Topic: Thumbs Down Scott Drake C5ZZ-16A052-E concours export brace

[7Lscjracer]

Dubious fitment.
Two inches too wide at the towers and 1 inch too long at the firewall.
Not as heavy as original Ford either, not that it matters since it has no hope of fitting.
Save your money, buy original Ford NOS or used.
Yes you will spend more, but you'll still be saving.
Install attempt was by a renowned frame and alignment shop that has a vintage Mustang enthusiast/tradesman in-house.
The 66 convertible has never been crashed, has original sheetmetal, and is on spec with regards to unibody, got everything checked out.

[jwc66k]

Question one, did you contact the source you got the brace from?
Question two, did you contact Scott Drake?
Jim

[ruppstang]

Scott Drake was at the Reno NV. MCA national show and talking with him he is very interested in hearing about problem such as yours. They can't fix it if they do not know.

[7Lscjracer]

I've emailed the seller but have yet to hear back.
I'm not looking to return the brace for a refund, the cost of international shipping and the time and trouble doesn't make it worthwhile to me.
I'm just hoping to save others a little bit of money and alot of time and trouble.
Funny this hasn't come up before, perhaps this "concours" edition is fairly new.
It's common knowledge the cheaper braces that have been around for along time don't fit.
They're still for sale everywhere though, so I have little faith anything is going to change.
I'll email somebody at Drake too and see where it goes anyway.

[krelboyne]

Our company has sold 161 of those premium Scott Drake braces to date, with zero returns.

We recently installed one on a 1967 and had to use a port-a-power to spread the shock towers. We had jacked the car up over night with a jack stand under the cross member. That relaxed all but 3/4 of an inch that was fixed with the port-a-power.
It is common for the shock towers to sag over time, especially the non-reinforced ones.

I would verify some key body measurements on your front substructure. They can be found in the body section of the shop manual.

Of course, the hood to fender gaps will increase after the installation.

[7Lscjracer]

The frame and alignment shop checked out the car to ensure it was to spec.
The brace would have gone on after bending it in if it wasn't an inch too long at the firewall.
I have to get around to pulling the Ford original off the 69 and checking it on the 66 to put this to rest.
The car is stashed away underneath a pile of stuff, so I may take the easy route and just buy another real Ford brace.

[JKWilson]

Speaking from firsthand experience, I was very pleased with the quality of the one I bought (Scott Drake concours version). I had no fitment issues on my '66 coupe. It is indeed tight and not a "drop in" part, but I had to do nothing more than shove on it to get it seated the last inch from the top of the shock towers (no jacking required!). As recommended already, contact SD. While the vendor may be able to address an exchange or refund, Drake wants to know about quality issues. I met with several at the 45th anniversary show and they're a really receptive group of folks to customer input/feedback.

[Bob Gaines]

The frame and alignment shop checked out the car to ensure it was to spec.
The brace would have gone on after bending it in if it wasn't an inch too long at the firewall.
I have to get around to pulling the Ford original off the 69 and checking it on the 66 to put this to rest.
The car is stashed away underneath a pile of stuff, so I may take the easy route and just buy another real Ford brace.

Of course the bolt pattern will be different between the 67-70 vs a 65/66.Factory installed braces anyways.  Many times I have had to raise up the car by balancing it on the front bolted crossmember to get the brace to line up. Others just drop in. I am not disputing the possibility that you have a defective part but keep in mind that things my line up and be in spec on the bottom side but be out of spec on the top side where the brace bolts on .Keep us posted on what you find out.

