Fitting a Whiteline strut brace

[NitroDann]

Any time.

Dann

[deviant]

Talked to MX5 Mania this arvo...they also said the later versions of the Whiteline were not a good fit for the NB. Where to now....Cusco?

Factory NB8B brace would be my choice.

[jackmack]

Did you undo them or just look at them?

Checked with MX5+. They suggested the engine cannot be mounted too high as there is only one position the engine can be fitted correctly. Also if the engine was fitted too high then other components would not line up correctly...like the gearbox etc, would they not?

This is incorrect the engine mounts each (there are 2) have a single 10mm bolt protruding from them that fit into the chassis, however on that side of the car the bolt doesnt go into a hole it goes into a slot, the hole is slotted around 2 inches long to assist in getting the mounts in because its very difficult to manhandle the entire drivetrain and get 2 bolts into 2 holes when the bolts to no line up with the holes until the engine is fully lowered.

Pic related



red is the engine block, the black squares show how the mounts are positioned with the blue line being the bolts, the pink is the subframe.
Because the mounts are angled you can see that the tip of the bolts are much wider than the base, where it will eventually be touching the subframe when bolted together.
As a result one side is slotted, if the engine mounts bolts are tightened with the engine still supported the mount will be bolted into a position halfway up the slot and as a result that side of the engine will be higher than factory.

Trust me Ive had engine out of these dozens of times and have the exact same issue with a racecar and a whiteline brace.

This next picture shows the front subframe as viewed from the position a driver would sit, you can clearly see the 2 holes for the engine mounts on the sloped surfaces and very clear is that the inlet manifold side is slotted. on the left there is a central hole with a hole above and below to locate lugs on the mounts, on the right you can see the bottom hole for the bottom lug and a large vertical slot to aide engine installation.



Dann

Hi Dann,

Today we checked the engine mounts. They looked solidly in the correct place. It would appear that the engine has never been out. To make sure we loosened the mounts and made sure they where at the base of the slot on the RHS. I will send the brace back as they have agreed to refund the monies. Now to search for another brace.
Thanks Dann for your and advice...its all a learning curve for me.

Cheers

[NitroDann]

It's a shame it wasn't as simple as that.

Hope you learned along the way.

Silly white line..

Dann

[KevGoat]

The only fitment issue I've seen is if the car has Aircon fitted, on some cars the a/c hardlines run right near the strut tops.

Noticed that happening when I tried to fit the brace from my NA in to my NB8A, the Aircon line was in the way of the strut brace bracket.

Would the OEM braces fit if those lines are that close to the strut top? Not sure I want one, but would be interested to know just in case ...

[Steampunk]

Try spacing up the mounting plates?
From memory, NB strut top bolts are fairly long so should have length to spare?

[KevGoat]

Try spacing up the mounting plates?
From memory, NB strut top bolts are fairly long so should have length to spare?

Can't recall how much it fowled, but that could work. Yeah the NB strut bolts are longer than my NA's.

Not that worried though, don't think I'll bother fitting one to this car ... yet

[Hjt]

I have a flat black mazdaspeed 3 point that I would sell at the correct price.