Strut bars

[socal1200r]

Got these three pieces for a 1994 Mercury Capri turbo I'm working on:



The top piece is the front lower strut bar, middle is the rear lower, and the bottom piece is the rear upper. Quality pieces, shipped quick, well packaged, etc. I installed the rear upper piece, and it took more time for me to trim the carpet than to install it. Really made a difference in how that little convertible drove.

So the SVX content is based on these pieces for the Capri, I'm going to take some measurements and see if they have pieces that might fit the SVX. These parts weren't specifically made for the Capri, but for a Mazda 323 BF. I'm thinking once I have some measurements, if they have other pieces with those same measurements, they should work on the SVX.

If I go down this path, I'll post any results, good or bad...

[socal1200r]

Got the front and rear lower bars installed today on the Capri. I'd be real curious to see if this company has anything similar that would work on the SVX. I'll have to spend some time under the car, seeing if there are even similar mounting points, and if so, getting some measurements and go from there.

This is the rear lower bar. Shop had to use washers, because the nut wasn't big enough to cover the slots in the mounting cups:



This is the front bar. Shop said it took two of them to get BOTH bolts in, so it was a tight fit, but they got it done:



Believe it or not, with having front AND rear upper AND lower strut bars, the Capri might actually be too stiff now for a daily driver. Seems to be very sensitive to even the slightest irregularities in road surfaces, more twitchy than just having the front and rear upper STBs. May need to experiment and remove the front lower bar, and see how it feels on the road. But it seems to be about as tight and quiet as the SVX is now, which is a big improvement for such a small convertible.

[SVXRide]

Nice to see that the pieces are working on your Capri.

Couple of things:

1. Check out the way the SVX's strut housings are basically built into the firewall. Subaru build the SVX like a boat. There is NO NEED for an upper strut bar.

2. If you check under the SVX, you'll see that it already has a lower rear bar. Subaru called is a "sports bar"

3. Could the SVX benefit from a lower front bar? Uncertain. I can only say that over 15 years of autocrossing SVXi with varying levels of suspension modifications, I haven't seen any evidence of flex that such a bar would address.

Cheers
Bill

[socal1200r]

Originally Posted by SVXRide

Nice to see that the pieces are working on your Capri.

Couple of things:

1. Check out the way the SVX's strut housings are basically built into the firewall. Subaru build the SVX like a boat. There is NO NEED for an upper strut bar.

2. If you check under the SVX, you'll see that it already has a lower rear bar. Subaru called is a "sports bar"

3. Could the SVX benefit from a lower front bar? Uncertain. I can only say that over 15 years of autocrossing SVXi with varying levels of suspension modifications, I haven't seen any evidence of flex that such a bar would address.

Cheers
Bill

Bill

Thanks for the info, appreciate it! I really need to spend some time under the car, that's for sure! The car had a Stebro exhaust when I bought it, and I took it to a muffler shop the other day to have them remove the small resonator that's right before the muffler. While the car was up on the rack, I took a quick glance at the rear suspension, and thought I saw two hard points where a rear lower bar could go. But based on your comment about the "sports bar", I'm going to have to take another look. It's not a daily driver, stays covered in the garage, only comes out on dry, sunny days, gets driven maybe one or two days a week. So if the car doesn't really NEED these add'l braces, other than for bling factor, I'll put that money into the SVX maintenance fund!