I am gonna do strut bar from one peice of aluminim.

what dimensions must be?
what size betwin holes uses to attach the bar?
i know i can check on my MCS 03' but
i need to be sure, plz help with dimentions.

what if i do smaller than it is and put with force on the car?

 

It will be pretty easy to measure the distance between the innermost strut bolt on the passenger side and the innermost strut bolt on the passenger side, but that's not going to do you any good unless your strut brace is just going to go between those two bolts (which wouldn't be very strong).

Perhaps if you give us a drawing of what the ends of your brace will look like where they will attach to the strut towers, we can help more with the dimensions.

 

this bolts:

 

Wow you have some serious mushrooming. I would think about buying the m7 Strut tower bar...it has anti mushrooming plates that should pull this back down to where it was. But hey you need to do something quick.

 

I thought you said you were going to do it yourself?

 

Has anyone else noticed how much mushrooming this guy has on his strut towers?

 

I'll do it myself,but plz give me dimensions,
need to be sure that I do not make a mistake.

 

here...

 

I do not have dimensions, but you really should cough up the $199.00 for the m7 bar it will fix these horribly mushroomed towers.

 

I don't think that's his tower. I think that's a pic of someone elses, showing an example of extreme mushrooming. That pix been floating around for a while.

 

Yes, the MINI belongs to Fatherdeth
see
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=102789
See posts #38 and #43.
He bought the MINI that way (stock suspension) and had the damage pounded flat then installed M7 plates and tower strut bar.

lartexho is international, maybe shipping or other rules limits strut bar availability. Used bars for sale on NAM might be an option, ebay as well.
Maybe a custom design is planned.

I would guess that the measurements would be slightly different for first and second generation MINIs, slightly different for cabrios vs hardtops and maybe different for MC vs MCS.

So do you want measurements for 2003 MCS? Which airbox are you using?

Many tower strut bars will not clear aftermarket cold air intakes in the MCS or the battery box in older base Coopers. These upgrades will need to be modified or notched to accept the bar or the bar needs to be designed flatter or taller to clear the parts underneath.

 

For additional pictures see
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=17548

These measurements are made from my BMP strut bar on a 2003 MCS with no mushrooming.


I measured from the bottom side. The bar itself rises a bit to clear the engine so these are point to point distances from the bolt holes- 3 on each side.

Let's give each hole a number and a letter. D for driver's side and P for passenger side. 1 for holes closest to the front bumper, 2 for the holes closest to the outer sides and firewall and 3 for the inner holes along the firewall.

From the front bumper the hole numbers look like:

2P------3P------------------------------3D------2D

-----1P-------------------------------------1D-----

Distances from hole centers

1P to 2P = 1D to 2D 5 and 7/8"
1P to 3P = 1D to 3D 5 and 13/16"
2P to 3P = 2D to 3D 4 and 7/16"
1P to 3D = 1D to 3P 43 and 13/16"
1P to 1D 47 and 1/8"
3P to 3D 40 and 1/16"
2P to 2D 48 and 5/8"

Hope this helps.
If you are using billet aluminum and need to determine the outer block size this might help.

The outer dimensions (max length) at the tower mounting plates
is 51 and 1/8" long and 7 and 1/4" wide. (This is beyond the mounting holes and barely fits the strut tower tops).



Same bar installed in an MC (not MCS) but you can see how it fits.
Refer to the other treads for more design ideas.
Like
https://www.northamericanmotoring.com...ad.php?t=29120
https://www.northamericanmotoring.com...ad.php?t=10151
__________________

 

thats right it's not my MCS on the picture,
and I'am located in Russia, so hard to find new strut bar.
but easy to order it at local factory (they repairing aircrafts), they can do it from one piece aluminium, but need right dimetions
i got stock MCS 03', bought from USA last year.

 

If you are going to custom build a strut bar, wouldn't it be best if you measure your own car? A measurement of another car should be within a range of tolerance but it won't be the exact dimensions of your car.

 

thanks, I will use it!

 

Yes, You have the idea. I remeasured in mm and for accuracy.
Distances from hole centers in mm.

1P to 2P = 1D to 2D 149
1P to 3P = 1D to 3D 147 (-0.5mm from earlier)
2P to 3P = 2D to 3D 113
1P to 3D = 1114
1P to 1D 1197
3P to 3D 1018 (+ 0.5mm from earlier)
2P to 2D 1234 (-1.0mm from earlier)

Each hole is 10mm in diameter

Ok, it gets more complicated.

The bar itself is NOT flat it has to be raised up from the plane of the tower struts to clear the engine (ECU/airbox) and it needs to be flat enough to fit under the bonnet so I will give you clearances of the bottom edge of the bar and 30 cms from holes "3P" and "3D" towards the middle of the bar- it's not symmetric because the airbox is on the drivers side and needs much more clearance than on the passenger side.

Driver's side 30cm from 3D along bar
Highest point (closest to lining of bonnet) 49mm facing the firewall
Lowest point (closest to engine) 13mm facing the front bumper
Lowest point (closest to engine) 23mm facing the firewall

Passengers side 30 cm from 3P along bar
Highest point (closest to lining of bonnet) 46mm facing the firewall
Lowest point (closest to engine) 10mm facing the front bumper
Lowest point (closest to engine) 20mm facing the firewall


As you can see the bar itself is not flat going from the front bumper towards the firewall. Since the bonnet is lower at the front and slopes higher to the windshield there is more clearance as you get farther back so the bar I have is built for that extra space. If your bar is designed flat you will have to determine how high it will be but it cannot be flat between the two strut towers, there is not clearance if you do that.

I really don't think that a single piece of aluminum is going to work that well. If you look at the bar designs they all have two or three major parts that bolt together like a plate on each side and bar in the center. Many bars are thin and flat but they don't have to be- see the Dinan Bar.

Copying a design might be worth a look so study the pictures in the links I posted.

How come you can't do the measurements yourself or are your cross checking my data with yours? I am not measuring my car but the bar that fits on my car. I have it off right now for polishing.

Good luck.

I still think it's easier to find a design you like, find a buyer, have it send it to you in Russia. Unless it will be caught up in customs coming from the west. Or you pay big tax on it, or you get arrested for having bling in your engine bay but you can always say it came with your "USA MINI".

 

Thanks for clearing up the mushrooming. I thought that was his. My fault.

 

A second reason for construction from more than one piece is that you need to make the bar adjustable in length, both so it fits as you car changes over time, and (much more important) so you can pre-load the bar by adjusting the length in place.

 

If you have a MINI just measure it. If I measure for you & give you the dimensions, what If I make a mistake? Best measure it your yourself just to be sure.

 

See posts #12 and #16, the dimensions are already posted in inches or mm.

lartexho,

Let us know what the final product looks like and how it turned out with pictures.

 

its not done yet, i will use all information i got and will post pictures.

 

lartexho; may I suggest first building a pattern, out of wood, to fit your car and of your design. That the wood pattern to the aircraft fab'or and have them work from your pattern. Make at least one end adjustable, as OldRick said, "so you can pre-load the bar by adjusting the length in place."
Good luck. Fun project. If you look at my gallery, there is a photo of my brace I build.
JS

 

looks like you have some (alot) of mushrooming going on. Your gonna want to fix that!!

 

sorry didnt read all the post before posting

 

Thats ok I made the same mistake.