hey guys Im a pretty young guy so not a TON of experience here but I've had my fair share of honda projects so far.
one problem I came across after I did my suspension
is that the 3 point tower brace in the engine compartment that I bought doesn't bolt up to the firewall ... theres a bit of a gap
do you think previous damage on the car could've caused this?
or did I just get crap from a friend?

 

The brace could be for the wrong chassis, or you just got crap from a friend. I can't imagine a scenario where it wouldn't line up correctly without the car being severely damaged.

 

Pics, Year and model info?

 

agree^ or the brace being so horribly ill fitting.

 

I would wager that you have a brace for the wrong model of car.

 

its not even an inch away from the fire wall... but it seems the brace would have to flex up an inch or so for the holes to line up

 

what holes ? with those 3pt's you have to drill them...

 

I was under the assumption that this was a bolt on
(I saw some tapped holes on the firewall with a nut welded on the other side)
so you're saying I have to drill and tap my own?

 

With my 3pt(PW:JDM) I did I'm assuming the civic's fire walls are no different from the integra's in which there are no nuts on the other side. just find a drill bit that fits the holes and drill then get a nylock nut and throw it on the other end. I trust it for my track car so it would surely hold up to DD I put a washer on the inside too just to be safe grade 10.9 bolts is what I use for all my suspension parts.

 

I assume for these kinds of things to do what they were made to
they have to be stiff...
does this mean it is supposed to bend a touch when you tighten it down
to directly transfer load during cornering?

 

Can you take a pic of this brace in question ? mine just "dropped in" then I bolted it up etc.

 

 

I was going to mount it in the holes where the EGR control box was
I moved it temporarily
now that kinda seems like a bad idea

 

Looks like a cheap ebay bar. I had one and experienced the same fitment issues. Ended up just trashing it.

 

You could run chromed steel spacers between the mounting holes on the bar and the firewall, and use a nice long grade 5 bolt. Simply put the bolt in the hole, slide the spacer between the firewall and the bar (onto the bolt), and then bolt up. May not work as well as intended, but tighten it down real good and it should be unnoticeable. Chrome spacers can be had at Menards for a couple bucks a piece.

 

then the contact are is like 10mm not even may as well get a regular 2pt^^

 

Considering he got the bar for free, he could do two things:
Throw it away.
Rig it up like i suggested and at least enjoy 2 point brace benefits.

The solution seems obvious here.

 

thanks for the input guys
I also have access to aluminum and a small machine shop
do you think I could fill in the space with a pice of aluminum
and run a bolt all the way through

 

^just seems like to much effort to jerry rig it to work. Even if you get it to work, its a cheap ebay bar, the quality of metal is questionable, which in means that the "stiff" factor will also be questionable. Trash it and buy a quality part. The only ones I have really seen people swear buy that seem like they may make a difference are the password jdm 3 points or a two point without hinges, such as an OEM type r bar or neuspeed strut bar for example. I got my neuspeed off ebay for $50 shipped, minty, didn't even need to repaint.

 

Or you could do what I suggested OP. Either will work. I don't really know how well using aluminum on steel on painted steel will work.