[cobrajetchris]

The unibody/frame measurements in the shop manual are for the lower structure only. I have never seen any published upper body measurements. The best thing to do is take measurements off another vehicle at several different points and compare to your car. If you can find one like your car with a export brace installed that would be the best comparison as the towers do sag over time as previously mentioned. If your car is together how does the hood to fender gaps look? are they very tight? if so that is an indication of shock tower sag. FORD knew this was a weak spot from the beginning as that's why the export cars received them due to transport issues. one of my cars I had on the rotisserie with no drive train or sheet metal, I installed the N.O.S export brace and it dropped right in with no problem. When I installed all the suspension and drivetrain and the car was sitting on all four wheels it did not fit. I had to relax the suspension and it bolted up with little struggle. I never use an aftermarket export brace but since several others have claimed they had good luck with them you may want to double check the car to verify it is in fact a bad part.

[Brian Conway]

     I have some measurements if you would like to do some checking.  Measurements are from my pretty much stock 65 car.  The export brace was given to me by a fella that assured me he got it from the local Ford service dept. sometime in the last century.

     Pic. 1  Firewall to center line shock tower bolt 16 & 3/4" Left Side.  The Right side 16 & 5/8"
     Pic. 2  From fender apron to fender apron. Measured just forward of the shock tower and over the export Brace 40".  Other measurement along this same
               line from apron edge to edge are Left to Right;  3" shock tower cap center, 20" center of carb air cleaner post and 36 3/4" to shock tower center.
     Pic. 3  Firewall to center of carb air cleaner post.  14 & 1/8".   

              I forget to include that the firewall portion of this export brace is 4" front to back, at the center, and the bolt heads are 1 & 1/4" centers from the cowl face.       Brian.                                       

[jwc66k]

Here are some measurements of my 66 Mustang's Export Brace. This is a NOS Ford brace I bought from a Ford dealer about 10 years ago. It fits without lifting the front end or using force to install. There is also a straight aftermarket Monte Carlo Bar installed to complete the bracing. It's fit is tight.
Jim 

[livetoride60]

I too used the 40" measurement from inner fender to inner fender shown in picture #2 in post above.  My 66 coupe had sagged and was exactly 39" at this spot when I started.  Raising the car up by the cross brace under the engine gained 1/2 inch.  The other 1/2 inch I got with some wood blocks and careful coercion.  I had an aftermarket export brace, not Scott Drake, but got it to fit fine.  The measurement was exactly 40" afterwards.

Pardon the rat nasty engine compartment.

[jwc66k]

The original comments and questions were referencing dimensional differences of the brace without any dimensions of the brace called out. Other comments were included, again without measurements, all addressed to the export brace.

Two inches too wide at the towers and 1 inch too long at the firewall.
Not as heavy as original Ford either, not that it matters since it has no hope of fitting.
Install attempt was by a renowned frame and alignment shop that has a vintage Mustang enthusiast/tradesman in-house.
The 66 convertible has never been crashed, has original sheetmetal, and is on spec with regards to unibody, got everything checked out.

The vehicle in question was more or less certified as not at fault, and, by extension, the brace was identified as defective.
Most of the additional posts addressed an installed brace with measurements of cars with the brace installed, or in process. An installed brace does not address the original question about Scott Drake sold export braces.
If the original poster is willing and able to make the same measurements of an uninstalled brace as I presented in my sketch, a better idea can be made as to what the problem is.
Jim
 

[7Lscjracer]

Thanks for all your efforts in providing measurements.
The car went on a hook from the frame and alignment shop to the transmission shop so it won't be available until mid week next.
Barely made it around the block for a test drive after the suspension install before all forward gears went out.
Drake is keen to investigate this matter, and I sent them my measurements of the brace along with some pics.
They explained it has been around for ten years and was designed from original Ford blueprints and actual NOS examples.
I'm gaining confidence in their brace and losing it with the frame and alignment shop.
I should get a second opinion, afterall do you just accept a doctors diagnosis without getting one?
Perhaps I got something other than the concours brace version.
The brace I have is 1/8" thick and measures 39 1/8" wide and 19 1/8" deep.

[7Lscjracer]

Hi Jim, I measured according to your drawing and got the 8 3/4" but 23" and 30 3/8" instead on my brace.
This exceeds Drakes manufacturing tolerances.
I think I'm the victim of a switcheroo.