strut tower brace
 

Question: when removing strut tower brace does my Z need to be lifted or not? same goes to re-installing

No, your Z doesn't need to be jacked up or lifted off the ground for strut tower bar removal. You can do this while on the ground. You just need to loosen the jam nuts on the OEM brace in order to rotate the tension rod. I recommend marking the tension rod position with the nuts before loosening anything, so you can put it back exactly as it was. Failure to do this can result in damaging the threads on the two tower studs or the six bolts that hold the brace in place.
-Icer