[QUOTE]Originally posted by ralper
[B]I'm pretty much sold.

 

10 minutes by yourself means about 2 1/2 hours with my kids helping. Excellent. A great project for us.

Let me know when it's available

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ralper
[B]

10 minutes by yourself means about 2 1/2 hours with my kids helping.

 

I believe that was only someone's opinion, that the x-brace would break away (if it is the aluminum type), when the engine was pushed back. I, however totally disagree with that.

The only OEM piece blocking the engine from going under the car in a severe frontal impact, is the engine mount stiffener, which is a thin-walled tube construction. The engine mount stiffener is meant to collapse.

I believe that any additional structure added to this area will reduce the car's crash effectiveness, especially the addition of a huge, heavy piece of solid aluminum, which is designed for strength, not for breaking away.

-Pete

 

Look at how much of the engine is above the brace. Not much. The engine doesn't go straight down in the event of a collision. It's go back and down at an angle. I don't believe the angle is so severe that the brace would be a problem. Now, if you were putting a brace towards the back of the engine it may be a problem, but your pictures illustrate how much of the engine is above the brace and it's not enough to worry me at all.

Also, look at the huge crush zone at the front of this car. There's a good 2-1/2 to 3 feet of car before you even get to the engine. It would take a tremendous impact to even crush the car back to the engine and one even more ridiculous to then move the engine any significant amount.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by wickerbill
[B]Look at how much of the engine is above the brace.

 

I can't imagine that the engine mounts or whatever is used can translate that ridiculous amount of energy from a collision that wants to push the engine back and make it go straight down. It doesn't make sense at all. Even if the engine is already up against the firewall, that doesn't mean it can't hit the firewall as it's going down. The aim of the engine going down is to keep it from intruding on the passengers in the cabin. It doesn't need to go down that much to accomplish that.

 

AS far as the install. Unless tooling changes have been made, it is a very very tight fit and you need alot of patience to get all the bolts threaded w/o any crossthreading. definitely a job best done w/o the kids arround. This has been mentioned by many digrappa owners in the past besides me.

 

This issue has been addressed by the new design, fittment should be much easier. Rick just posted a thread on the release of this new design. https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...threadid=121514

 

I had the same problem the first time I tried to install it. I believe I cross-threaded one of the holes, but I was still able to torque down the bolts.

This time I was very careful, and threaded all of the bolts in together, just a little at a time. No problems.

I'm glad this issue has been addressed.

The first time, it scared the crap out of me!

-Pete