DTMAce's Z26 project - DD usage for the time being - 6-8-12

[Money pit Beretta]

Luckymc420 had the same problem. Ace I hope you have a solid trans mount.

[3X00-Modified]

Luckymc420 had the same problem. Ace I hope you have a solid trans mount.

No such thing... the best you can do is surround it with solid urethane, no one makes a mount for our transmissions that is solid. Seeing how its a rotational mount that would be hard to do as well, I've looked into it before.

[Money pit Beretta]

Ok so it's not a solid mount. I ment the polyurethane dogbone that Isaac Hayes made and MRZ still makes.
http://mrzperformance.vstore.ca/product ... ucts_id/91

[3X00-Modified]

Still not a transmission mount

I sent Matt at MRZ an e-mail about the strut tower bars to see if I can get to the bottom of it.

[DTMAce]

Well I did test it, so far no issues, either forward or reverse, though I didn't try gunning it in reverse... lol
I don't think it will be a problem, but I can tell its there! Seems stiffer up front. Surprised actually that I can tell the difference.

[Money pit Beretta]

Wow I don't know what to call it. It bolts to the trans(lol).

Damn ACE if I knew that you wanted a STB I could have sent you a Cavy bar. I have a few of them.

[3X00-Modified]

Wow I don't know what to call it. It bolts to the trans(lol).

I guess your confused, that does not bolt to the trans. There is only ONE drivers side mount on a 4t60e setup, the dog bone is a lower passenger side engine mount.

[DTMAce]

Actually I like the look of this one. And since it seems to be fine, not going to worry that much about it. Let me know what you find out from your e-mail Jon and thanks.

[Money pit Beretta]

Wow I don't know what to call it. It bolts to the trans(lol).

I guess your confused, that does not bolt to the trans. There is only ONE drivers side mount on a 4t60e setup, the dog bone is a lower passenger side engine mount.

I put that dogbone on two years ago, must have forgot what it was connected to.

[DTMAce]

Well crap-ola. The MRZ strut mount IS rubbing on the alternator occasionally in reverse or downshifting. I have shiny spots on the fins now. Not only that, its rubbing the hood on the driver's side too, causing a marring of the nice side right by the mount. Pics later.

SO.

I guess I will have to get the correct mounts and move it more to the back. I wonder if this fits as-is on a Beretta with a different engine - non-V6 that is... lol

May be putting this one up for sale otherwise, especially if the mounts from MRZ are going to cost me a ton.

[scd88ga]

Well crap-ola. The MRZ strut mount IS rubbing on the alternator occasionally in reverse or downshifting. I have shiny spots on the fins now. Not only that, its rubbing the hood on the driver's side too, causing a marring of the nice side right by the mount. Pics later.

SO.

I guess I will have to get the correct mounts and move it more to the back. I wonder if this fits as-is on a Beretta with a different engine - non-V6 that is... lol

May be putting this one up for sale otherwise, especially if the mounts from MRZ are going to cost me a ton.

The owner of MRZ has the same bar with the same style ends on his own car. It would appear all you need to make it fit without issue is a Quad 4 and a US Body fiberglass hood! lol


That being said, want to trade for a OEM 92-94 Cavy bar?

[DTMAce]

I'm tempted. You going to Fest this year?

[3X00-Modified]

I spoke with Mat through email and he said those are the right brackets, well indirectly... He never answered my question on why his pics show the mounts using the two rear holes, and how these seem to use the same brackets as the Cobalts.

I think this is fine for a US-Body Quad 4 application but just not for a V6 stock hood setup.

Here is what he said.

Hello Jonathan,

each model of strut bar has it's own end plates since car bodies vary a lot from one platform to another. Cobalt have their own end plates and different bar as well.

yeah we can fix new stuff but we cannot gaurantee on 2nd 3rd owner fitments when product has been used. We can do the modification for a fee of course.

thanks again!

