Greetings everyone, friend referred me to seek help on here so here I am.
Okay, I'm having trouble with my front strut bar.

on the passenger side, 2 socket plugs (or whatever they are called) are in the way.


a closer look (the blue and grey plugs are blocking the way)


Question: they are attached to a metal piece which looks bendable. Should I bend it ? Can someone post a pic of their front strut bar and tell me if bending is necessary?


Now on the driverside, some black metal pipes are in teh way.

Again, is bending required?

I'm start to having doubt that these bars aren't really made for 5gen prelude. Can anybody help me with my dilemma here

 

That looks a hell of a lot like a NOPI/Landspeedracing bar... I tried both and they are NOT made for a G5 (even tho that is the listed application on the packaging). Return it for a FULL refund and get a Neuspeed or Spoon bar.

Paul

 

Return it, get a Neuspeed..

 

I just did the exact same install 2 weekends ago on my 5th gen. I put a Tanabe Sustec Strut bar on mine that was designed for a 4th gen.

It looks like the bar you have will fit just fine if you get those plugs out of the way. Take that metal bracket with the wiring harnesses mounted to it and bend it towards the center of your engine bay to get it out of the way. I have pics of how I bent that bracket on mine that I can post tonight when I get home.

Also, the plugs mounted on it can be taken off the metal bracket temporarily to make enough room to get a wrench in there to bolt everything back on. Then you can snap them back onto the bracket when you are done.

Make sure you use a torque wrench on those strut tower nuts to get them down to the factory torque spec - (only 28 ft.lbs. if I remember correctly). DO NOT over tighten them!

Andrew

 

It's a lot easier just to get one that fits to begin with...

Paul

 

The bastard who sold it to me on Ebay insisted that it will fit with minor modification. I guess hte "modification" he was talking about was the bending that I have to do.

So you got around the passenger side by bending the bracket. How about the driverside?
There's about 5 or 6 thin black metal pipes and one of them is in the way. Should I bend those too?

 

I would remove the brace from the bar and try sliding it under the lines, you may have to lower your shock out of the way my jacking your car up with the nuts off the shock... Do not bend those lines much, they pinch/crack easily.. Good Luck

 

Man that 5th gen Prelude AEM CAI 3.5 inch tube is fat. I wonder if I'm choking my motor with my 2.5 inch Accord AEM CAI. Ah, on to the dyno I guess...

 

Hmm, thanks for the help.

I got these bars on Ebay for $19 USD a piece (that's $38USD for both). Ended up paying $78USD for both since I need it shipped to Canada.

May not look as good as the neuspeed or Spoon one, but its a good deal.

 

this might be a stupid question, but what's the purpose of strut bar? what does it improve? i'm new at this, so any comments are appreciated. thanks!!!!

 

If you picture an engine bay from the front, it looks kinda like this: [_]
It's a box with no top; there is no stress-bearing member on the top. Your front suspension is applying a lot of force on either side of the box, so the top may tend to flex inward. The strut tower bar reinforces the top of the engine bay/chassis and tightens up your structural rigidity. You'll notice a subtle improvment in steering/chassis responce during really hard corning like in an autocross.

 

I have the same color Lude as you and was thinking about putting the blue AEM CAI in it, but the guys at the shop I go to told me it would look like crap b/c it would clash with the Electron Blue. Yours seems to look ok though, how do you like it? (THe color that is)

 

woah, that car looks, so fresh and clean