[Crewchief]

Well the other day I recently installed my Cusco V Brace. I did a search before trying to do this, but couldnt find anything, so I decided to do a DIY, that way people can have something to go off of. It's really quite easy, but since all I had was Japenese instructions and I dont speak japenese, this made it a little more difficult . I made a few mistakes on the way, but correct them. Hopefully everyone who reads this wont make the same mistakes I did. The pics are labled with the steps (the pic that goes with step one, will be labeled step 1, etc etc). This DIY is assuming that you already have the cusco strut bar installed (its only for the V-brace). Anyways:

Step 1: Remove all the carpet, cardboard bottom, spare tire and assembly.

NOTE 1 : THE BOLTS THAT CUCSO GIVES YOU FOR MOUNTING THE V-BRACE ARE TOO SHORT. THEY WONT BOLT TO THE NUTS. I went to Home Depot and purchased my 4 bolts that did the trick (size: 10mm - 1.5 x 60mm).
Note 1.1. :Here's a pic of the size of bolt I used. I bought 4, because when mounting the V-brace to the trunk mount, Cusco supplies you with bolts that need a hex key to tighten. I've always had bad luck with hex key bolts, becuase the strip so much easier. I avoided this problem by purchasing those bolts from home depot. These bolts cost me a dollar a piece.

Step 2: Remove your rear strut bar from the blue mounts its connected to (only the bar). Line them up with one of the V-braces. The V-braces are labeled L and R. Two washers (supplied by cusco in the hardware) need to go inbetween the V-brace mounting points & the outside of the strut bar mounting points (see pic).
Step 2.1: Once you have the washers in place, use a flat head (or something thinner than the bolt) to get everything lined up so the bolt will slide through.

Step 3: Once you have the bolt through, pinch everything together and pull the bolt out and align it with the blue mounts that were originally just holding the strut bar and re-insert the bolt. Get the nut on the other end, but dont tighten quite yet.

Continued on next post.......

[Crewchief]

Step 4: Now mount the blue trunk mount to the end of the V-braces, once again dont tighten it, its used to locate were to do the mounting and cutting.

Step 5: Put the cardboard bottom back in the trunk and underneath the cusco trunk mount. Line the trunk mount holes over the middle of the white seam and then mark around the cardboard bottom were you're going to cut it, so everything matches up. I also cut a small square around the carpet, but if you cut from the cusco floor mount to the outside back of the carpet, that will also work.

Step 6: Pull the cardboard out and mark were you"re going to drill. I used a pencil to mark where I was going to drill and that worked just fine. I did though make a mistake here. I drilled the holes to far foward the silver backing plate wouldn't match up (if you go to far aft, you'll hit the spare tire well, which will cause the same problem.). After making the holes bigger then needed (so the backing plate would match up), The backing plate bolts came right through the middle of the white seam.

Step 7: This is where I ended up drilling. REMEMBER TO DRILL MORE AFT THAN WHAT I DID. (REFER TO STEP 6 PIC ON WERE TO DRILL).
Step 7.1: Here is a pic of the underside after I drilled. Once again, drill more aft (on the seam) or the backing plate will not fit in the holes.

Continued on next post......

[Crewchief]

Step 8: After you get the holes correctly drilled, have someon hold the backing plate up through the holes.
Step 8.1: While someone is holding the plate, use liquid nails all around the outside of the bolts & in the holes so (I even used some on the bolts so that) no humidity will get in the trunk. This also helps insure that nothing is going to move.

Note 2: Here is what the bottle looks like, I also bought this from Home Depot. It's like 3 bucks and well worth it.

Step 9: Tighten down the backing plate bolts with the nuts that Cusco provides you. At this time you can place the spare tire, cardboard bottom and carpet back in the trunk

Step 10: Tighten down the other two bolts that are connected to the strut bar and your done. See it's not so hard, just have some patience.

The Review: After getting the install done, I decided to take it out for a ride. In all honesty I saw little if any of a difference in the way it handles. I felt like the back end came around croners a little smoother. Now I have the following suspension mods before the V-Brace:

STI Pink springs
Group N strut tops
Front and Rear Cusco Strut bars
Front and Rear Cobb Sway bars
Hotchkis End links
Cusco Under Carrige H-Brace
Camber Bolts (Currently F-1.8, R-1.5)

So my car already sits very stiff, so it was hard to see a difference. I'm sure it makes a difference and if somone didnt have many mods done to there car, they would see a much larger difference than I did. Over all I'm happy with it becuase it's one less suspension mod that I have to purchase now, plus it looks really cool when you open the trunk.



Worth a sticky? .

[olappa]

Could you post a review please? Do you feel a difference over a standard-mount strut bar?

[Crewchief]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[olappa]

Thanks....I missed it.

[Crewchief]

oh, lol. Nope it wasent there, but I added it after you asked.

[shftat6]

Nice write-up.

[OA5599]

it does look cool

[Bootsie]

Nice write up and setup- a lot like mine. Just wondering how you like the Cusco H braces? I hear they work well.

[esemes]

i left my carpet down......

used oem cusie bolts, too.....

[CONECRUSHER]

Nice write up and nice illustrations.

My November 2004 install here - http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...ht=cusco+brace

[1STI2NV]

very nice I'll be doing this on the weekend

i got mine used so its missing the bottom plate so I'll have to make something up
maybe use a piece of alum from work