<P>I got my front strut tower bar from Larry who also makes the intake system.
The bar is great. It's inexpensive and high quality. Subarus do not generally
need a front strut tower bar because the firewall is really close to the strut
towers. Therefore, the firewall is acting as the bar. But, the additional bar
gives the chassis more rigidness, so the body would not flex as much. There
is a noticeable difference in handling after the installation. </P>
<P>After the installation, I had to take the vent block off the hood because the
vent block was hitting the strut tower bar as I tried to close the hood. To
minimize debris coming into the engine area from the hood scoop, I used 2 layors
of stainless steel window screen, and bolted the screen to the hood. So far,
no damages to the engine externally or internally. The engine actually looks
cleaner after this slight modification. </P>
<OL>
Installation procedure:
<LI>Unbolt the strut tower bolts using 14mm deep sockets. There are 3 bolts
on each side.</LI>
<LI>Put the bar-ends over the tower and let the studs go through the holes on
the bar-ends.</LI>
<LI>Adjust the bar if necessary.</LI>
<LI>Apply grease on the all threads (i.e. on strut studs, bar adjusting bolts)
to prevent any rust. Water and salt can cause rust on threads, and it would
be very difficult to loosen the bolts in future.</LI>
<LI>Tighten the strut bolts and torque them to approximately 20lb/ft or make
sure they are tight.</LI>
<LI>Done!</LI>
</OL>
<A HREF="images/engine_01.jpg><IMG src=/mods/impreza/images/engine_01.jpg WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="150"></A>