Mathieu at MRZ

________________________________________
From: jpchmura@att.net
To: redgtz@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: Beretta Strut tower bar fitment issues
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 08:17:25 -0400
Mat,
So you do use the same endplates for the Beretta as the Cobalt? Because as I noted in the pics online for a Beretta the endplates look different from what people have. And going by those Beretta pics I think they would clear a V6 without any issues, vs the end’s that resemble the cobalt setup.
I’ll let them know about your offer to modify the bar if needed so they realize that there is a fix out there free of charge when ordering new. I don’t expect you to fix a 2nd owners bar if the first owner didn’t correct the issue.

Thanks
Jonathan Chmura

From: RED GTZ [mailto:redgtz@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2012 7:33 PM
To: jpchmura@att.net
Subject: RE: Beretta Strut tower bar fitment issues


Hello Jonathan,

Thanks for checking with me about that problem, we have been aware of that situation with the V6 engine, depending on how high the engine sits, so people have the alternator fan being very close or touching. What we do in that case is that when the customer tell us about it, they send us back the end plate and we machine down the end so it clears the alternator fan properly. We take care of making the modification and shipping back for free. But of course if people does not tell us about it we acnnot help mutch

Let me know if anyone have questions or need to have the modification done they can email us directly.

Thanks for your time and have a good evening!

Mathieu at MRZ


________________________________________
From: jpchmura@att.net
To: redgtz@hotmail.com
Subject: Beretta Strut tower bar fitment issues
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:12:20 -0400


Matt,
I’ve noticed a few issues with some buyers of the Beretta front strut brace on Beretta.net. They are complaining about having to grind down the underside of it to clear the alternator on V6 applications. In looking at their posted install pictures vs. the one you have on your site it looks like the bar is right but the ends are similar if not the exact ones used in the cobalt pictures/bar you sell.

I’m trying to clear things up so that the end users laziness of not telling you about this situation will not tarnish your reputation.

Here is a recent install pic of Chris Lucy’s Z26. He got this bar when he purchased another vehicle from one of the board users, the bar came with it as a mod that hadn’t been installed yet and he opted to use it on his better condition Z26

http://art.cariboucomputers.com/beretta/94z2604.jpg

Distance from alternator fins.

http://art.cariboucomputers.com/beretta/94z2605.jpg

And this is the picture you have of the “Beretta” Bar

http://mrzperformance.vstore.ca/images/ ... a/stb1.jpg

I heard this happened to many other buyers as well and I wanted to see if it was possibly a mix up in parts, or if you changed the design and it’s fitting quad4 fine but coming really close on the V6’s and you just didn’t realize this.

Thanks for your time.

Jonathan Chmura
3x00-Modified

I asked him again in one more e-mail why the bar goes in front of the brake booster since I think it would clear more on a V6 if it followed the same path as the stock GM style J-body bar... But I did not get a reply to that.

[DTMAce]

Ah well. No worries.

Yeah sure, I could modify the end myself, that isn't an issue, but I simply wasn't even aware that there were differences, let alone a possible issue. And for the record, this bar was installed previously on the base, in fact the shinier nuts are still on the strut tower studs. But I couldn't use those anyway, since my mount setup is different than the 95 (the front location is a bolt, rather than a stud with a nut like the back two on each tower).

I could see on the bar where it had hit the alternator on the base, it already had a rubbed or ground away portion in an attempt to make it clear the fins.

SO. I plan to remove it from the Z sometime later when I have some spare moments and go back to the stock format. I will be putting this one up for sale for now. I already know I can simply build my own, and probably will, already have the steel I need here and a welder. Just going to cut me some mounts, cut a length of square tubing, notch, fit it in place, weld it, paint it, and be done with it. That way it will fit how I want it to. LOL

Hell I may even make a rear one while I'm at it, so they match.

[scd88ga]

I'm tempted. You going to Fest this year?

I plan on it! I haven't registered yet though.