I just fitted a strut tower brace onto my 04 S. But when I close the hood, it looks the like brace is hitting the hoodliner. Its causing the back edge (nearest the windshield) to not quite be flush with the rest of the car. Should I give it a week or so to work its way into the headliner, or should I be worried?

 

I've made a few strut braces and while the underhood clearance is tight, that is a problem that can be avoided.


Is it possible you bolted it together incorrectly? do you hvae some sort of camber plate that might be raisng the brace?

what brace is it? pics?

 

Assuming that the inner bonnet liner is the same for 04 and 03 MCS I would think that there should be only minimal touching of a strut brace to the liner.

I have an 03 MCS with BMP aluminum strut tower brace and there is an indention in the bonnet liner and some rubbing but nothing major after about 12 months. One thing to watch for is the bolt to preload the bar is adjustable and it might be possible that when tightening it you could slightly raise the bar a tad- just make sure it is as low as possible and still providing for some preload on the bar itself.

 

What brand is the brace? I tried to install a OMP brace yesterday with the same problem. I removed the liner to check the clearance, and the brace still came in contact with the hood! Returning it tomorrow.
Good Luck,
Jim Williams

 

The 04 underhood liner is somewhat thicker than the 02 and 03. I remember reading about one of the companies having to redo their brace to make the clearance. Which brand do you have?

 

I've got the BMP brace on my 04 and it hit just a little at first. it pushed up the bonnet in the back just a little but now that it's been on the car for a while it's now sitting fine.