Crawford SB is contacting hood- damage.
Crawford SB is contacting hood- damage.
I Love Crawford!
Everything I have from them, says QUALITY all over it. Customer Service is unbeatable. Doug was even nice enough to deal with my everyday phone calls about when i would have my parts. However, this wont change, my strut bar that i ordered from Crawford is rubbing my hood. Has been for some time now. i dont know what it is. the motor cant be moving that much so that the bar and hood make contact.
When i first noticed it, i saw a piece of metal connecting the lower plenum, i beleive, to the front of the block or where the timing chain is. i removed it and it seemed to have fixed my problem. i was wrong. when i took that peice off i cleaned the SB and turned it over so you couldn;t see the gowging (sp?) on the strut bar caused by the contact it made with the hood. after a month i found it was still touching the hood because those marks began to appear again. the hood even has some of the residure from hitting the strut bar on it. Also my hood had lost all paint where the SB contacts the hood. that didn't bother me as much as what is causing this. i dont know what to do. is it warping you think? i am considering tossing this SB just because it will only get worse the longer i wait. i want to keep a SB on my car and beleive only the Stillen SB will fit my ride with the V5 Crawford Plenum.
Doug, or if any other Crawford employee is reading this, help me out, please. i would really like to know its the bar and not my car. maybe we could work something out with me get some money off for buying another new SB from you.
BTW: i have the stillen engine damper and doubt the movement, what little movement it does (if any at all), is causing the problem.
john
Everything I have from them, says QUALITY all over it. Customer Service is unbeatable. Doug was even nice enough to deal with my everyday phone calls about when i would have my parts. However, this wont change, my strut bar that i ordered from Crawford is rubbing my hood. Has been for some time now. i dont know what it is. the motor cant be moving that much so that the bar and hood make contact.
When i first noticed it, i saw a piece of metal connecting the lower plenum, i beleive, to the front of the block or where the timing chain is. i removed it and it seemed to have fixed my problem. i was wrong. when i took that peice off i cleaned the SB and turned it over so you couldn;t see the gowging (sp?) on the strut bar caused by the contact it made with the hood. after a month i found it was still touching the hood because those marks began to appear again. the hood even has some of the residure from hitting the strut bar on it. Also my hood had lost all paint where the SB contacts the hood. that didn't bother me as much as what is causing this. i dont know what to do. is it warping you think? i am considering tossing this SB just because it will only get worse the longer i wait. i want to keep a SB on my car and beleive only the Stillen SB will fit my ride with the V5 Crawford Plenum.
Doug, or if any other Crawford employee is reading this, help me out, please. i would really like to know its the bar and not my car. maybe we could work something out with me get some money off for buying another new SB from you.
BTW: i have the stillen engine damper and doubt the movement, what little movement it does (if any at all), is causing the problem.
john
New Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,732
Likes: 27
From: Greenville, NC
Re: Crawford SB is contacting hood- damage.
Originally posted by Losing Grip II
I Love Crawford!
Everything I have from them, says QUALITY all over it. Customer Service is unbeatable. Doug was even nice enough to deal with my everyday phone calls about when i would have my parts. However, this wont change, my strut bar that i ordered from Crawford is rubbing my hood. Has been for some time now. i dont know what it is. the motor cant be moving that much so that the bar and hood make contact.
When i first noticed it, i saw a piece of metal connecting the lower plenum, i beleive, to the front of the block or where the timing chain is. i removed it and it seemed to have fixed my problem. i was wrong. when i took that peice off i cleaned the SB and turned it over so you couldn;t see the gowging (sp?) on the strut bar caused by the contact it made with the hood. after a month i found it was still touching the hood because those marks began to appear again. the hood even has some of the residure from hitting the strut bar on it. Also my hood had lost all paint where the SB contacts the hood. that didn't bother me as much as what is causing this. i dont know what to do. is it warping you think? i am considering tossing this SB just because it will only get worse the longer i wait. i want to keep a SB on my car and beleive only the Stillen SB will fit my ride with the V5 Crawford Plenum.
Doug, or if any other Crawford employee is reading this, help me out, please. i would really like to know its the bar and not my car. maybe we could work something out with me get some money off for buying another new SB from you.
BTW: i have the stillen engine damper and doubt the movement, what little movement it does (if any at all), is causing the problem.
john
I Love Crawford!
