As I understand it, the STB comes in three pieces (three part numbers, anyway). Is it possible to unhook the bar itself from the brackets, or can it be modified to work that way? I'd prefer not to have to unbolt my top strut mounts to access my brake fluid, if at all possible.

Also, I think this is probably a long shot, but is there a chance of upgrading the old style resevoir to the newer style with the twist cap? I kinda doubt it, but it never hurts to ask...

Pinning that STB would defeat it'* purpose. The reservior style would depend on the master cylinder design. And the answer is......

......not the same master cylinder. It'* POSSIBLE the reservior would still bolt up. Not for sure.

just curious what you mean by that. Would it weaken it too much? Add too much slack? Seems to me like there could be some way to do it and keep things ridgid and strong, but then i've never seen the STB for this car other than some low-res pictures, so i really don't know what i'm talking about.

It'* flex we're worried about. If it flexes, you might as well not even have it. I'd just bite the bullet and remove it if you ever had to top off the brake fluid. The performance benefit should be worth it.

The brace comes in three components. The largest is the bar that connects the two ends together. The two ends are the components that actualy bolt down on top of the struts.

This type of construction just makes it easy for GM to use the same end parts to fit vehicles of different widths. All they have to do is use different length bars.

That makes sense. I'm 95% sure that i'm going to end up doing this mod, it'* just a matter of getting the parts and the time to do it. When it'* done i'll post pictures and update the forum on how it worked out.

Thanks again all for the abundant information.

Just for the record, if anyone else is interested in doing this to their car, here are the prices for the parts, from gmpartsdirect.com

25553127 (strut tower brace) -- $7.80
25640445 (right end) ------------- $8.49
25640447 (left end) ---------------$8.49
Total------- $24.78 + *&h, of course.

But like I said before, I might junkyard around a bit before I spend that much.

I paid 20 bucks at the junkyard for a used one with a little surface rust.

After discussing this with Will and getting some more in depth detail, I'm interested in this mod as well, there are a few problems though. GMpartsdirect.com, doesn't serve north of the border anymore. damn...

Also, I'd like to know if its possible :? . It would be great to here from people who have done this so that we will know for sure if it works. I suppose I'm hesitant since the brake fluid reservoir is partially in the way.

Will, your STB, (I assume stock?) looks very rectangular in section, wouldn't that weaken the bar along the narrower axis. That would cause flex under stress. I had figured the STB would be more square in its design, allowing for more efficient rigidity. Or did I misread the picture?

Anyone? what do you think?

$12? I'm assuming that was from a junkyard, right? I think i'm going to have to look around a bit before I buy new. I don't know how good my local junkyards are, but i'll find out I guess.
I'm glad to hear that it'* worth it. As soon as I can find the time, i'm going to check around and see if I can find one.

yeah, pictures would be really nice. It would give me some idea of how it'll sit on my car.

I'm told that the bar will fit an '89, but the cap won't come off the brake fluid. At least not easily.

I'm not all that concerned about handling. Remember that my car is a lowly LE, with the 15" wheels and 70 series tires (two goodyears on the front, two off-brand on the back). It'* the body flex that I want to eliminate, and it sounds like this'll be the ticket for that.