Cross brace for the transmission tunnel
- Thread starter Cliff
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zagatoes30
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The Maserati part was flimsy never fitted to my spyder but doubt it would have made any real difference
3hcp
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I’m looking as well, I’ve got one on back order from eurospares and I’ve tried everywhere. Getting one made is probably not a bad idea as I am working on reducing the scuttle shake I have replaced the roll bars with 2003 items and lowered to 2003 spec. Some sort of strut brace or lower strengthening will be next. Anyone know of a company that could help?
H
H
safrane
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I love convertible cars and have owned dozens over the years, but you will not be able to make the Maserati stiffer with little braces, it needs structural work that sadly they did not engineer into the car when originally designed.
It was made for the US Market to cruise down straight roads not for twisy UK roads full of portholes.
It was made for the US Market to cruise down straight roads not for twisy UK roads full of portholes.
Scaf
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If you are running 10 year old tyres, replacing them is likely to make a big difference.
Oishi
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The cross brace on my 03 Spyder was very rusty from the exhaust heat. Pulled it off and sand blasted, painted with ceramic header paint.
Noticed that the holes for the bolts were about 3x the diameter needed (easy fitment?).
This meant that the bolts held the plate in place with tension, not the best way. I cut some eccentric spacers out of hardened washers to take up the slack in the holes. The movement of the plate now put the bolts in shear. Much better.
Later I was working under the car with it up on jack stands, when I bumped into a jack, and it moved. After cleaning my shorts, I realized that the car was sitting solid on 3 stands, with the 4th not holding due to the floor being unlevel. The chassis did not flex to allow it to sit on all 4 stands.
I'm not saying that my spacers made the chassis that stiff, but I do believe it helped.
Edit: Without getting too deep into the weeds, Chassis flex and cowl shake are 2 different things that can be interrelated. Many factors such as suspension spring rate, tire traction and the natural (base harmonics) frequency of the chassis determine how much or little cowl shake a car may have. Our cars seem to suffer from a divergent harmonic. Not one that is self damping.
Noticed that the holes for the bolts were about 3x the diameter needed (easy fitment?).
This meant that the bolts held the plate in place with tension, not the best way. I cut some eccentric spacers out of hardened washers to take up the slack in the holes. The movement of the plate now put the bolts in shear. Much better.
Later I was working under the car with it up on jack stands, when I bumped into a jack, and it moved. After cleaning my shorts, I realized that the car was sitting solid on 3 stands, with the 4th not holding due to the floor being unlevel. The chassis did not flex to allow it to sit on all 4 stands.
I'm not saying that my spacers made the chassis that stiff, but I do believe it helped.
Edit: Without getting too deep into the weeds, Chassis flex and cowl shake are 2 different things that can be interrelated. Many factors such as suspension spring rate, tire traction and the natural (base harmonics) frequency of the chassis determine how much or little cowl shake a car may have. Our cars seem to suffer from a divergent harmonic. Not one that is self damping.
Last edited:
Cliff
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The first drive of the year the scuttle shake is terrible but gets better. I move the car a couple of feet in the garage every few weeks to stop flat spots on the tires over the winter . Herd about this brace and thought it mite be worth it but sounds not. Thanks for all the input.
RoaryRati
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And I thought it was '04 cars
Cliff
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I thought this brace was the difference between the 2002 and 2003
Andy Marshall
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It's a bit more than just the brace on the 2003 onwards cars... for example they also filled all the box sections with "structural foam" (whatever that is!) Mine is a 2003 car and it is noticeably stiffer than the 2002 cars I have been in.
Cliff
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I’ll go to the builder merchants now I’m sure they sell it in a spray tin.;-)
Andy Marshall
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If it has the glass rear window and the V8 wing badges, but retains the classico styling and metal grille then its an 03 car