Everything I have from them, says QUALITY all over it. Customer Service is unbeatable. Doug was even nice enough to deal with my everyday phone calls about when i would have my parts. However, this wont change, my strut bar that i ordered from Crawford is rubbing my hood. Has been for some time now. i dont know what it is. the motor cant be moving that much so that the bar and hood make contact.
When i first noticed it, i saw a piece of metal connecting the lower plenum, i beleive, to the front of the block or where the timing chain is. i removed it and it seemed to have fixed my problem. i was wrong. when i took that peice off i cleaned the SB and turned it over so you couldn;t see the gowging (sp?) on the strut bar caused by the contact it made with the hood. after a month i found it was still touching the hood because those marks began to appear again. the hood even has some of the residure from hitting the strut bar on it. Also my hood had lost all paint where the SB contacts the hood. that didn't bother me as much as what is causing this. i dont know what to do. is it warping you think? i am considering tossing this SB just because it will only get worse the longer i wait. i want to keep a SB on my car and beleive only the Stillen SB will fit my ride with the V5 Crawford Plenum.
Doug, or if any other Crawford employee is reading this, help me out, please. i would really like to know its the bar and not my car. maybe we could work something out with me get some money off for buying another new SB from you.
BTW: i have the stillen engine damper and doubt the movement, what little movement it does (if any at all), is causing the problem.
john
I have a similar problem, but I don't have an aftermarket engine damper. My strut bar is painted black and over the last several weeks I noticed that it was wearing on both sides about 12" from either end of the strut bar mounts. The place that is wearing is only about one inch long. I also noticed that the hood was wearing too. The paint has worn off the hood on both sides above the strut bar, again in a place about one inch long.
Last week I called Doug to see if anyone else had had a similar problem. He said that he couldn't remember anyone have this problem, but he gave me several suggestions to fix it. First make sure that the strut bar braces are tightened down all the way. Check all the bolts.
Next you can adjust the height of the hood using the hood height adjusters. Look under the very front of the hood approximately 12" from either edge. You will see two (one on each side) round black rubber covered pieces approximately 2" in diameter. Turn them counter clockwise to raise them. Doug suggested turning them one quarter to one-half a turn at first. I ended up turning mine one complete turn to raise the height of the front of the hood.
Lastly, Doug suggested getting some weather stripping or foam with an adheshive backing and placing it on the hood right where the strut bar is rubbing against the hood. I went to my local auto parts store and bought some 3/8" black weather stripping with an adhesive backing and cut two pieces about 2" long and stuck them right on the area where the paint is rubbing. It serves as a cushion betweem the strut bar and the hood. After a day or so the weather stripping has conformed to the shape of the strut bar.
Hope this helps.
John
Last edited by ZPirate; Feb 27, 2005 at 03:55 PM.
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 675
Likes: 0
From: Wichita, KS
This has occurred on several Crawford SB mountings. I did a couple things to alleviate it:
1) As mentioned above, I raised the front end of my hood a bit with the rubber mounts at the front of the hood. Suggestion: Be careful in how you do this - if you do not get a good grip on the edge on the mount (nearest the hood) you can actually rip the rubber mount from its mount that screws into the hood. Try to do the turning while gripping the mount as close to the hood as possible & turn slowly.
2) I actually dremeled out the portion of the underhood at the rib areas where the bar was rubbing, then covered the areas with a small strip of weatherstripping.
This took care of the problem.
1) As mentioned above, I raised the front end of my hood a bit with the rubber mounts at the front of the hood. Suggestion: Be careful in how you do this - if you do not get a good grip on the edge on the mount (nearest the hood) you can actually rip the rubber mount from its mount that screws into the hood. Try to do the turning while gripping the mount as close to the hood as possible & turn slowly.
2) I actually dremeled out the portion of the underhood at the rib areas where the bar was rubbing, then covered the areas with a small strip of weatherstripping.
This took care of the problem.
Re: Re: Crawford SB is contacting hood- damage.
Originally posted by ZPirate
John,
I have a similar problem, but I don't have an aftermarket engine damper. My strut bar is painted black and over the last several weeks I noticed that it was wearing on both sides about 12" from either end of the strut bar mounts. The place that is wearing is only about one inch long. I also noticed that the hood was wearing too. The paint has worn off the hood on both sides above the strut bar, again in a place about one inch long.
Last week I called Doug to see if anyone else had had a similar problem. He said that he couldn't remember anyone have this problem, but he gave me several suggestions to fix it. First make sure that the strut bar braces are tightened down all the way. Check all the bolts.
