I have been on a mission of late to find the best lower frame brace for my cabrio. I've looked at TSW of course, as well as the ones by Ireland Engineering and OMP, and for one reason or another, I just haven't been completely satisfied. All seem to be a compromise in one way or another. I recently discovered one made by John Mason, of Mason Engineering, (who, by the way, makes the strut tower braces for Ireland and the popular lower front brace for Minimania.) I was originally inquiring about something to compliment the lower front brace he made, because I felt that bracing the front area was just half of what is necessary. The mini flexes more from mid-ship back--very similar to the concept behind the TSW brace, so I felt a more comprehensive brace could solve the problem. John told me that he has made a few prototypes, but didn't get any call for it, so he tucked them away. He said that he could make it any way I wanted, and that it would be superior to the TSW brace, because of the compromises in the way the TSW was designed.

This thing looks SOLID, X-shaped, with 4 attachments points in the rear and 2 in the front. Its designed to go along with the front lower brace that he sells. With these two on your car, I don't think ANYTHING short of a 8.0 earthquake will make it flex. I'm impressed.

What I would like, along with any opinions and feedback, are the proper bolts needed to mount this, along with the thread pitch. I have pictures on it being made--it needs to be enamel painted of course, so I haven't received it yet. I will also post pics of it installed, (when I can figure out how to size them for NAM I will post ALL pics) along with my impressions. If all goes well, this might be the Holy Grail of frame braces.

 

I was finally able to upload some pictures and re-size them to fit NAM. This is the bar in its infancy. Very solid, and when you add that front brace...it seems pretty much invincible.

 

i would assume it could use stock hardware as it uses subframe puckup points... I know some of the other braces do, I would definitely be interested in one of these over the tsw or ie.

 

I think you would need longer bolts than stock. I also needed to know their thread pitch.

 

the TSW brace is flattened out where it mates to the sub frame, ask john if you will need longer hardware, he really should know if he made the minimania front brace. again i'm assuming since that piece is also flattened where it bolts up, the stock hardware is used.

anybody who HAS one of these braces wanna chime in?

 

Looks like overkill IMO. Adding shed loads of weight will probably outweigh any extra torsional stiffness.

 

I'm told its no heavier than the TSW.

 

with weight at the front almost 65%, a little extra in the middle shouldnt be a problem, besides what's the worst, maybe 20lbs?? not even a concern, and likely will ad huge torsional stiffness. This is similar to braces M cars get stock, also used on BMW convertibles, really the issue of effectiveness is moot.

still excited to see how this works out, however me purchasing one myself is pushed back a ways as I need a new clutch.

 

Its hollow anyway. I was told it was an insignificant amount of weight. I have the completed pictures by the way, with it mounted on a MINI, and it looks amazing. Even better than I could have wanted! I will post it ASAP.