strut bars?? or something??

[Foreman72]

so i'm beginning to see quite a few engine bays with reinforcement bars or strut bars as they are called now a days

for example...

...wondering what they were called, what the option was and if they'e be something worth looking into adding...thanks

[73ChargerSE]

Should have come factory on third gens? Do you have a bolt in the middle of your firewall?  If so, then they're missing

Paul

[SG1022]

Should have come factory on third gens? Do you have a bolt in the middle of your firewall?  If so, then they're missing

Paul

Yep, mine came with em

[Foreman72]

was it just with BBs

[68X426]

Cool, something else to get chromed. 

[SG1022]

was it just with BBs

Mines a 318

[mikesbbody]

Pretty sure they were a 72 and up thing (nacho will know for sure) I have never seen them on a 71 my 72 has them.

[Charger440RDN]

They had those bars under the hood of Cadillac's for years, here is a picture of the engine bay of a 69 Cadillac coupe deville with a 375 hp 472ci engine

[bull]

It's not enough of a pain to adjust the distributor on a 318 so they put those there to make it worse.

[Charger440RDN]

It's not enough of a pain to adjust the distributor on a 318 so they put those there to make it worse.

One of the unique things about this 472 caddy engine is they put the distributor on the front of the engine, just like a Mopar. Makes it a lot easier to get to. GM cars normally have the distributor back by the firewall which is a PITA.

[b5blue]

Maybe because the "isolated" K frame change?   

[bull]

It's not enough of a pain to adjust the distributor on a 318 so they put those there to make it worse.

One of the unique things about this 472 caddy engine is they put the distributor on the front of the engine, just like a Mopar. Makes it a lot easier to get to. GM cars normally have the distributor back by the firewall which is a PITA.

The 318 distributors are on the back, 383 and 440 are on the front.

[SG1022]

It's not enough of a pain to adjust the distributor on a 318 so they put those there to make it worse.

One of the unique things about this 472 caddy engine is they put the distributor on the front of the engine, just like a Mopar. Makes it a lot easier to get to. GM cars normally have the distributor back by the firewall which is a PITA.

The 318 distributors are on the back, 383 and 440 are on the front.

I was gonna say.... 

[Charger440RDN]

It's not enough of a pain to adjust the distributor on a 318 so they put those there to make it worse.

One of the unique things about this 472 caddy engine is they put the distributor on the front of the engine, just like a Mopar. Makes it a lot easier to get to. GM cars normally have the distributor back by the firewall which is a PITA.

The 318 distributors are on the back, 383 and 440 are on the front.

That's another reason why I hate the 318   

[Foreman72]

was it just with BBs

Mines a 318

stupid...i shoulda seen that...well mine certainly doesn't have them...maybe it did, but i can't imagine why they would of gotten removed and not put back on

do they actually do anything for the front end? i mean i know what they do but do they actually do it

[Paladin]

Forearm,

     The reinforcement bars came on the isolated K frame (1973-1978) Chargers.  I have never seen a 1971-'72 example with them in stock form.  I pulled some off a 1979 Magnum GT and put them on my '71 R/T.  I can not tell that much difference, so I am going to fabricate a homemade "Monte Carlo export" brace (ala Shelby GT-350) to support the opposite fenders.

Paladin

[Jon Smith]

my 72 rallye has them

[Foreman72]

...well it appears we're at an impasse...

[HPP]

They are primarily for fender stability and panel gap alignment retention. They are not a major structural support by any means, but they may help reduce some vibrations in the fender/hood area. Even monte-carlo bars are of some dubious assistance in a mopar since no major suspension loads are directly transferred to the inner fenders, unless you have a magnum-force coil over conversion. The Fords those originated on had front suspension springs set on the upper control arm feeding directly to the inner fender, so they despertely needed them. The place mopars need the most help; in the radiator core support

[motorcitydak]

Im going to use the XV motorsports B Body stiffener set on my '68 which includes a beefier version of that strut brace among other things. They say it makes the platform more rigid and have done the research to prove it.
http://www.xvmotorsports.com/products/detail/index.cfm?nPID=18&cid=105&cdesc=Chassis%20Stiffening

[NHCharger]

but i can't imagine why they would of gotten removed and not put back on

These bars are just something else to remove to work on the engine. I'm sure there are a lot of lazy mechanics who removed the bars for better engine access and never put them back on.
When I had my front end aligned on my van the mechanic at Sullivan Tire removed some splash guards and tossed them.

I've never seen a 71 with these bars, some 72's so maybe a mid year thing.

[Foreman72]

but i can't imagine why they would of gotten removed and not put back on

These bars are just something else to remove to work on the engine. I'm sure there are a lot of lazy mechanics who removed the bars for better engine access and never put them back on.
When I had my front end aligned on my van the mechanic at Sullivan Tire removed some splash guards and tossed them.

I've never seen a 71 with these bars, some 72's so maybe a mid year thing.

must be the 2nd half then...cuz i have a feb car...hm...interesting

[jaak]

My '73 Rallye has them (not on right now), but the '72 I sold last year didn't have them.

Jason

[CDN72SE]

My '72 SE 318 (build date 7-71) has them.

[HPP]

must be the 2nd half then...cuz i have a feb car...hm...interesting

Do you have the threaded hole in the firewall for them?

[Foreman72]

wouldn't be able to tell you...the car is miles away in massachusets...i'm in PA right now for school