1.6ZM there seems to be no other strut that fits it correctly (length,holes) but the bar must be somehow modified because i don't want it to hit the manifold anymore...

cansavem suggested to soemhow grind down the manifold, but i don't think this is acceptable.... (nervous)

does anyone know a solution maybe ? some brainstorming ?

------ my first post was ------
hi there.. today i got my car lowered with eibach prokit and the oem p5 strut bar that i got from canada was also installed...

the problem was that the ZM engine is sitting "too high", so the strut touches it when it's installed...this is not good when the engine moves(loser)

so the mechs put a wooden wedge between the strut and the gasket,took some steel bar and levered/bent the the strut a little more upwards with HUGE POWER... the whole engine went up and down while they did this and finally they got 1/2cm between bar and engine... damn, i almost pissed my pants when they did this... but now it seems to work..

just to let you know (i know there is at least one other p5@ZM guy here
i will take fotos later..

xelderx · Jul 6, 2004

I have an idea. Tell me how far up you need the bar raised and how far before it hits the hood. I think I can make a threaded extension to raise the bar a little. Might just have to drill the mounting holes out a little.

TStar · Jul 6, 2004

if i could raise it on the left side for 1cm/10mm/0.39inch this would be enough i guess and it wouldn hit the hood (because right side is higher anyway) of course it would also help lifting it at the right side too, so the left side would also go up a little...

how can i in detail find out how much space is between the bar at that position and the hood (i mean it's the p5 oem... maybe you know :\ ?)

xelderx · Jul 6, 2004

TStar said:
if i could raise it on the left side for 1cm/10mm/0.39inch this would be enough i guess and it wouldn hit the hood (because right side is higher anyway) of course it would also help lifting it at the right side too, so the left side would also go up a little...

how can i in detail find out how much space is between the bar at that position and the hood (i mean it's the p5 oem... maybe you know :\ ?)

Stick some putty to the bar and keep making the putty higher until it touches the hood...then you'll know how much it misses the hood by.

TStar · Jul 6, 2004

putty like in the pic ? ahm uh..i will try that somehow, i will see how i can get this done.. any help is deeply appreciated, my mood is really ****** up because of this :\\\

ELEmental59437 · Jul 6, 2004

Just get a few washers or one of those tall washers and stick it under the bar before it bolts down..

igdrasil · Jul 6, 2004

ELEmental59437 said:
Just get a few washers or one of those tall washers and stick it under the bar before it bolts down..

I vote for this...this is the best solution so far

TStar · Jul 6, 2004

you mean like put a washer under the point where the bar connects to the left bracket ?
i already had a look on this but it won't work since the screw/bolt coming out of the bracket is only a 2mm higher than the corresponding nut.. if i put some big washer under it i wouldn't be able to properly screw the nut over the bolt anymore

if the screw was only a bit longer *sigh*

TStar · Jul 7, 2004

small update
today i drove to my mazamechs and we tried it with washers (4mm left, 4mm right).. not nealry enough..still touchin the manifold when in rear gear...

after that i found some company that is able to bend the metal exactly to my needs and but would cost 40, that's almost as much as i paid for the bar itself ...damn...

at least now i know that i would need a gap of 15mm (washers not to be used) at the place where it touches the manifold to be on the safe side... xelderx, what would your extension look like ?

Qidan · Jul 7, 2004

Have you tried leaving the stock brackets into place and bolting the strut bar brackets on top of them?
Hey, you asked for a brainstorm!

xelderx · Jul 7, 2004

TStar said:
xelderx, what would your extension look like ?

I'll try and figure something out when I get a chance. I have some ideas, but I'll need to make sure they will work in reality. I might have you an answer later today.

akhilleus · Jul 7, 2004

Thats what u get when u have a 1.6L...
jk...i am sure u can figure something out... u could always sand the bar down a bit.

TStar · Jul 7, 2004

qidan: no i didn't ... the original brackets aren't thicker than brackets i got with the strut.. this won't be enough... working with some spacers/washers doesn't seem to work out since i really need some larger space between the bar and the manifold.

akhilleus: (don't blame me.. the 2.0car wasn't avail with full leather interior here (until this very day i haven't met a single german person in real life/forums who's got the same special edition of the car that i've got))

well, the mechs already bent the bar a bit, but i believe either the strut has to be treated professionally for a proper result or xelderx has some real good idea (man, today i saw how MUCH the engines moves forward when in rear gear...).

i really looked around in the web and i wasn't able to find a SINGLE vendor who sells struts for the ZM engine install... most probably some japenese do, but i can't read a single one of their websites so i couldn't order anything

(you know,they got the 1.5 ZL with 65kw, the 1.5 ZL-DE with 81kw and 1.5 ZL-VE engine with 96kw) so i believe they would have some strut for me...

akhilleus · Jul 7, 2004

gutentag...i didnt realize u were in germany with an espec... i dont understand why u need struts? And if u do they would be the same no matter the engine.

TStar · Jul 7, 2004

well. i need the strut bar to stiffen up my ride since it was lowered just 2 days ago (and i want additional 17" rims soon)

the 2.0l FS-engine here got the very same oem strut as you do (actually the engine block looks totally same to me from the outside).. the 1.6liter is a ZM which is located in a totally different way in the compartment...

xelderx · Jul 17, 2004

Ok try this...The plate that the strutbar mounts to (black piece) has about 5mm of extra thread on the studs where it bolts to the strut tower. Then the strut bar itself has about 5mm of extra thread available where it mounts to the black piece. Just get some spacers under both mounting points and you might get close to a centimeter of rise.

Strutbar from FS-DE @ ZM .. please help

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