1971-72 Pontiac Grandville under hood cowl to fender brace
 

Why is it that there was only a brace on the passenger side and none on drivers side?Does anyone know and why arent there any braces on the 1973 on up cars.I dont know if Catalinas had then either or not.Does anyone have one they want to sell.Id like to put one on the drivers side also.Thanks for any help anyone can give on info on this.Thanks

Most B-body cars to my knowledge in '71-72 came with both fender braces, but the driver side interferes with the battery replacement so most people tossed them and didn't put them back on. It helps keep the fenders aligned with the firewall and the hood\core support all straight. I think several people I know of have posted pictures of their '71-72 cars with only the passenger brace and no holes drilled or tapped for the driver side. I do not know why that was done as the majority of cars I've seen have all had the brace mountings if not both braces.

The fender distance and bracing changed in '73, they weren't as long and the frame changed slightly as well, which is probably why they were removed then. Wagons did have the braces on the frame in '73 though

The brace wouldent come close to where the battery is on the 72 grandville and is up by the radiator support whereas the brace coming from the firewall cowl mounts on the inner fenderwell and fender which is way back behind the battery

71-72 had braces on both sides. There's no place for them to be drilled and tapped as they use U-bolts from the firewall fitting, and the braces slide under the wheel well to fender mount and again use u-bolts to mount.

If you look at the mounting hole about in the center of the wheel well, you'll notice a stamped-in notch in the fender for that brace to mount.

My father bought his 72 grandville convertible new and it only had one brace and Ive seen other cars with only one brace and have never seen one with both braces.I wonder if they ran out of the one side on the assembly line but I would think they would both be the same and not rights or lefts.

My '72 is a convertible and is braced on both sides. The braces are interchangeable.

If the OP has a Facebook account, here's a good source for 71-76 B-body parts: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1780...?ref=bookmarks

Thanks for the info.I always thought it was strange when he picked his car up at dealer that it only had one brace on passenger side but then I seen other cars at car shows that only had one brace also.

This is my all original '71 Bonneville with the cowl braces. Hope the photo helps.

Dennis

Yup. Boy, that's purty! ;-)

Thanks.I wonder why some had both braces and some only had the one side.By the way did your car come with the dual snorkel air cleaner or did you ad this and if so what was it removed from.

My guess would be they all shipped with two and someone in the stealership body shop needed one for a collision repair. :bolt:

Did anyone notice also on these cars that there is another mount to place another underhood spring to pop the hood open on the front and to the right of the existing pop up spring as you are looking at it from the front of the car.Wonder if they thought maybe with that big long hood they might need 2 springs and then came up with one heavy duty spring and didnt need it

My car came from the factory with two springs. I've seen header panels on '72s with just one spring mount, though. Probably a mid-year change.

Thats interesting.Thanks for the info

That's interesting about the springs, I will have to look at my 71 Catalina when I get home to see if it looks like it had a 2nd spring at one time. From the only underhood shot I have on my HD you can see it was also missing both fender braces when I bought it, and it only has 37,000 miles on it.
It is a 455 duel exhaust car with the Freeway Enforcer package. The only service item I can see that the braces may interfere with is the distributor. But if that is the case why is only the drivers side usually missing?

I bought a set of fender braces from here

http://www.tseafoamo.com/

He specializes in 71 full size Pontiac parts. He want's $35 each for the braces if he still has them.

Ted also has a nice 71-76 B-body site on Facebook.

Thanks for the info

cballweg,
No, it came with a single snorkle air cleaner. The one on the car came off of a Grandville that I bought for parts back in the '80's. The lid is the original. I see in the picture I posted that my car has only one hood spring and you can see the provision for a second spring to the right (driver side) of the hood latch.

Dennis

Cammerjeff what is the freeway enforcer package.When my father ordered his 72 Grandville convertible we had him order dual exhaust which I believe was $25 and also get the pontiac rally II mag wheels.I never liked the smooth hubcaps these cars came with.

It's the cop car option. 455 4-barrel, heavy duty springs, radiator, battery, etc.

Correct, mine also has a HD Frame (convertible boxed frame) seats, seat cushions, brakes, and 15X8 plain steel wheels. Among other HD Items.

I looked under the hood, and it doesn't look to have ever had the 2nd hood spring on the header panel, just the one on the passenger side. I wonder if it was a Bonneville/Grandville thing?

I've watched cars built (Firebirds and Camaros at the GM assembly plant in Norwood, Ohio) and I'll tell ya this: When a car comes down the line, it gets held up for nothing. I think it could be as simple as not getting a shipment of springs from a vendor in time to put both springs on.

I have a buddy who bought a '72 Pontiac wagon (400) that had Ram Air heads from the factory. Same thing, I think.

My '71 Catalina had the spring pad with holes punched for it like it was there at one time (as most of the '71s I've seen have been), my '72 Grandville had the pad but no holes for one installed. I'll be honest and say I have no clue what should have been, I've never seen 2 springs installed but that doesn't mean anything.

My car is a 1972 Catalina 400 4 door sedan and I was wondering the same thing, my car is all original survivor factory tune up, even the plugs were factory, owned by a priest up until he died, anyway my car only has the passenger side brace and i was thinking of getting one for the driver side if i can find one so i can brace the Driver Side as well.

They're easy enough to make. Just flatten the ends of some 3/4" tubing, drill two holes and paint it black. They mount with u-bolts.