Next you can adjust the height of the hood using the hood height adjusters. Look under the very front of the hood approximately 12" from either edge. You will see two (one on each side) round black rubber covered pieces approximately 2" in diameter. Turn them counter clockwise to raise them. Doug suggested turning them one quarter to one-half a turn at first. I ended up turning mine one complete turn to raise the height of the front of the hood.
Lastly, Doug suggested getting some weather stripping or foam with an adheshive backing and placing it on the hood right where the strut bar is rubbing against the hood. I went to my local auto parts store and bought some 3/8" black weather stripping with an adhesive backing and cut two pieces about 2" long and stuck them right on the area where the paint is rubbing. It serves as a cushion betweem the strut bar and the hood. After a day or so the weather stripping has conformed to the shape of the strut bar.
Hope this helps.
John
John,
I have a similar problem, but I don't have an aftermarket engine damper. My strut bar is painted black and over the last several weeks I noticed that it was wearing on both sides about 12" from either end of the strut bar mounts. The place that is wearing is only about one inch long. I also noticed that the hood was wearing too. The paint has worn off the hood on both sides above the strut bar, again in a place about one inch long.
Last week I called Doug to see if anyone else had had a similar problem. He said that he couldn't remember anyone have this problem, but he gave me several suggestions to fix it. First make sure that the strut bar braces are tightened down all the way. Check all the bolts.
Next you can adjust the height of the hood using the hood height adjusters. Look under the very front of the hood approximately 12" from either edge. You will see two (one on each side) round black rubber covered pieces approximately 2" in diameter. Turn them counter clockwise to raise them. Doug suggested turning them one quarter to one-half a turn at first. I ended up turning mine one complete turn to raise the height of the front of the hood.
Lastly, Doug suggested getting some weather stripping or foam with an adheshive backing and placing it on the hood right where the strut bar is rubbing against the hood. I went to my local auto parts store and bought some 3/8" black weather stripping with an adhesive backing and cut two pieces about 2" long and stuck them right on the area where the paint is rubbing. It serves as a cushion betweem the strut bar and the hood. After a day or so the weather stripping has conformed to the shape of the strut bar.
Hope this helps.
John
so if nothing works, what do i do? contact doug u think?
thanks,
john
john
Originally posted by Z CRUZN
This has occurred on several Crawford SB mountings. I did a couple things to alleviate it:
1) As mentioned above, I raised the front end of my hood a bit with the rubber mounts at the front of the hood. Suggestion: Be careful in how you do this - if you do not get a good grip on the edge on the mount (nearest the hood) you can actually rip the rubber mount from its mount that screws into the hood. Try to do the turning while gripping the mount as close to the hood as possible & turn slowly.
2) I actually dremeled out the portion of the underhood at the rib areas where the bar was rubbing, then covered the areas with a small strip of weatherstripping.
This took care of the problem.
This has occurred on several Crawford SB mountings. I did a couple things to alleviate it:
1) As mentioned above, I raised the front end of my hood a bit with the rubber mounts at the front of the hood. Suggestion: Be careful in how you do this - if you do not get a good grip on the edge on the mount (nearest the hood) you can actually rip the rubber mount from its mount that screws into the hood. Try to do the turning while gripping the mount as close to the hood as possible & turn slowly.
2) I actually dremeled out the portion of the underhood at the rib areas where the bar was rubbing, then covered the areas with a small strip of weatherstripping.
This took care of the problem.
im not mad at you, really im mad at the fact that this SB isn't the quality i thought it was. maybe it could explain its, price, very cheap when compared to competitors.
anyways, i didnt remember reading or admiting to buy a SB that required the use of a dremel or the action of dremeling the hood.
ill be contacting doug tomorrow to see what he can do. at best all im hoping for is a change in mount perhaps. if there is anyway this bar can be lowered ,at all, even 1/2 inch it would solve my problem. do you think i could possibly turn the mounts over and reverse sides?
john
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 675
Likes: 0
From: Wichita, KS
Originally posted by Losing Grip II
i was considering the dremel, but i didn't buy this SB just so i could dremel my hood. i mean what happens if i mess up the hood, all because this SB wasn't designed correctly or the materials are prematurely warping. Either way, if doug expects me to dremel my hood, he's mistaken. what happens if my headers rub too, dremel them maybe as well?
im not mad at you, really im mad at the fact that this SB isn't the quality i thought it was. maybe it could explain its, price, very cheap when compared to competitors.
