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So I finally got around to doing this the night before and took lots of pic (i'll upload them when I have a chance)...wish I reread this thread more closely....If I had to do it agian it'll take about ten minutes with no knuckles scraped...
The key here folks, and listen closely is to completely forget about the third bolt, as 4door Z mentioned above you can get two out of three but the third one wont line up..the machining of the brace is off by just enough to make it impossible....if you look at Zero099's picture closely looks like his installer skipped the middle bolt too... I tried all three bolt holes in different combos and it was always two out of the three would work and the third wouldn't so I know its not the threads on the car...the machining is off on the part...
the magnet and the long reach and the painters tape aren't really necessary...
also the "min 6" extension" in the isntructions wouldnt work for me, I used a 4" wobble extension for the outer bolt and a regular allen key for the bolt closest to the MC (although I had a ball end I didnt use it)....
the reasons I used these tools and why it was so fast to do everything (first two bolts and brace in in 10mins, 1.5 hours on third bolt) is i snaked my hand under the MC from the fender side so my fingers were facing the brace...and lined up the brace and hand tightened the first two bolts...then holding a regular allen key straight on (with my hand still snaked under) I very very slowly turned the bolt closest to the MC. for the outer bolt I used a 4" wobble extension on a 5mm extended hex ball socket (but I'm pretty sure the hex ball wasn't needed cause it lined up fine with the shorter extension)
one benefit of snaking your hand under is that if you drop stuff in there you can reach it...
one major con of snaking your hand under and tightening that bolt closest to the MC is that your wrist is at such an extreme angle it is still hurting me now...I really should have shown my wife what i was doing and asked her to do the tightening...she would have been at a much less extreme angle with her much slimmer arm
anyhoo...build quality of the brace is great but the machining is off IMO enough to make it frustrating, and I don't know why they wouldn't use a hex headed bolt or at least give the option cause I feel like a hex headed bold would require almost identical tools (just a different socket) but would allow you to also tighten the bolt from the top down with a small wrench....if feel like this was poor choice
as for using it somone mentioned metal fatigue over the years and my G is 12 years old now...when I step on the brake to hit the push start I can see the MC flex, thats now pretty much gone and in driving during my 2 hours of stop and go traffic commuting it has given me a leg cramp tow days in a row now...I think i might have to adjust my seating position to compensate for this....I've assuming these will benefit in more aggressive/track driving, but I haven't done any yet so thats TBD
lol, to the benefit of the next guy that you added that too...F that third bolt!
I though it would be much worse but I wore 8mil nitrile gloves and didn't even get a tear....my arm is much more scrapped up from chaning a an 02 sensor a few weeks ago....but my wrist ....its like carpel tunnel
I'm less than impressed with Z1. I wouldn't order anything else from them between this and 4DRZs "400 HP" kit debacle. Plenty of other vendors to support.....
I'm less than impressed with Z1. I wouldn't order anything else from them between this and 4DRZs "400 HP" kit debacle. Plenty of other vendors to support.....
I'm a bit disappointed with the fitment on this too and I ordered some silicone hoses from them too which needed a lot of trimming...(not as good as the CZP ones I ordered), but I'm still prepared to support them if only because they come up with products that I cant get elsewhere or for much less than from other sources, to the point where I wouldn't buy them at all if Z1 wan't an option..I will be tempering my expectations in the future though...
I still have the rear sub frame collars on my workbench to get to lol....
Z1 is ok, but can really suck for certain things. If you call there, just ask for Spencer or Jon. Most of the other guys don't know much technical information, including the owner.
The Z1 400hp kit would have been ok if I was at their store for a tune or took it somewhere to do the tune, but getting in touch with Jon to try to do a remote tune is an awful experience. All of their parts have been good so far except for that damn 3rd bolt hole on the MC brace.
Initial impressions:
Only drove it for a few miles for some McDonald's but the pedal is definitely firmer. It's not night and day but there is a difference and the pedal is not as mushy. I found myself coming to a stop a bit quicker than normal. You almost have to readjust to the new pedal feel but I like it. And yeah screw the middle bolt, I used the outside two. A little tip, use some spray adhesive like Gorilla glue to keep the bolt secure to the socket/bit so you don't go mad dropping it 100 times lol. It helped big time.
