Does anyone know what the distance between the shock towers should be in a '70 Mav? I'm trying to determine if mine have moved inward over the years.
The shock tower braces prevent alot of movement. If the car has had the braces installed all it's life, I would just check the bolt holes and see if they are distorted. As long as the braces fit fine and the holes at the firewall aren't deforming, enlarging, etc... it shouldn't have moved much. From what I understand they all do it to some degree though. I ran my car for a few years without the braces. When I went to put them back on, they wouldn't even fit. So they are important, I learned the hard way. I used a porta power to spread them back into place. I don't know the exact distance originally, but mine moved almost and inch inwards without the braces. They were off for about 3 years of sporadic driving, mostly nice weekends. Good luck Dave
Funny Story I took mine off to sandblast and paint them when I was 17,(17 years ago) for about 2 days. I didn't have any trouble getting them back on, but the car started pulling and wearing the tires after that. It needed to be realigned. Lesson: don't drive these things without those braces. Seth
Mine from the 77 were off when I got the it back in 1990, and I never gave it much thought at the time. I think they were taken off when the engine was being overhauled (amongst other things) and never put back on. I picked up a set of braces a couple years ago, and when I tried to put them on, both sides were off by amost half an inch.
