128 strut tower brace wanted
- Thread starter karhawk
- Start date
Jeff Stich
True Classic
Yup, my 128 Wagon has had Courtney's "v.2" prototype strut brace in it for a few years now. :love: :heart: :love:
Courtney's page about it:
http://www.mirafiori.com/~courtney/128/tech/strutbrace2.html
Though Courtney's notes state that the strut brace won't fit with a stock 128 air cleaner unit in place (only a "sport" filter like in my photo above & in Court's photos), I found that a slightly-modified stock air cleaner will fit. Though I liked the look of the chrome sport filter unit, I found that its position at the top/rear of the engine bay tended to suck in too much hot/stale air in hot weather (Summer/Fall where I live is often 100°-115°, sometime for weeks at a time). I decided to try out a stock 128 a/f housing, which is sealed & has a long intake tube to draw fresh/cool air from a port in the front panel of the car.
The main source of interference with the strut brace is the "Winter" warm-air intake tube at the back of the 128 air cleaner (the part that angles 90° down towards the exhaust manifold). I removed this tube from the air cleaner assembly by drilling out the spotwelds, then shaped a thin cover plate (for the hole where the tube was) out of aluminum & riveted it into place. A little black paint, & it's hardly noticeable and now the stock a/f unit juuuust fits perfectly in there without hitting the strut brace.