anyways, i didnt remember reading or admiting to buy a SB that required the use of a dremel or the action of dremeling the hood.
ill be contacting doug tomorrow to see what he can do. at best all im hoping for is a change in mount perhaps. if there is anyway this bar can be lowered ,at all, even 1/2 inch it would solve my problem. do you think i could possibly turn the mounts over and reverse sides?
john
i was considering the dremel, but i didn't buy this SB just so i could dremel my hood. i mean what happens if i mess up the hood, all because this SB wasn't designed correctly or the materials are prematurely warping. Either way, if doug expects me to dremel my hood, he's mistaken. what happens if my headers rub too, dremel them maybe as well?
im not mad at you, really im mad at the fact that this SB isn't the quality i thought it was. maybe it could explain its, price, very cheap when compared to competitors.
anyways, i didnt remember reading or admiting to buy a SB that required the use of a dremel or the action of dremeling the hood.
ill be contacting doug tomorrow to see what he can do. at best all im hoping for is a change in mount perhaps. if there is anyway this bar can be lowered ,at all, even 1/2 inch it would solve my problem. do you think i could possibly turn the mounts over and reverse sides?
john
Another thought...If the problem you're describing is still occuring after you've raised the hood as you mentioned, I would target 2 possible tolerance areas: 1) it could be the brackets are off-spec slightly, thereby raising the actual bar too high (only way to check that would be to have another set of brackets to compare them to) & 2) as you mentioned, the possibility of the bar itself being warped - you could check that by removing the bar & rolling it on a flat surface (as I used to do in my "younger" at the bars looking for a straight pool cue - ha!).
Again...just trying to help.........
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New Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,732
Likes: 27
From: Greenville, NC
Re: Re: Re: Crawford SB is contacting hood- damage.
Originally posted by Losing Grip II
i did all of the following already. IT STILL RUBS WITH THE HOOD. In fact when i did put the weather strip on the hood, it completely removed the weather stripping like it wasnt even there. i even washed the area of the hood before to ensure and good seal with the hood and weather strip. i think the heat plays a role in making the glue/adhesive liquify on the weather strip, thus making it easier to come off.
so if nothing works, what do i do? contact doug u think?
thanks,
john
john
i did all of the following already. IT STILL RUBS WITH THE HOOD. In fact when i did put the weather strip on the hood, it completely removed the weather stripping like it wasnt even there. i even washed the area of the hood before to ensure and good seal with the hood and weather strip. i think the heat plays a role in making the glue/adhesive liquify on the weather strip, thus making it easier to come off.
so if nothing works, what do i do? contact doug u think?
thanks,
john
john
I think calling Doug is the best thing at this point if you have tried the other things I mentioned and still have a problem. As ZCruzn said above tolerances are a funny thing. Sometimes one thing can through off how everything else fits together. My situation seems to be fine now that I did what I described above. Good Luck!
John
Originally posted by Z CRUZN
I was just trying to help from my personal experiences....As far as "having" to dremel the rib in the hood, I actually did that BEFORE I realized that the hood could be raised with the front 2 bumpers - ha! Still, it did give me more tolerance to relieve the rubbing. As you mentioned, probably the best thing to do is give Doug a call - as you know he is as accessible as can be & always willing to help. After having my Z for over a year, I've seen some strange things from Z to Z - differences in how the hood fits for one thing: I've seen the radiator finishers that are so popular fit perfect in one Z and then take it out & mount that exact same finisher in another Z and the hood rubs two notches in it (happened to me). I've also even seen one of the Crawford v.5 plenums actually rub on the hood (happened to me). Tolerances are a funny thing & differences occur from one car to the next...one part to the next. I'm willing to estimate that Doug has probably sold several hundred of these SB's (low estimate) with relatively few problems (quality NOT being one I've heard of), but if anyone can come up with a solution, it'd be him.
Another thought...If the problem you're describing is still occuring after you've raised the hood as you mentioned, I would target 2 possible tolerance areas: 1) it could be the brackets are off-spec slightly, thereby raising the actual bar too high (only way to check that would be to have another set of brackets to compare them to) & 2) as you mentioned, the possibility of the bar itself being warped - you could check that by removing the bar & rolling it on a flat surface (as I used to do in my "younger" at the bars looking for a straight pool cue - ha!).
Again...just trying to help.........
