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Ok the following is info on installing STB's (Strut Tower Braces) on 5th gen monte. The purpose of a STB is to stiffen the front suspension. the strut tower, the part of the body that holds the top of the struts, is not as stiff as one might think. These towers will flex when turning and fast steering inputs. the idea of a STB is to box in the top of the towers to prevent then from leaning together or apart. the bottom of the two towers is held in place by the engine cradle, lower control arms, and the sway bar. The best way to discribe the feel before and after install is that when you turn the wheel back and forth quickly the car would tend to rock then turn. after the install the car "points" and aims as fast as you can turn the wheel back and forth.
To the right you will see a few diff STB setups
The first is a factory piece off of the Oldsmobile cutlass convertable. it is a very rare part because it was discontinued. it hugs the fire wall and makes for a very clean install on these cars... but sadly will still block removal of the upper intake manifold on the 96-97 DOHC motors. this is the reason why i am no longer using it.
The second pic is of the GMPP (GM Performance Parts) STB. it is designed for the 6th gen montes and grandprix. the orange brackets are from a company called ZZPerformance.com they sell them for both 5th and 6th gen monte/grandprix. the GM kit wants you to drill holes to mount the STB directly to the strut towers... this was not an option for me because the intake manifold on the DOHC would have interfered. so the ZZP brackets raised the STB high enough to not cause an issue.
the third picture is of a test where i tried to run both the Cutlass bar and the GMPP bar. it was akward to say the least but worked. as for which bar is best? for any other engine besides the DOHC i would say the cutty bar is great. it stays out of the way and deff stiffens up the suspension slop. but for the suspension change alone the GMPP is the best choice just from the size you can see the GMPP is a stiffer bar.
the lower picture is of the GMPP bar mounted in the trunk. because of the rear deck on the car for the speakers and seat support, the rear strut towers were already some what boxed in. the change in handleing wasnt as big as from installing the forward bar. the issue with installing it is that it doesnt line up as nice as the front and there are not brackets avalible for the rear. the scketch is a basic idea of what i had to do to get it to fit.
