so my zetec turbo engine finally threw a big end and blew its self to bits
the SI went rotten under the rs turbo kit, and the shell was pretty shagged,
i also had a bonnet through windscreen incident on boost
about 100 tesco car park dinks, and various rot
so i scrapped the shell, and replaced it with an xr2i 1800 running rs1800 spec goodies,

i spent a whole day stripping the SI of all its goodies,
including megasquirt ecu skyline injectors
wideband
freshly build stage 1 t3 turbo
lsd box vibratechnics mounts
and strut braces, etc etc

now to the point of my topic subject, my fiesta SI rear strut brace is about an inch to short to fit the xr2i (1800) 91
now either this xr2i i bought is completely bent or its got different camber on the rear to the si ??

can any one confirm this? and does anyone have an xr2i strut brace they want to swap for an SI strut brace?

i hope the front strut brace fits.,

cheers

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buttery biscuit boost

In theory they should be the same. Unless when they changed from mk3 to 3.5 it got narrower lol.
Either that or the xr2i has had a hard life

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She's still alive! -23/02/2017

All mk3 and mk3.5 rear strut braces are the same width

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Ok, so the chasis is bent then :/

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She's still alive! -23/02/2017

All fiesta shells are the same, apart from the mk3.5 upgrades but none were to do with track, it is possible your so was badly fucked and the xr2i is how it should be

All fiesta shells are the same, apart from the mk3.5 upgrades but none were to do with track, it is possible your so was badly fucked and the xr2i is how it should be

So if what you guys are saying is true that all mk3 shells are the same,
(the strut brace came off my mk3.5) then the Xr2i is significantly bent,
how the hell does someone bend the rear struts outwards?
guess i'll get the ratchet straps out and make the strut brace fit ahahahahaaa
it appears to have had a little shunt up the rear at some point in its life as the bumper sites very close to the rear panel, is everyone absolutely certain there wasn't any camber changes?? the car doesn't drive like its bent and doesn't have any obvious creases? maybe ford made a wonky one? and quality control let it slip,

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buttery biscuit boost

anyone in south east essex (southend on sea) with an xr2i that would like to see if my strut brace is to short

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buttery biscuit boost

If its had a shunt up there rear then theres your answer to why they are bent

Also, what make strut brace is it btw?

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it only looks like a little nudge, maybe another car rolled into it, didnt notice when i bought it,, just when i washed it,

its an omp strut brace,
i have the matching front to go with it,
didn't think they made much different when i fitted them but driving a mk3 fiesta without strut braces is like driving around in a jelly,

on closer inspection its only about 15mm out, maybe someone handbraked it into a curb at some point in the last 19 years hah

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buttery biscuit boost

Anything could have happened for it to be out slightly.

Only reason I asked what make it was, was because if it was anything other than an OMP one that goes on the strut tops (like the ones that can be bolted between the two turrets - pic below) then the brace could be the problem. But OMP ones are a perfect fit all the time so its not that.

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/2549/img1358f.jpg

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yeah i think the car is just a little out, it will just need a little tug from a ratchet strap to pull it back inline i literally just checked how far out it was now,

If i had one of those other types of rear strut braces i'd probably just get longer bolts and wang it up tight it'll soon pull its self together, =] i wonder if the front one will fit haha, that was a squeeze to make room for the inlet manifolder (the vibratecnics gearbox mounts raise the whole engine up about 20mm)

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buttery biscuit boost

A sparco brace would have been better than an omp one on the front

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Try changing your rear beam and shocks from your Si onto the XR2i, you might find it's a slight bend or kink in one of them causing it to flex the strut top outwards

to late to change those bits, the gypsies took my spares and i already scrapped the other car there's a fully poly bushed SI in a breakers somewhere with lowering springs and shocks

it looks like it had a little shunt in the rear which has straightened out the rear panel pushing the rear strut ever so slightly, i'll pull it together with a ratchet strap and when i get round to it probably get my mate to cut out the rear panel and weld a new one in

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buttery biscuit boost

i had the same problem with my rs mate, had a store bought rear brace in my red mk3.5 that fitted millimeter perfect, i then went to put it in my black rs (mk3) and the brace was about 10-15mm too long, so instead of pulling the car around i made my own adjustable one, you can see it in my rs thread mate!

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sweet are your suggesting my fez isnt bent then?
fortunately my mate lost his ratchet straps so i haven't pulled the struts in,
been focusing on converting to zetec turbo
(this time its going to be using head arp studs and conrod bolts) they are cheap when you buy them from the states )

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buttery biscuit boost

unfortunatly no it sounds like its bent like mine but i wouldnt worry about it! engine sound like fun tho

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ah well, it doesn't exactly crab down the road,
and yeah zetec turbo is the way forward,
uprating the weak parts should stop it rattling the big-end caps off =]

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buttery biscuit boost

cant beat a zetec turbo boosting its nuts off

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