I was just trying to help from my personal experiences....As far as "having" to dremel the rib in the hood, I actually did that BEFORE I realized that the hood could be raised with the front 2 bumpers - ha! Still, it did give me more tolerance to relieve the rubbing. As you mentioned, probably the best thing to do is give Doug a call - as you know he is as accessible as can be & always willing to help. After having my Z for over a year, I've seen some strange things from Z to Z - differences in how the hood fits for one thing: I've seen the radiator finishers that are so popular fit perfect in one Z and then take it out & mount that exact same finisher in another Z and the hood rubs two notches in it (happened to me). I've also even seen one of the Crawford v.5 plenums actually rub on the hood (happened to me). Tolerances are a funny thing & differences occur from one car to the next...one part to the next. I'm willing to estimate that Doug has probably sold several hundred of these SB's (low estimate) with relatively few problems (quality NOT being one I've heard of), but if anyone can come up with a solution, it'd be him.
Another thought...If the problem you're describing is still occuring after you've raised the hood as you mentioned, I would target 2 possible tolerance areas: 1) it could be the brackets are off-spec slightly, thereby raising the actual bar too high (only way to check that would be to have another set of brackets to compare them to) & 2) as you mentioned, the possibility of the bar itself being warped - you could check that by removing the bar & rolling it on a flat surface (as I used to do in my "younger" at the bars looking for a straight pool cue - ha!).
Again...just trying to help.........
yes, ive done the pool cue thingy before. whats sad is my brothers friends "play" with them regularly and actually have to do that to my own cues! ridiculous! anyways, i will try that tonight to verify whether or not the bar itself is warped. i doubt it tho. reason becaude the two ends that are rubs the hood are close to each bracket. therefore, if the bars is warped badly enough to be causing this, it would have to be warped to the point that it would resemmble a banana shape and probably would cause problems closing the hood and/or removal of the bar.
thanks for your help,
john
Re: Re: Re: Re: Crawford SB is contacting hood- damage.
Originally posted by ZPirate
John,
I think calling Doug is the best thing at this point if you have tried the other things I mentioned and still have a problem. As ZCruzn said above tolerances are a funny thing. Sometimes one thing can through off how everything else fits together. My situation seems to be fine now that I did what I described above. Good Luck!
John
John,
I think calling Doug is the best thing at this point if you have tried the other things I mentioned and still have a problem. As ZCruzn said above tolerances are a funny thing. Sometimes one thing can through off how everything else fits together. My situation seems to be fine now that I did what I described above. Good Luck!
John
john
Originally posted by JisNis
I'll buy ur strut bar off of you. PM me if your interested. thanks.
I'll buy ur strut bar off of you. PM me if your interested. thanks.
john
Mine rubs the hood in 2 places also. Actually on the drivers side its so bad that its dented the hood out some(raised it) and it cracked the paint on the outside of the hood because it raised it so much. This sucks, now I have to have my hood touched up, on my car its actually the strut bar bracket that is doing the damage. The place where the strut bar is touching the hood left marks underneath but thats it. Fitment of their STB isnt very good...kinda wish I wouldnt have gotten it. BTW does the Stillen STB really fit over the Crawford plenum? I thought only their STB fit.
Originally posted by Alberto
Mine rubs the hood in 2 places also. Actually on the drivers side its so bad that its dented the hood out some(raised it) and it cracked the paint on the outside of the hood because it raised it so much. This sucks, now I have to have my hood touched up, on my car its actually the strut bar bracket that is doing the damage. The place where the strut bar is touching the hood left marks underneath but thats it. Fitment of their STB isnt very good...kinda wish I wouldnt have gotten it. BTW does the Stillen STB really fit over the Crawford plenum? I thought only their STB fit.
Mine rubs the hood in 2 places also. Actually on the drivers side its so bad that its dented the hood out some(raised it) and it cracked the paint on the outside of the hood because it raised it so much. This sucks, now I have to have my hood touched up, on my car its actually the strut bar bracket that is doing the damage. The place where the strut bar is touching the hood left marks underneath but thats it. Fitment of their STB isnt very good...kinda wish I wouldnt have gotten it. BTW does the Stillen STB really fit over the Crawford plenum? I thought only their STB fit.
john
Maybe I misunderstood your first post, but what does the motor moving around have to do with the strut tower bar contacting the hood? The same goes for any piece of metal or bracket connected to the motor. The motor and strut tower bar are completely disconnected and shouldn't affect each other. Well, unless you think your motor is actually *contacting* your stb, and thus making the stb bend and contact the hood... but that better not be happening! 
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