Timing belt cover hitting strut bar ?

[Wildman95GS-T]

I recently had to replace my timing belt cover and got one off of a 1g engine so it was silver, i painted it black last week and have been driving the car back and forth to work, no drag racing or very hard acceleration. I was cleaning the air filter today and noticed that a chunk of paint was missing on the cover next to the strut bar. The engine would have had to roll 1/2 to 3/4 inch to contact the strut bar, is this normal ? I suspected that one of the roll stops were broken, i had replaced both and the front engine mount a little over a year ago. I removed the front roll stop and it was like new, the rear is so hard to remove i wanted to ask first before undertaking removal of it. I was a little confused also because when i reved the engine the motor rolled forward and not back, what could my problem be

 

[RotaryRyan]

It's normal for the engine to move that much. Are you sure you have the strut bar installed the right way?

 

[DGajre777]

Post a pic, it is probably installed incorrectly.

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

Here is one, i hope you can see it, had to resize 50 times to upload

 

[diablos991]

I can't really tell from the picture, but the low section should be on the battery side of your engine bay.

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

Here is one more

 

[steve-o_95_GST]

I was wondering the samething, I just noticed mine was doing the same thing yesterday and I suspected a roll stop but I havent time to look yet. Your strut bar is installed right as is mine, I was just wondering if it is normal for the engine to move that much to contact the strut bar. Im considering a set of prothane mounts to put in to try to stop that as I cant be sure how hard it hits the bar.

 

[diablos991]

I have the same strut bar, and mine shows no signs of rubbing or hitting. I will second that it is installed correctly though.

 

[Wildman95GS-T]

Thanks for replying to my thread, i had the inserts in my previous 95 gs-t, too much vibration for me.

 

[keslerkaiyu]

What brand do you guys have that fit the best? Mine rub against the timing cover. OH yes, under $100 would be a bonus. Thanks.

 

[crimsondragon]

What brand strut bar are you using? I got the ebay ones on my car. With proper adjustment, it clears both my cover and battery.

 

[keslerkaiyu]

Mine is also from Ebay. It has the logo Forza on it.

 

[Street_Killer]

Do you have it turned the right way? It should come with a hump on one side to clear the cover.

 

[keslerkaiyu]

Do you have it turned the right way? It should come with a hump on one side to clear the cover.

There is no notch, it's just a straight bar. As it sit, it does clear the timing cover. But I can see visible scratches on the cover now. I'm guessing that it's from the movement of the engine during driving.

 

[No_Skillz]

I would be more worried about the possibility of the bar shorting out on your battery terminal. Amongst other obvious problems, this has been known to cause fires. Make sure you have some thick insulation material between the two.

If you're willing to put in a little work, $100 will buy you a set of solid prothane motor mounts, which is a good upgrade for the future and will stop your motor from moving around.

 

[crimsondragon]

If he shops around on ebay and buys them off there, he'll have enough cash left over for a 12 pack. He'll need it for the frustration.

 

[No_Skillz]

When I said "put in a little work" what I meant was "prepare to hate the engineers of your car." But that really shouldn't scare you off if you want to do any sort of upgrade more than a strut bar in the future.

Another option is just to get rid of the bar altogether. It doesn't really do anything unless it's triangulated.

 

[crimsondragon]

Did you do yours yourself? I plan on fitting some prothanes in once I finish the other mods. A little help could go a long way

 

[No_Skillz]

PM/IM me.

 

[DGajre777]

I have the APR bar. It fits fine but is a little on the expensive side though. Here is a review -
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223859

 

[keslerkaiyu]

Yes, that definitely clears the timing cover. Thanks for everyone's suggestions.